The Countdown Has Begun: Marathon Now Turns To Sprint

From here it is now a dash to the finish.

We are going to win Iowa. We are going to win Nevada. We are going to win New Hampshire. We are going to carry South Carolina by a wide margin. We are going to carry New York and California.

Midnight February 5, it is all over.

To: The Cubans In Florida

We know what does not work. If the idea is to get rid of Fidel Castro, the status quo has not worked in half a century. Insanity is to try the same thing again and again and expect a different result. If you want Fidel to continue to haunt you, you stick with the status quo. If you want Cuba to be turned into a multiparty democracy, you go for change, you go for Obama, who will assault Cuba with total engagement at all levels.

Got To Raise A Lot Of Money

We have to account for Hillary selling her house in November. We got to raise $20 million more than we otherwise would. Obama does not have a house he can sell and compete with Hillary in the real estate market. He has to make up for it with grassroots fundraising, money raised in small sums like $25 and $50.

Barack: Black Enough For Me
Black On Barack Racism
There Is A Lot Of Room For Newt
Let Me Get This Straight
Hillary's November Surprise: She Will Sell Her House
Register 100,000 New Voters In NYC For Barack
Engaging Third World Dictators
What Obama Said On Pakistan
Explaining Early State And National Polls
Chelsea For Obama, Caroline For Obama
Flatten It Out
The McCain Doctrine: Keep The Swamp, Keep The Mosquitoes
DL21C Annual Summer Bash: Barack Won The Straw Poll
Obama, Pick Up The Phone, Talk To Hillary
The Exchange
Global Warming
Winner Of The Debate: YouTube
20 Million Single Moms: Will Obama Go For Them?
NYC, Obama, Structure, Me
John Edwards, Voucher Man, Is A Republican
Got To Take The Lead In The Fourth Quarter





New York City For Barack Obama 1
New York City For Barack Obama 2

Barack Obama in New York

In The News

Obama Takes Sharper Tone to the Trail New York Times increasingly drawing sharp contrasts with his rivals and seeking to turn criticism of his foreign policy credentials into a fresh argument for change. ..... The recalibration of the campaign is a marked departure from a laid-back tone Mr. Obama often had taken in the first six months ....... Laying the groundwork for a debate in Iowa on Sunday, and at the start of a three-day bus tour across the state on Thursday ..... “There is — not just with Senator Clinton, but a lot of my opponents — a premium on reciting the conventional wisdom in Washington,” he said at a news conference before speaking here in southwestern Iowa. “And that’s what passes for experience.” ......... Barely a week has passed since February when Mr. Obama has not made one — or more — visits to Iowa ...... arguing that judgment was more critical than experience. ........ the business-as-usual ways of Washington represented by both President Bush and Mrs. Clinton. ...... Or do you think that the problem is more than just George Bush and it’s a problem with how Washington works? ..... Mr. Obama has told associates he finds the burst of aggressiveness to be liberating. ...... telling the truth to the American people about the very serious and difficult challenges and choices that we face .... Even the root beer floats served to supporters sat beneath a homemade banner, “Floats 4 Change.” ....... a woman rose from her seat and declared, “You excite the hell out of me, and I haven’t been hopeful for a long time!” ....... She added: “But I’m not sure that she’s really committed to the sort of radical change that I think we need. We need things to really change — the way Washington works, the way decisions are made in this country.”
Clinton’s tactic of targeting Bush has pros, cons MSNBC
Blair hires Clinton lawyer to seek multimillion memoir deal Guardian Unlimited










Remember the Cheetah

Barack: Black Enough For Me

Barack: The Magic Presidential Candidate
Barack The Glass Walls, Ceilings, Smash 'Em

I do not mean to suggest if he were to have been more black than he is, he would have been too black for me, not at all. I don't mean to give that impression. It is just that I am fundamentally offended that the nation's top black journalists spent an entire day arguing back and forth the question if Barack is black enough.

Define black. Defy black.

There is this counseling aspect. If you had a traumatic childhood, it makes sense to seek counseling. For the African American psyche today, slavery and segregation are relevant collective memories. They have to be talked about. The pain has to be processed. But just like you can not spend the rest of your life seeking counseling, at some point you got to start living your life, the black community has to step up to contemporary issues like persistent racism, and especially chronic poverty in the inner cities.

There is a direct relationship between the chronic poverty in the American inner cities and the sorry state of Africa. Both are black and the world ignores them for it. My primary interest is Africa. My interest in the American inner cities comes by way of Africa.

Which candidate will be best for the American inner cities? Hillary is not going to be better than Bill, and Bill was pretty good, and Bill did not much touch the chronic poverty. The African American median income went up, but chronic poverty stayed.

Obama adopted the South Side of Chicago as his home. That is where he lives today. He is one of you. If he can't tackle the chronic poverty in the American inner cities, who can? Noone else is even paying attention. Edwards offers vouchers. He wants a few of you to be able to move out and let the rest rot.

And there is the issue of pride. It is to do with cultural heritage. Like Hispanics speak Spanish, I wonder if the African Americans should not pick up Swahili for pride purposes. There has to be a conscious affirmation of pride.

Without internalized racism, racism would die in the vacuum. About one third of the fight against racism is right there inside the black community. Black people partly hate themselves as well. It is to do with the wider persistent racism. But work can begin at home. Counter the self hate.

The question if Barack Obama is black enough is self hate talking. That talk has to stop. If you refuse to fight self hate, what right to you have to fight hate?

Black On Barack Racism
Pig In The Barn, Ailes At Fox News
Fox, Barack, Islam
Wolf Hitler, I mean Bitler, Blitler, Whatever
Bill O'Reilly, Bill O'Rama, Whatever The F___ His Name Is
Barack, Fox, MLK, Mandela

Rudy Romney: Mean On Immigration

These two are basically saying the 12 million should be transported out of the country, and while the country is at it, life should be made as miserable as possible for them through police harassments and what not, so they leave on their own.

This is mean. This is unrealistic. This is racist. This makes no economic sense. This makes no globalization sense. It does not even make security sense to force as many illegals to go under the carpet as possible.

Rudy was major league insensitive to the ethnic minorities in the city when he tried to tackle crime as Mayor. Bloomberg has manged better crime control without any of Rudy's insensitivity. Italian Rudy tries too hard to be white and fit in with the WASPs.

The immigration issue is not a crime control issue, a strict law and order problem like Rudy is portraying. America is a country of immigrants. America's birth and growth have not been crimes, or have they, Rudy?

I Am Like Warren Buffett

I am rooting for a Barack-Hillary ticket. I like them both.

Hillary, Ted

Hillary has been a pretty good Senator, but then so has Ted Kennedy. Like John Kennedy said of Lyndon Johnson, agreeing with Johnson who argued he had been great in the Senate. "And that is why I think he should continue in the Senate."

Experience

Obama has been an elected official longer than Hillary. I think experience matters.

In The News

Obama and Clinton Find Pluses in Poll New York Times a choice between change and experience .... 41 percent citing fresh ideas and 44 percent citing experience .... Democrats viewed Mr. Obama as an agent of change. Two-thirds said he would seek new ways of solving the country’s problems .... About half the Democratic primary voters also perceive Mr. Obama as more likable, while 39 percent find Mrs. Clinton more likable. .... 80 percent of Democrats say Mrs. Clinton has “the right kind of experience to be a good president,” while 41 percent say that of Mr. Obama. ..... 76 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of voters over all say she could win the presidency if she wins her party’s nomination ...... As to why he could not, 37 percent said he was inexperienced and 18 percent said because he is black.
A Conversation With Obama Washington Post three weeks as the target of attack from his opponents
Poll: Inexperience may hurt Obama United Press International
Buffett is Obama meal ticket Chicago Tribune praising the Illinois Democrat and calling for a federal tax system that would charge the rich more. ...... Buffett, who can move markets with a few syllables and is increasingly trying to do the same in politics .... "Barack is here to increase the abundance, but to spread it around a little more so that it is inclusive prosperity," Buffett said. ...... Buffett, who joked that it is "lonely" being a Democrat in Nebraska ..... The Wall Street wizard also said it is time to "fire the administration." ..... "Not only am I a less successful investor, but my jokes aren't as funny ...... Obama said he gets plenty of advice on the campaign trail, but "Warren Buffett is one of those people that I listen to." .... The senator also ribbed the affluent audience for the relatively low price of admission. "Normally we charge extra when Michelle is here ....... "We are blessed with a very strong field on the Democratic side," said Obama, as a smiling Buffett looked on. "I think she's smart. I think she's tough. I think she is capable. I think she would be a capable president." ....... Susie Buffett ..... Like much of the political world, she is amazed by the rapid political rise of the man who visited her home that crisp fall day in 2005 without an entourage or single television camera. ......... "We're fully supporting Barack and Hillary," Susie Buffett said. ..... Before this event, Obama did not have a single major Nebraska money raiser among his army of more than 100 top fundraisers nationwide ...... Warren Buffett and his wife, Astrid Menks, each donated the maximum $4,600 to Obama's campaign in April, and so did Susie Buffett, Federal Election Commission records show. Both Warren and Susie Buffett donated the maximum to Clinton in January. ........ When Obama visited Omaha in 2005 .... "I've got a conviction about him that I don't get very often," he told the Tribune at the time. "He has as much potential as anyone I've seen to have an important impact over his lifetime on the course that America takes." ........ Robert Gibbs, Obama's communications director, said another event with Buffett is in the works for later this year in a bigger, yet-to-be-determined city
Now it's Obama's turn to get Buffett help Chicago Sun-Times
Obama Can Spread Prosperity, Fairness, Buffett Says (Update1) Bloomberg
Obama Says Bush Not Solely to Blame Washington Post We can't just go about business as usual and think it's going to turn out differently .... average Americans must be brought back to the table when dealing with every issue, from health care to education to trade. ...... "We've got to make sure workers are represented, not just CEOs. We've got to make sure patients are represented and the nurses are represented, not just drug companies ..... he would post all non-emergency bills online for five days before he signed them into law .... he would post all meetings between lobbyists and government agencies online. ...... he would require Cabinet officials to speak to Americans via national broadband town-hall style meetings to discuss issues at their agencies ..... co-authoring a bill that requires all government spending to be posted online ...... during his time as a state lawmaker he helped to create hospital report cards so that patients could understand the quality of care offered at each hospital.
Obama: Not All Problems Due to Bush Newsroom America
Obama: Not Everything Is Bush’s Fault Truthdig
Why Rove Attacked Clinton Atlantic Online This just underscores the old politics that we've been running against." In other words: Democrats are tired of Bush v. Clinton fights.
Rove says Clinton flawed presidential candidate Reuters "There is no candidate on record, a front-runner for a party's nomination, who has entered the primary season with negatives as high as she has ....... "She's not like a fresh and new character. She's someone who has been essentially known to the American people for 16 years. It's going to be hard to change the perceptions that people have had ...... many Republicans consider her a calculating political opportunist, and a liberal who tried to take America to an overly bureaucratic health care system ........ she did have the highest unfavorable rating of the leading Democratic candidates .... expects to play an informal role in the 2008 race, said Republicans can win by demonstrating "confidence and clarity in telling the American people what you want to do and how that contrasts with your opponent." ..... he has close associates and proteges working at virtually all of their presidential campaigns. ...... Bush has protected him by asserting "executive privilege," declaring that aides should not be forced to testify about what they tell the president. .... "I left knowing they're not going to leave me alone," Rove said. "They are obsessed."
What's Behind Clinton's Edge CBS News you'd do well not to put too much into the new CBS News poll showing Hillary Clinton with a wide (45-25-14) lead over Barack Obama and John Edwards. As they say in the fine print in airline ads, these numbers are subject to change without a whole lot of notice. ...... "experience"-minded voters prefer Clinton over Obama by more than 3-1. But among the "fresh ideas" voters, Obama holds only a three-point advantage. ..... "Ready to Lead, Ready to Change." ..... The poll also asked about Obama's name. One in 10 respondents said it sounded somehow foreign or strange--and four in 10 thought it might be a problem for voters. ....... the challenge for Obama is twofold: convince voters he does have the experience--or at last the judgment--for the White House, and define what he means by "change" a lot more sharply than he has so far.
John Edwards Lowers Nevada's Status; Gets Warning From Harry Reid Yahoo! News "Any candidate who chooses to ignore Nevada and its rich diversity does so at their own peril." ..... Hillary Clinton in the mean time has issued a statement that she is expanding her offices and campaign representation in Nevada. ..... a major Democratic funder had stated that Reid had quietly, subtly offered Hillary Clinton a deal: that he would step down as Senate Majority Leader in 2009 in her favor if she would not run for the presidency. ....... Harry Reid was using his influence to pry apart the stranglehold that the Northeastern liberal establishment had in picking presidential aspirants. ..... Reid also maneuvered moving up the dates of the Nevada caucus between the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary to assure a solid voice for the West -- and for working class, Hispanic-American, and non-WASP Democrats who were not as well represented in the Northeast voting establishment. ........ Hillary Clinton now leads with nearly 40% of voters among Democratic Nevadans. Edwards trails in third place behind Clinton and Obama. ..... Edwards' new course -- while perhaps essential given realistic calculations of resource constraints -- may signal the foreshocks of a collapsing campaign.
Edwards brings campaign staffers from Nevada to Iowa DesMoinesRegister.com
Edwards Moves Some Staff From Nevada Newsday
Nepal editors say Maoists targeting media freedom Reuters India
Nepal police release 24 Maoists detained during protest Times of India
Nepal to open telecom sector wider to foreigners Economic Times
Rudy Giuliani And The Solubility of Illegal Immigration Atlantic Online “As the Mayor made clear in his comments over a decade ago the technology simply did not exist to completely secure the border in 1996. Reasonable people understand we have made great technological strides in the past 11 years and our national security now depends on stopping the flow of illegal immigrants to our country. The fact of the matter is we can and must end illegal immigration, and Mayor Giuliani is the leader our country needs to get it done.” ..... Romney is on safer ground when he argues that Giuliani is weak on immigration, not that he's changed his position.
Can Rudy Giuliani Solve America's Immigration Mess? FOX News He's trying to woo conservative voters by attacking the immigration problem. .... a border stat program ... very similar to my CompStat program. Nobody thought we could reduce crime in New York. We reduced crime more than any other city. ..... a tamper-proof I.D. card for every foreigner in this country with biometric data, fingerprints... ...... if you don't have that card... .. you get thrown out of the country. ...... it would take, like, seconds to do it. .... I did that back in 1994 with welfare people. And it was a big, big, horrible thing that I was doing. I was asking welfare people to be biometrically identified by their fingerprints. ........ Americanization. At the end of the road, everybody who becomes a citizen, no matter what their status was before or how you're dealing with it, what penalties they have to pay, has to speak, read and write English. ...... I'm the biggest advocate of legal immigration you're going to find. But it's part of assimilation. ...... The surge and bringing about stability in Iraq. The prerequisite to having a democracy or to having a non-corrupt government, or to have a government that works, is to have a degree of stability so people can go about their lives. Then they can stop worrying. ....... I will only react to public opinion polls if I think they're right ..... I don't think it's a matter of time. I think it's a matter of seeing what kind of progress you're making. ...... The New York Times ... O'REILLY: No, they don't like you. They don't like me either ..... I said that there are ways in which you can lower taxes and actually get more revenues. ..... the reality is, The Times never ran a government. I did. And I actually accomplished that. I actually lowered taxes and made more money. ...... I've cut 40 percent more from lower tax than from the higher tax. ..... What we've pointed out is that families should be kept private, that that's part of my private life, that I talk as little about that as possible so that my children can have the maximum degree of privacy. ...... in the next 18 months, as you try to be president of the United States, you're going to say, "My family is private."
Palestinian state would endanger US, warns Giuliani Guardian Unlimited the creation of a Palestinian state at present because it would "support terrorism" and endanger US security. .... he would be prepared to destroy Iran's nuclear plants "should all else fail". ...... "too much emphasis" had been placed on promoting negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. ..... "It is not in the interest of the United States, at a time when it is being threatened by Islamist terrorists, to assist the creation of another state that will support terrorism. ...... "Palestinian statehood will have to be earned through sustained good governance, a clear commitment to fighting terrorism, and a willingness to live in peace with Israel." ..... "The theocrats ruling Iran need to understand that we can wield the stick as well as the carrot, by undermining popular support for their regime, damaging the Iranian economy, weakening Iran's military and, should all else fail, destroying its nuclear infrastructure," he warned. ....... In 1995 he barred Mr Arafat from city-sponsored events held to celebrate the United Nations' 50th anniversary. He even ordered Mr Arafat be removed when he appeared at a Lincoln Centre concert.
Giuliani leads Republican presidential field in California San Jose Mercury News

Obama runs hot, Clinton stays cool for Black journalists Minnesota Spokesman Recorder, MN
Black enough to invite hope Seattle Times
Concentrate on Obama's record, not his color Miami Herald
The "Black Enough" Question: Who's Asking? Washington Post Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and his wife Michelle have each said repeatedly -- and increasingly forcefully -- in recent days that they're fed up with the "black enough" debate. ..... she was frustrated by the notion that her husband -- the son of a white mother and Kenyan father -- was somehow not authentically connected to the American black experience and that "we are still struggling as a people with what is black." ...... Obama told the National Association of Black Journalists that "I think in part we're still locked in this notion if you appeal to white folks, there must be something wrong." .... A day earlier, the group had dedicated an entire session of its annual convention to debating the issue. ..... Michelle Obama weighed in with her strongest comments yet, calling on everyone to "stop that nonsense" in asking if he is "black enough" to appeal to African American voters. "We are messing with the heads of our children," by raising the question, she told a group of mainly black women at a fundraiser in Chicago's predominantly black South Side. ...... a new generation of black leader. .... Obama's discussion of his upbringing in Hawaii and his comments on rising above racial problems, may not be reassuring to blacks.
Ciara elected to lead National Association of Black Journalists The Virginian-Pilot, VA
Why is there a Black journalism organization? Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Clarence Page: Is Obama black enough or too black? Kankakee Daily Journal
Black Journalists Tackle the 'Black Enough' Question NPR
Clinton talks to black journalists Chicago Tribune, United States
Black journalists to Clinton: Are you black enough? USA Today
Obama addresses black journalists Earthtimes.org Barack Obama says his background in civil rights and community organizing makes him more aware of black issues than his rivals...... told the National Association of Black Journalists they should banish criticism that he is "not black enough .... "This is a troubling question, for it to be perpetrated through our [black] press, and we should ask ourselves why that is," Obama told a crowd of about 1,500 at the NABJ's 32nd annual convention Friday. ..... Obama said his presidency would change the racial dynamics of the country immediately with his wife as first lady and the two of them playing with their children on the White House lawn. .... "Those images change how America looks," Obama said. "It changes how white children think about black children and it changes how black children think about black children."
A Conversation With Obama Washington Post eager to sharpen his differences with her. At no time did he launch an attack on the Democratic front-runner. He was careful in his choice of words and generally respectful of his leading rival. Still, he was anything but timid about pointing out areas of disagreement and projected self-confidence in arguing that he can do politically what Clinton may be incapable of doing. ....... the four-month sprint from Labor Day to the Iowa caucuses. ...... I think I can redraw the political map. I think I can break out of the 50-plus-one model of electioneering ....... Before Democratic audiences, she can be withering in her attacks on the President Bush and Republicans and strident in her language. ..... "My race for the U.S. Senate," he said, "was much more improbable than my race now for the presidency." ....... despite a short resume in national politics, he is in second place in the national polls, competitive in the early states, has raised more money than the Clinton fundraising machine and has far more donors than any other candidate. .... Come Labor Day, the race will intensify.
Obama's Facts and Afghanistan's Casualties Washington Post
Obama Would Unite U.S. "More Effectively" "ideological gridlock." ..... Some of those battles in the '90s that she went through were the result of some pretty unfair attacks on the Clintons. ..... Clinton's foreign policy views risk continued international perceptions of U.S. arrogance ..... some of the ideological battles that we fought during the '90s that were really extensions of battles we fought since the '60s ...... he conceded that because many Democrats do not know him as well as they do Clinton, she is drawing more support nationally ...... With all the calendars moved up, this is going to be a four-month race ...... acknowledged that he has yet to master the requirements of multi-candidate forums with strict time limits for answers. ...... the 60-second-format debates, or even 90-second, are tough for me ..... Experience can be a proxy for good judgment, but it isn't always ..... he is on the more solid ground in the foreign policy debate underway and that the back-and-forth has helped make clear the distinctions ...... outline in greater detail the changes he would make in health care, education, energy policy and national security policy ...... "The insurance and drug companies can have a seat at the table in our health-care debate; they just can't buy all the chairs," he said. "My argument is not that they are the source of all evil. My argument is that things are out of balance in Washington and that their influence is disproportionate."
Obama Responds to Clinton Criticism
AP Rides to Obama's Rescue American Thinker enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians ..... Western forces have been killing civilians at a faster rate than the insurgents have been killing civilians. .... As of Aug. 1, the AP count shows that while militants killed 231 civilians in attacks in 2007, Western forces killed 286.
Obama Aims to Sharpen Lines Between Himself and Clinton Washington Post
What Republicans See in Obama Washington Post independents and Republicans seem to recognize that Obama has the potential to appeal to voters outside the Democratic base -- but Democratic voters themselves don't yet seem to be taking that fully into account in their thinking about whom to nominate. ...... whether Obama is able to carve into Clinton's status as the party's frontrunner. ..... how Clinton had won over people in New York after being elected to the Senate ...... Too many people say, 'There's something about her I don't like .... "She's been in the public eye for a long time, and everyone's had a long time to form opinions about her. I'm not sure she can turn it around."
Obama Supporters Contend National Polling Is “Rigged.” Blogger News Network every national poll is “rigged” against “progressives” ..... OK. Get this. Just get this. Two weeks ago, Senator Barack Obama was tied — that’s right, tied — with Senator Hillary Clinton for the 2008 Democratic Presidential race in the then latest USA Today / Gallup Poll. Now, USA Today / Gallup didn’t do a poll in May, and certainly not two weeks apart, but this new one says that Senator Clinton has a large lead. What? ......... Obama’s sudden 9 point jump in the June 1 poll. .... the netroot’s excuse for “progressive” failings in national polling
White House Criticizes Clinton Ad Washington Post "If you're a family that is struggling and you don't have health care, you are invisible to this president," the New York senator says in the ad. "If you're a single mom trying to find affordable child care so you can go to work, you're invisible too. The ad also argued that U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are "invisible" to Bush. ...... Happy to be in a debate with the White House, the Clinton campaign quickly .... "Apparently I've struck a nerve. The White House just attacked me a few minutes ago," Clinton said.
Hillary the heavyweight MSNBC The results suggest Clinton's strategy of keeping one eye on the primary and another on the general may be appealing to primary voters hungry for a Democratic win after eight years of GOP rule. ..... Clinton, Obama and Edwards locked in a dead heat in Iowa. ....... will Democratic voters want to nominate someone they like, or someone they respect?
Clinton's Lead Increases Slightly Hartford Courant "The 'Hillary hostility' factor is constant and feeds doubts about whether she can win in November 2008," Carroll said. ...... Clinton is viewed favorably by 48 percent of those polled--but unfavorably by a high 43 percent, the most of any of the major contenders. ..... Barack Obama, currently Clinton's strongest challenger, was seen unfavorably by 22 percent .... Clinton continues to top the Democratic field, with 36 percent, some 15 percentage points ahead of Obama

Men.Style.Com "I’m in this to win, I want to win, and I think we will win. But I’m also going to emerge intact. I’m going to be Barack Obama and not some parody." ...... "You don’t get to where Obama is by being Mr. Goodie every day,” one of his old friends says. “You do have to compromise your values." ..... his nine-car motorcade ..... complains to Obama that his staff forced her to keep away many locals who wanted to see the senator today. “You got me in trouble,” she says. “Everybody wants to see you! Everybody! ” Obama quickly diffuses the mini-controversy by expressing some mild irritation himself. “Why couldn’t they come see me?” he chides one of his local staffers. ........ one of the most uplifting speeches in memory ...... The contrast between the image of Obama at the height of his rhetorical powers and the slight and professorial candidate they meet in person can be jarring for many people. ...... a campaign can do funny things to a man. ........ Obama, who earned his political education in Chicago’s tribal wards, is more of an old-fashioned pol than you think. ........ an ambitious, prickly, and occasionally ruthless politician ...... to lift up the nation in a way no politician has in nearly half a century. ..... “I feel that there is a piece of me in everybody.” ...... “One of the things that I’m going to do when I’m in there,” Obama says with the extreme politeness he turns on when saying something that won’t fully please his interlocutor ....... Obama revels in moments like these, when he has the chance to turn down an easy pander and tell a hard truth. ...... the Democratic contest is really about who will be the most transformational president. ...... When they compared the percentage of Democrats who said they strongly approved of Obama with the percentage who said they would vote for him, they found that the latter number was significantly lower than the former. Inside the campaign, aides dubbed this “the Gap.” ....... the calculus for Hillary voters was much simpler: Democrats who liked her knew all they needed to know about her. But for Obama voters, there were questions. Was he tough enough? Did he have enough experience? Could he actually win in the general election? ......... “The fact of the matter is, I have the most specific plan in terms of how to get out of Iraq of any candidate,” he lectured us. “I have delivered speeches over the course of the two years, before I started running for president, on every major issue out there, whether it’s education, health care, or energy. I’ve written two books that have sold close to a million copies each that probably give people more insight into how I think and how I feel about the issues facing America than any candidate in the field, and probably any candidate who’s run for office in recent memory. The problem is not that the information is not out there. The problem is that that’s not what you guys have been reporting on. You’ve been reporting on how I look in a swimsuit.” ............. After a high school reporter asked Obama an earnest question about education, Obama turned to me and some other journalists and quipped, “Take some notes, guys. That’s how you do it.” ........ His oppo staff, a team of eight or so, led by the former head of the Democratic National Committee’s research department, prepared a memo outlining the Clintons’ ties to allegedly shady Indian and Indian-American donors and businesses. ........ He spoke slowly and was clearly wrestling with the tricky balance between decrying attack politics and winning an election. ..... “The document didn’t describe my views, so even if it hadn’t been leaked I wouldn’t have been happy with it. ...... Iowa caucus-goers, the most entitled voters in America. ...... the Obama doctrine: Don’t start a fight, but respond with overwhelming force when attacked. ...... Obama may be a once-in-a-generation politician, but his campaign is staffed with fairly conventional Democratic talent. ..... Obama knows Hillary is not going to collapse of her own accord. To close the Gap, you have to yank her down a little. .... “We’re not running the race thinking we’re the horse in second,” he said, “and that ultimately the horse in first is just going to stop running.” ........ No matter how much chaos buzzes around him, Obama has a way of projecting total calm at moments like these. It’s a few minutes before showtime, and though his staffers are getting increasingly agitated, Obama stands patiently chatting with a local high school student who’s asked about his tenure as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. ......... “At some point, if you’ve got insomnia, then that’s what you do, pick up a Law Review. It’s not beach reading. It’s not John Grisham. It’s some pretty obscure stuff.” ....... Obama’s 26-year-old head speechwriter ...... I ask him if he gets nervous just before a big speech, and Obama looks at me like I’m crazy. ...... movement building, something Obama has studied and thought about for decades ...... “Movement without organization,” he says, “without policy, without plans, will dissipate. Howard Dean, one could argue, back in 2004 helped to engineer a movement, a movement in opposition to the war. But there wasn’t a structure there and a set of policies and plans that would then lead to governance.” ........ “One of the dangers of movements is that they always want to be completely pure and have everything their way. But politics is about governing and making compromises. And so sometimes folks who come into politics with a movement mentality can be disappointed.” ........ I have never witnessed a politician so genuinely trying to fuse idealism and pragmatism. ...... hinting at what divides him and Hillary, “if it’s all tactics and all politics, and there’s not the idealism, if it’s not touched by that sense of movement, then you actually never bring about change. Then it’s just pure transactions between powerful interests in Washington.” ...... Doodlegate ..... Obama has promised to shake every hand ..... on some issues there is no consensus to be built ...... Obama is on his way to raising more money from a larger pool of donors than any presidential candidate in history. ..... He can parachute into almost any city in America and attract a crowd of thousands. But his poll numbers, both nationally and in the early primary states, still aren’t budging, and the whispers about Obama being the next Howard Dean are growing louder. ......... Obama’s “beer problem.” .... he appeals to the college-educated, “wine sipping” Democrats but isn’t reaching less educated “beer drinkers.” ..... voters with more education are just paying closer attention to the campaign .... Hillary’s support among working-class Democrats is just a result of her famous name. ..... The Iowan is not impressed. “Americans spend as much on Christmas decorations as we do on the war!” he tells Obama. “That’s not true,” Obama says, realizing the conversation has hit a point of diminishing returns. “I appreciate your opinion, and obviously I’m concerned about it, but I respectfully disagree on this.” Next. ...... He is always warm and friendly, but he will probably never be a Bill Clinton-like empathizer-in-chief. “I’ve talked to four or five folks in the same situation,” he tells the woman a little clinically ....... He is in many ways an antipopulist—measured and rational rather than fiery and demagogic. ...... Obama seems to willfully resist the temptation to change his cerebral, sometimes off-putting style. ...... There is nothing less inspiring than watching a Democratic candidate campaign on the perennial issue of prescription drugs. But a third of Iowa caucus-goers are over the age of 65 ....... I am either witnessing the total trivialization of the only inspiring politician in America or just another shrewd political play by someone whose granular understanding of electoral politics is constantly underestimated. .........he is in awe of the giant fun-house media mirror from which everything he does is reflected. ...... the complete loss of privacy and the nonstop spotlight that’s on you at every moment ....... “There’s no U.S. Senate campaign that operates like this,” he says, sounding amazed at the intensity of a presidential campaign. “I think I’ve been surprised at the degree to which small things get magnified in ways that strike me as pretty silly. ......... “I think the story of my campaign is the ongoing struggle to maintain my voice and my compass in a process that in a lot of ways is slightly ridiculous.”

Hillary raises Oprah's Obama bash with a Magic party Los Angeles Times, CA
Magic For Clinton Washington Post
View from New Hampshire: Obama Eases into Nashua Huffington Post, NY With each town hall meeting in New Hampshire, Obama seems to speak in a more confident, winning voice. His answers are more spontaneous. ...... The candidate has loosened up, answers questions freely and improvises. ..... "They didn't see me coming. What is this guy Barack Obama, forty-six years old, black guy, we didn't plan on him," Obama said ..... "China is not yet our enemy. China is a competitor." .... it will seem like the U.S. invaded a country, broke it up, then tried to control their oil.
Obama experiments with small town politics in New Hampshire WJBC News
Obama Rising American Spectator For years, the right has been gearing up for another epic confrontation with the Clinton machine, and it's hard to imagine Hillary would allow a political neophyte to squash her White House ambitions. ..... "Obama can be to liberalism what Ronald Reagan was to conservatism, and that's a friendly face or likable personality that can move the country left ...... immense talents and understandable appeal. ...... a complex and intractable conflict with deep historical, religious, ethical, and cultural roots. ...... "His mind. His charisma. His personality. His background. His passion. His emotion. His oration. His audacity -- he likes that word." ....... When Obama chats with people after campaign events, he looks at them intently, puts his arm around them, or even embraces them. ....... Ann Coulter has written that "only white guilt could explain the insanely hyperbolic descriptions of Obama's 'eloquence.' His speeches are a run-on string of embarrassing, sophomoric Hallmark bromides." This general sense has been echoed throughout conservative blogs. ............ His views could not be more different from those of the staunch conservative Sen. Tom Coburn, but the two worked together on earmark transparency legislation. ...... If Barack disagrees with you or thinks you haven't done something appropriate he's the kind of guy who'll talk to you about it, "Coburn told New York magazine, "He'll come up and reconcile: 'I don't think you were truthful about my bill.'I've seen him do that. On the Senate floor." ....... What Washington does is cause everybody to concentrate on where they disagree as opposed to where they agree," Coburn continued. "But leadership changes that. And Barack's got the capability, I believe-and the pizzazz and the charisma-to be a leader of America, not a leader of Democrats." ......... But unlike others, he was sure to add: "I have no doubt that the President is sincere in believing that his strategy is the right one." ...... "When George Bush steps down from office, the entire world will breathe a sigh of relief," he said ...... whenever he speaks, it's as if September 11 had never happened, as if there weren't terrorist groups throughout the world plotting to attack us, and the only thing we have to fear is "cynicism." ........ "We spend more money on defense than the next 30 nations combined ...... a "new security" that would involve the doubling of foreign aid ..... there are only about 10,000 committed terrorists ..... considering that Democrats vehemently oppose the war, want change, and are sick of divisiveness, it would actually be odd for them to choose somebody who voted for the war, who is the most polarizing figure in politics, and who has already occupied the White House for eight years, over a fresh face who opposed the war all along. ...... the country is too big to go from Bush to Clinton, from Bush to Clinton ..... he would likely have the benefit of a Democratic-controlled legislative branch. ...... A quarter century ago, Ronald Reagan not only won the presidency, he won the argument, selling a generation of Americans on the virtues of individualism and limited government. Just as Reagan's sunny optimism portrayed conservatism in its most positive light, Obama puts a happy face on liberalism. ......... "George Will said of Obama on ABC's This Week. "He's a little like Ronald Reagan in this regard: Reagan used to drive people crazy, in the Democratic Party, because they'd say the public doesn't agree with him on this or this or this or this, and they vote for him. They voted for him because they said we like him, he's not off putting, he's not frightening. And I think this is another 1980." ........ arguing that most of the problems minority groups face are ones confronted by most Americans. ...... "Scrub language of all religious content, and we forfeit the imagery and terminology through which millions of Americans understand both their personal morality and social justice." ........ Under Bush, the size of government has increased at a faster rate than during any administration since Lyndon Johnson's, and it has given us the monstrosities of the Medicare prescription drug benefit and No Child Left Behind. ..... "Once volunteers "start drinking the Obama juice, "Shoman said, "you can't find enough for them to do."
The Melodrama of Barack Obama The Conservative Voice, NC
Barack Obama is Confident About His New Foreign Policy Approach Associated Content, CO Obama who took a new and distinct approach on foreign affairs ..... failed to reach out to Pakistan's democratic majority .... He vividly said it is wrong to outsourced the hunt for Bin Laden and his group to Pakistan, who in someway, are scared to take a decisive action against the network ......... You don't need thousands of American troops to take out a meeting of high-level terrorists. Any student of the American military knows that we have many options to target terrorists with limited force, many of which involve no American boots on the ground. ......... Obama is deeply confident about his new approach in combating a new enemy that thinks outside the conventional wisdom in causing a groundbreaking havoc around the world. He also noted that the arrogant approach of the past years, which have placed the public desires as secondary to the "supreme knowledge" of the few Washington based foreign "experts," should be discarded, and let the good people of America have a say in how their country is run.
Obama Faces Protests From Pakistani Americans New California Media, CA He said his foreign policy will focus on diplomacy with all (even the enemies), troop pullback from Iraq, closing of Guantanamo Bay prison, and increased funding for education programs worldwide. At the same time, tough action needs to be undertaken against hardened terrorists.
Obama Poses for GQ to Dispel 'All Style, No Substance' Talk Wonkette (satire), DC Long story short: he likes change and hope and shit, and also everyone loves him but for some reason no one wants to vote for him. But boy, does he photograph well!
Fighting the Arugula Factor Newsweek
Obama enthusiasts go to camp Boston Globe, United States Participants learned how to canvass. They learned how to raise money by throwing house parties in their neighborhoods. They learned how the Iowa caucus works. They learned how to use the press. They learned how to talk on people's doorsteps about Obama's policy positions. ..... Camp Obama shows that his base of volunteers is big and growing, a force that his campaign hopes will make the difference by the time the primaries begin next year.
Obama First Pol To Grace GQ Cover In 15 Years mediabistro.com, NY
Campaign: Fla. Still In Obama's Plans Guardian Unlimited, UK Florida, considered the largest swing state, moved its presidential primary to Jan. 29, ahead of every state except Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. The Democratic National Committee has said the state will lose half its delegates because the primary will be held before Feb. 5.
Sparring Partners New Yorker, United States
Obama's strange politics Cincinnati Post, OH
Text: Camp Obama Opens in St. Louis MyFox Saint Louis, MO The training prepares them to handle door to door canvassing, media contacts, online organizing and phone banks. ..... "we're raring to go to get out there and start educating people and talking to people registering people to vote.”

Obama profits from Clinton's fundraising glitch Guardian Unlimited After the revisions, she and Mr Obama are now tied at $25.6m each.
Obama Gets Warning From Voter ABC News he risks becoming part of the usual political scene if he keeps being drawn into well-publicized disputes with rivals ...... a small gathering at a Hanover restaurant Monday morning that drew eight people .... Obama explained infighting among the candidates is part of the process. ..... that is part of the hazing that's required for the job," he said. ...... "If they're spending a billion dollars on lobbying over 10 years they're averaging $100 million a year that carries weight in Washington. The congressmen will deny it, but they're not spending it just to provide good information," he said. ......... Obama said the answer to health care like many policies is to reduce lobbyists' power. ...... "What's missing is not the plan, it's the sense of urgency and the willingness to take on special interests," Obama said. "It's not just enough to change political parties. For us to make those big changes, we're going to need all of you to be engaged."
Hillary Clinton: More disappointing than liberal Newsday A woman with a chance to win the highest office in the land? Where do I pull the lever? ..... despite my belief that the world desperately needs more women in positions of power, Clinton has been a real disappointment to me. ..... Why has it been so difficult for her to acknowledge that her vote to support the Iraq War was a mistake? ...... Why can't Clinton come clean and refuse to take money from lobbyists? ..... Women - and men, for that matter - should support the candidate who most reflects their principles, not their anatomy. It's not about "just not liking" Clinton. It's about just not agreeing with her.
The "Black Enough" Question: Who's Asking? Washington Post
Clinton ventures into rural Nevada desert town KESQ
Aiming at Obama: Candidate's campaign remarks draw heavy fire The Register-Guard Is it possible these folks regard the Bush administration's bumbling approach to foreign policy as an appropriate benchmark? Where in the world is anything going right for the United States right now?
Barack Obama and the land of opportunity Malaysia Sun had been elected to the state Senate in 1996, but had been chafing for some time at the limitations of legislating in Springfield ..... in Illinois, as around the country, paths to higher office for black politicians are few. ...... Obama readily acknowledges Moseley Braun's decision "was another example of the stars aligning" ...... Had he been unable to run for the Senate, he says, "I would probably have stepped out of politics for a while." ...... Obama has managed to do the political equivalent of zero to 100 mph in 60 seconds ..... "It's like he cut in line," says Tony Bullock, a former Hill staffer ... "He's become a household name far faster than anyone who doesn't have a hit movie." ...... "He became an important person overnight ..... he's done it because he's cool. Because he's new ....... his political story is a series of random walks and chance encounters ..... "the combination of a first-class intellect and a first-class temperament." ....... bright and attractive, with an air of calm as well as a wonderful speaking voice, hyper-articulate and sometimes pedantic, but also rich, warm, authoritative and reassuring ...... he has been talking about the presidency for more than a decade ...... "On the one hand, he's this laid-back guy from Hawaii. On the other hand, he's vaulted himself into the race for president of the United States. And that doesn't happen by accident." ....... The second Barack Hussein Obama was born in 1961. ...... Honolulu, where he was largely insulated from the overt racism of 1970s America but became increasingly aware of the lack of African Americans around him. ........ Obama portrays himself as drifting through high school, a little directionless and rebellious. It was becoming clear to him that there were aspects of his identity that white family members couldn't help him sort out. .......... Chicago's South Side, home to one of the nation's largest African American communities. ....... He asked his wife, who is of Japanese descent, if "Obama" might be a Japanese name, and she said it might. ........ terrible racial tension. ...... Obama was polite and winning, willing to work with pastors, separatists and grandmothers alike. He was a good listener ...... You're listening for story, because story communicates more about a person than simply facts. ..... One of the remarkable things is how well he listens to people who are opposed to him. ...... "His dad was not practical, not effective personally. His personal life was a wreck -- also his career in Kenya -- and Barack did not want to follow that ........ it was at Harvard Law School that Obama's political skills -- and aspirations -- would emerge rather dramatically. All that South Side dispute mediation prepared him well to operate in a more elite but equally factionalized atmosphere. ...... "tremendous fights over tenure decisions for women and minorities." ....... "He spoke with a kind of ability to rise above the conversation and summarize it and reframe it. ..... was also among the most driven in his class ..... a "very charged, very hostile atmosphere." ...... dislikes conflict and confrontation ..... He had spent the summer working at Sidley Austin in Chicago, where he met Michelle Robinson ...... Chicago, where he had found the community he had missed growing up ...... a daylong ritual with all the secrecy and silliness of any Ivy League selection process ....... "The president of the law review is regarded as the most intellectually savvy person on campus ........ the publicity around the first African American president. There were national newspaper articles and a book contract to write his life story. ......... When word came back that Obama was not interested, Mikva assumed he wanted to clerk for a black judge. But Obama simply didn't want to clerk at all. Instead, he wrote his memoir, took a job with Judson Miner's civil rights practice, worked on a voter registration drive and began making political contacts........... In 1992, Obama married Michelle, who wasn't "gung-ho on the political bandwagon ..... saying that when she was dating Barack, "we didn't talk about politics specifically." ..... Michelle, who was notoriously picky about her boyfriends, asked Craig, now the men's basketball coach at Brown University, to take Obama out on the ball court to get a sense of his character. Obama passed that test -- he wasn't a ball hog or a hotshot ......... Robinson, who assumed Obama meant he'd like to run for city alderman. "He said no -- at some point he'd like to run for the U.S. Senate ........ Michelle Obama, who initially tried to talk her husband out of running for office. ....... Then, noting irregularities in the petitions of his other primary opponents, Obama knocked them all out of the race. He went on to win and was sworn into the state Senate in January 1997, and started commuting to Springfield. ....... "He was transparently and lovably ambitious ..... It was his way of listening astutely to the conversations, offering an embracing, objective view: Here's how what everybody says fits together ...... one Senate colleague described him as so ambitious that given the chance, he'd run for "king of the world." ....... when Mikva met with Obama, he found him unusually dispirited. "That was the one time he semi-seriously thought about giving up politics. He was frustrated; he had been [in the state Senate] for four years; the pay is very modest. It seemed that whatever his ambitions were, there wasn't going to be a channel for them." ........ "Every time Barack saw an opportunity, he felt like it could be his last." ..... Blair Hull, a wealthy stock trader who had sold his company to Goldman Sachs for $531 million. ...... In The Audacity of Hope, Obama writes how put off he was by the magnitude of the fundraising effort a Senate race requires. "I started engaging in elaborate games of avoidance during call time -- frequent bathroom breaks, extended coffee runs." But he steeled himself for the task and learned to set aside "any sense of shame I once had in asking strangers for large sums of money." ....... David Axelrod, the leading Democratic campaign consultant in Illinois ...... He was, it now became clear, a genuine crossover politician, something that put Obama on the national map. ...... Now the cherries were falling into place furiously. ...... Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill, who had read some of the coverage following Obama's primary victory, proposed Obama. ....... Axelrod told Obama, who says he found it a bit hard to believe. "I have to say, I was skeptical," Obama says. "Traditionally -- obviously -- that slot is not given to a state senator." ...... after he received the call in his car, he marveled to his driver, "I guess this is pretty big." ....... Another 9 million people saw the speech on the cable channels covering the convention. ..... On the floor, Gibbs recalls, he and Axelrod sensed the rapture of the crowd and looked at each other "like two kids at Christmas." ....... The speech vaulted Obama into mega-celebrity. "It's like walking around with Michael Jordan now," says his brother-in-law Craig Robinson. As for money: "It wasn't a matter of fundraising anymore," says one of his consultants, Joe McLean. "It was just a matter of collecting money." ........ when people hear the name "Barack Obama," the words that come to mind are "new," "young," "charismatic" and "smart." ..... "A large number of Americans would like to feel they're in a country where someone like that could be president." ...... For black politicians, to begin a speech by praising God is "the black secret handshake," she says. "It's like saying, 'Joe sent me.'" ...... "He doesn't look like a sub-Saharan African, and he doesn't have an accent ...... Obama appeals to white voters because he enables them to support a black man without having to confront the legacy of slavery ...... represents biracialism -- what one supporter calls "the emerging majority demographic ....... He is a touchy kind of mingler; he tends to put his hands on an arm or shoulder while talking, in an easy, friendly, intimate way. ...... The crowds he attracted gave him, Axelrod says, "a heightened sense of what he could accomplish." ....... For the first time in more than 50 years, there is no incumbent president or vice president running for the White House. An opportunity like that is priceless. "You can't choose the times," says Axelrod. "The times choose you."