Tonic is at the corner of 29th and 3rd, something like that. On 28th and Lex there is Curry In A Hurry. The official Barack Obama Super Duper Tuesday victory party was in Little India. Good pick. I had a mixed platter Indian dinner on my way to Tonic.
There were so many TV vans on both sides of the road. It was such a sight. And there was a long line. The crowd got so huge, a few other nearby bars had to quickly be arranged as alternate locations. It was a circus. I was already about 15 minutes late but I decided to stay across the street and take it all in for a few minutes. Two young women pedestrians approached me and asked, "Is this where Barack Obama is going to show up?" Yeah, right. They looked excited, like they might be able to catch a glimpse. They looked like they were 18.
"Well, he is in Chicago, but this is where many of the top Obama volunteers in the city are going to gather."
Another passerby asked me what was going on, why the ruckus? I said it was the Obama Victory Party.
"He won?"
"He is going to."
After that I got in line. While you waited you got to peep through the window of the next door bar that was one of the alternate destinations and see some of the early results. The guy ahead of me in line gave a nice recap.
Barack swept the country. He got more states and more delegates.
The white media kept showing Hillary won Michigan and Florida. That is so disrespectful of Howard Dean.
The Kennedy endorsement helped all across the country but not in MA. In MA the voters decided Patrick, Kerry, Kennedy, that was a little bit of an overdose.
I am not complaining about early voting in California. That is a big state's way of making up for not being a January state. I am thinking long term in not complaining. When Bill Clinton was president, he would fly off to California every other month or so. He has a thing for Hollywood.
The Blac - Black, Latino, Asian Coalition - identity is nowhere close to forming. You would think Hispanics and Asians are more racist than whites in terms how they viscerally stayed away from a black candidate. That was one of the shockers to me when I moved to NYC, all these Nepalis talking vile anti-black stuff.
But of course that is not the full picture. The Blac identity has to be forged. It has to be a positive one. It has to be about pride and participation. Plus, as people become more educated, they open up to possibilities.
Hispanics went 2-1 for Hillary, Asians 3-1 in CA. I don't think Barack has the option to try too hard to get the Hispanic and Asian votes. There are more white votes out there. And he has made a firm decision to stick to his broad themes. It took me a little while to realize that. And that is the right decision.
To come so close in CA, NY, NJ, come on. We did good. I am on record hoping we would do 40-60 in CA, NY, and that is what we got.
If we did 40-60 in NY state, we must have pulled even or better in New York City. I would like to know how we did in the city. Where do I go to get the breakdown?
Hillary was looking great on TV. There have been times in January when she looked harried.
I think by now both Barack and Hillary are resigned to the idea it will be a unity ticket. Good thing they like each other. I mean, that glaring possibility has been there all along. But now it is so concrete.
I routinely meet Obama volunteers who are like, no way, not Hillary. Duh, just crunch the numbers, dude.
Lamont is the pearl of the Obama 2008 operation in this city. I have only seen him a few weeks now, I don't know who found him, how he got in, but this guy is a magician. He works the crowd like noone can.
So Tonic is downstairs and upstairs, and from upstairs you can see most of downstairs. After having explored all nooks and corners - quite a task since the crowd was so thick - to look for any familiar faces, I was downstairs next to a nice semi-circular black leather couch, table in between. Lamont appeared out of the blue, stood up on the sittery, placed his left arm on my shoulder for balance, and waved with his right hand once this way, once that way, then twice to the crowd above, and a hey here, and hey there, and he had literally everybody's attention. How do you do that? This guy is supple. Then he led the chants. I say O, you say Bama, O-Bama, O-Bama. And one more. He got everyone riled up. Then when he cooled down and looked like might call an end to it, Sylvan from upstairs shouted a new chant for him to repeat, O-O-O-Bama-O. He pretended not to hear. Then he did the Barack thing on Sylvan: I Love You Back. Ha.
This guy is sheer joy. And to think Arthur introduced me to him only a few weeks back. He is one of those sunshine cheerful guys.
Bumped into Mistry. It is like as soon as I got in, he left. "Ain't gonna happen," he said. Looked to me like a busy banker was trying to go home and get some sleep before a busy day tomorrow.
Watch Out For Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton had fun in South Carolina. But he is a quick study. He must have learned his lessons. That makes him more dangerous. He is going to work the phones like a demon. But we are in good hands. These superdelegates are not his cousins in Arkansas. These are power brokers. If it is between a past and a future president, I think they will go for the future president. But I guess now Barack has to do some of what he had made hundreds of thousands of volunteers do across the country, and that is phone bank. How many are there? 700? I think the superdelegates from the states he won will be under some pressure to come along.
February should look good for us. March 4, the actual Super Tuesday, will have its day, looks like.
Barack's Victory Speech
I feel like we should keep giving him victories so he keeps giving those wonderful victory speeches.
Bill
Bill Perkins walked straight in when I was in line waiting for my turn. I guess he is a famous, important kind of guy. I call him Bill. When he becomes Mayor, I start calling him Mr. Mayor. But until then I will stick to Bill. Soon he was facing a TV reporter, and then he was gone. I guess he had a few different bars to make happy.
But my greeting Bill sped up things for me. Because the bar was full, you had to wait for someone to come out before you were let in. Soon after I was in. Some old faces, mostly new faces.
In The News
How Clinton won California
Barack Obama ahead of Hillary Clinton Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom
Clinton Lent Campaign $5 Million, Considers More
Many Indonesians cheer Obama in Democrat race Reuters
Feminist leader sides with Obama over Clinton
Barack Obama Wins Missouri Democratic Primary, Fox Projects
Did Obama or Clinton win Super Tuesday?
1 comment:
The facts: Obama is, plainly speaking, just unpopular and unimpressive to Asians and Latinos. His resume outside of his Senate win is nothing to be excited about. Many Latinos and Asians have accomplished much more with many more difficulties. And giving a decent speech in his preacher like oratory fails to make him special. There are thousands of good speakers in America. On the same token his debate skills as one of my latino friends recently said are “unimpressive and novice.” While Hillary is considered to be like family to our communities. Nominating Obama may swing these voting groups more to Republicans in the general election when McCain is the candidate. Obama talks about no red or blue states, but nominating him will certainly convert some blue states to red. I guarantee he loses every swing state with large latino populations and losing large portions of the Asian vote if not all to a McCain. These are just the facts. If Democrats want any chance of winning in November they need to be more realistic and support Hillary. If not, more blue states will become red. I admire Hillary but support no one yet, but I will say that she is the only one that can pick up the swing states due to her Latino and Asian backing. Democrats will be massacred with Obama as a nominee. I want to see change but only Hillary has a chance of beating McCain. Otherwise Florida, Ohio, New Mexico, Nevada and maybe many more states go to McCain. These are real facts.
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