Barack Obama rocks AFSCME forum

Barack Obama's speech at the Take Back America Conference organized by the AFSCME labor union was reportedly stole the show and was one of his finest on record.

Ezra Cline wrote of the speech:

Obama gave the best speech I've seen him give -- and I was at the 2004 Democratic convention.

[Obama] argued that when citizens turn away and the voters accustom themselves to disappointment… a vacuum opens up. And politics, like nature, abhors vacuums. So the lobbyists and the special interests and the lawyers rush in to fill it.

Sen. Obama at Take Back America



Obama campaign releases text messaging feature

Moving forward in its efforts to connect with young people, the Obama team introduced a new texting feature at barackobama.com:

We are excited to announce that we just launched TXT to OBAMA (62262). This is a great and easy way for everyone on the go to stay connected with our movement.

Anyone can simply Text “Go” to OBAMA (62262) to sign up for text messaging.

If you text “GO” to OBAMA (62262) between now and June 30th, you will also receive a free bumper sticker.

Visit www.barackobama.com/go

There is no charge from our campaign for text messaging—participants will only have to pay their standard text messaging rates from their own providers.

More information is available at www.barackobama.com/mobile

Maintaining discipline in the Obama camp

I've been hearing a buzz among some Obama supporters who think the candidate should go on the offensive against Hillary Clinton. They seems to be disturbed at the constant barrage of negative media coverage and Obama's performance in some polls.

I suspect such anxieties may have driven the recent memo mishap, which some supporters were quick to defend even though it clearly went against Obama's own declared intentions of practicing a "different kind of politics."

While it may be relatively easy to get the staff in line, the task of keeping volunteers in sync with Obama's message may prove more difficult.

There really is no reason to get upset with the early polls.

In previous presidential elections, Edmund Muskie in 1972, George Wallace in 1976, Ted Kennedy in 1980, Gary Hart in 1988, Mario Cuomo in 1992 and Joe Lieberman in 2004 were early front-runners among Democrats who eventually lost.

Rudy Giuliani has been the front-runner among Republicans who generally are better at predicting eventual winners, but few Republican insiders think he will win. This is because most Republican voters right now don't realize Giuliani is pro-choice. The polls show this and they also indicate that Republicans will not elect a pro-choice nominee.

So, as the election nears and voters begin to learn more about where candidates stand on the issues, Giuliani's support will drop, or so say the pundits.

In the same sense, as the election nears Democrats will be more focused on the Iraq War and Obama is the natural choice for this issue, especially if the campaign pushes hard on this matter with their television ads and volunteer push.