Cute

I always feel queasy when I see politician's "suffering the little children", but this picture actually brought a smile to my lips. I grew up in Maine, and this picture was taken February 9th, 2008 in Bangor, Maine--a city I'm very well acquainted with. Obama is such a natural, it almost doesn't seem like pandering ;-)

Obama talking point is more than hype.

Senator Obama repeatedly claims that he garners the support of both independents and republicans. When he says this he is telling the truth. Exit polls in the majority of contests held thus far show that Obama outperforms Clinton among independents. This becomes crucial coming into the general election environment, particularly when the Republican challenger is John McCain.

I like this quote from an article in an Omaha Nebraska newspaper:

"Several said they were Republicans who had come to see what all the excitement was about. Some Republicans said they supported Obama because they believed he would bring change.

'He's inspiring. He's a leader. And he's positive,' said Sterling Schultz, a Republican farmer from Naper, Neb., who said he planned to fill out the paperwork necessary to caucus Saturday as a Democrat."

Welcome to the big tent fold Mr. Schultz!

Brother, can you spare a dime?

ABC news is reporting that Hillary's financial woes may have been a publicity stunt geared towards keeping pace with Obama's financial prowess.

Now, if that is true, it bothers me in a visceral way. Yesterday at work, I told a co-worker and fellow Obama supporter that I actually felt bad at the apparent dissolution of the Hillary campaign. First the rumors of staff going without pay, Hillary's $5 million dollar loan, and even rifts in her campaign in Iowa where her campaign mismanaged it's budget. I sort of felt bad for the old girl. My friend quickly pointed out that if the tables were reversed, it's hard to believe that Hillary wouldn't have capitalized on her opponents woes. I think he's right. Hillary has a killer instinct. Perceived weakness lands you with her jaws snapping at your jugular. That said, even though intellectually i applauded the development, my inner female felt sympathy. I can see my sympathies were misplaced.

Thank you Hillary for reminding me why Obama is the right choice.

Peggy Noonan advises Democrats

Mrs. Noonan, former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan writes today in the Wall Street Journal
that Obama is the better choice for democrats. They just don't know it yet. Now, I've disagreed with Mrs. Noonan and her frames of democratic issues before, but she's spot on in her analysis from a Republican point of view.

As time goes on, I hope democrats become convinced of this as well.

And time marches on.

I haven't done much blogging as of late--at least on my own site. I've done considerable elsewhere: sparring, parrying, and dodging on behalf of Obama. The time is late and Tuesday approaches fiercely, stridently.

The polls are all over the place. One thing is apparent: Obama is surging. Unfortunately for California, nearly 40% (stat based on projection by political director of the Sacramento Bee) have already voted early. Which means, Hillary probably has a 10 point advantage on those early votes. Therefore, my sincere hope is that Obama ends the day Tuesday with a 5-10 deficit against Hillary. This will keep him competitive and assure him a sizable apportionment of the available delegates.

Other states are more hopeful. Utah is surging for Obama, Georgia is in Obama's column, Colorado and Idaho look good, Connecticut is trending towards Obama, and he is closing the gap mightily in NJ.

My projection, and fervent hope, is that there is a 52/48 divide in delegates come Wednesday. This would keep Obama competitive when he moves into more friendly territory for the later February states.

Both candidates are waging good campaigns. Hillary is running a positive campaign and isn't being upstaged by Bill, and Obama has sharpened his message and is focusing on electibility.

Time will tell. I'm feeling very good with the trends. We'll see if they translate into votes.