THE PERSISTENT IRRITATION

Episode 44: A New Hope

[Read along tonight, and then let's get ready for November:]

Tonight, after fifty-four hard-fought contests, our primary season has finally come to an end.

Sixteen months have passed since we first stood together on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois.  Thousands of miles have been traveled. Millions of voices have been heard. And because of what you said -- because you decided that change must come to Washington; because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest; because you chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another -- a journey that will bring a new and better day to America. Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

This is our moment. This is our time.

Courtesy of the Obama campaign:

And now we have Tom Hanks

Superdelegates take note:

 

The junior Jedi from Illinois

Holy crap is this excellent.

Watching for Pigs on the Wing

Roger Waters weighs in on the democratic primary during his performance at Coachella Music Festival. From the AP.

.. Waters' biggest prop was an inflatable pig the size of a school bus that emerged while he played a version of "Pigs" from 1977's capitalism critique, "Animals."

The pig, which was led above the crowd from lines held on the ground, displayed the words "Don't be led to the slaughter" and a cartoon of Uncle Sam wielding two bloody cleavers. The other side read "Fear builds walls."

The underside of the pig simply read "Obama" with a checked ballot box alongside.

 

Recipe Gate hits home

Not a lot of time to post today, but I gotta get this out to the masses (which means all 11 of you who read this site).

From the Huffington Post:

This past Sunday, Lauren Handel, an eagle-eyed attorney from New York, was searching for a specific recipe from Giada DeLaurentis, a chef on the Food Network. Yet whenever she Googled the different ingredients in the recipe, the oddest thing happened: not only did the Food Network's site come up, as expected, but so did John McCain's campaign site.

Turns out she also pilfered a recipe from the wife of Jimmy S.

 

Goodbye, Columbus

It was a tough slog in Columbus, Ohio this weekend. Hope, inspiration and responsible leadership were apparently no match for rainy weather and negative campaigning.

On the upside, I was fortunate to meet some great people who are taking ownership in this campaign, and I continue to be amazed by the community spirit that has evolved. Hats off to the entire Democracy Drive field office and all the local and out-of-state volunteers who fought the good fight even in unpleasant conditions.

But perhaps the most inspirational moment came on Sunday morning, when we were dispatched to the Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church to represent the campaign. Pastor Reeves welcomed us with open arms, then gave the whole flock the full treatment. For three and a half hours, he preached, the choir sang, and we all got a got a good dose of the Holy Spirit.

Check it out if you're ever in Columbus. I know I'll be back.

999,999 plus you

Senator Obama is just a few people shy of having one million supporters. Now is your chance to get in on the ground floor before this campaign really takes off. From an email I received from the campaign earlier today:

Christopher --

We learned something extraordinary since I wrote to you last night.

We've crunched all the numbers and discovered that we are within striking distance of something historic: one million people donating to this campaign.

Think about that ... nearly one million people taking ownership of this movement, five dollars or twenty-five dollars at a time.

We're already more than 900,000 strong, including over half-a-million donating so far this year. This unprecedented foundation of support has built a campaign that has shaken the status quo and proven that ordinary people can compete in a political process too often dominated by special interests.

Unlike Senator Clinton or Senator McCain, we haven't taken a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs. Our campaign is responsible to no one but the people.

One million donors would be a remarkable feat -- something that's never been done before in a presidential primary and something no one ever thought would be possible for us. And your generosity made it possible.

But it's going to take an incredible organizing effort to bring in 100,000 new donors before March 4th.

If you haven't already done so, please donate via my Obama fundraising website, listed on the links on the left side of this site or by clicking here.

It doesn't take much... $25, $10, even $5 will work. C'mon, you know you want to.

Bring back our democracy?

I don't know if this was campaign-endorsed. Let me know if you can watch it without squirming.

Just pick one

In Wisconsin, Obama tells it as it is.

Barack Obama is no Packers fan, even in G.B.

by John McCormick

GREEN BAY, Wis. – In political theater, it was as predictable as the sun coming up -- an equally predictable analogy.

Within two minutes of taking the stage here this evening at the Kress Center arena, Sen. Barack Obama (of Chicago) made a Bears-Packers joke, as he made note of Green Bay Packer Brady Poppinga in the audience as a supporter.

"It is hard for a Packer to support a Bears fan," the Illinois Democrat said, triggering some boos. "But you would not want some guy to come up here and say he was a Packers fan, when he's a Bear's fan….You gotta stick with your team, even when they don't break 500, even when they don't make the playoffs, even when they make you tear your hair out."

Contrast this to Hillary's response to a similar situation.

Mrs. Clinton Takes Middle Ground: She Roots for Subway Series

By ADAM NAGOURNEY

Published: October 14, 1999

The Mets were battling for the National League pennant in Atlanta. The Yankees were going up against the Red Sox in the Bronx. And Hillary Rodham Clinton was here in Westchester County today for a news conference devoted to epidemiology, when what is arguably the most difficult question any candidate in New York could confront this fall whizzed toward her head:

The Yankees or the Mets?

The answer, it seems, is both.

''I am for a Subway Series!'' the First Lady, who is a probable candidate for the United States Senate, declared. ''I can state that without fear of any contradiction. I think it would be great for New York and hope it comes to pass.''

When I was knocking on doors for Obama in Iowa, I used this Mets/Yankees story to illustrate why Clinton will say anything to get elected. Had she gone with the Mets, she would have been praised by their fan base and scorned by Yanks fans. Same thing if she would have gone with the Yanks. Either way, she would have been appreciated for taking a position.

I suspect the real truth is that she doesn't follow baseball at all. And hey, that would have been fine, too. But  c'mon, political strategy shouldn't dictate your  every move. The middle ground gets you nowhere.