Central Park
It was nice and quiet.
Tonic
A no go. Street level welcome by a black man in black. 7:15. "The event has not started yet." The website said it started at 7:00. Next time they are going to have someone at the train station to tell me there is no event.
There is not going to be a next time.
After I win the Nobel Peace Prize (Madhesi Movement Victory In Nepal), DL21C should not bother trying to get me as a guest speaker. I would not be interested. I mean, how many Nobel Peace Prize winners are there in this town? I don't know of any.
People who run these four organizations who don't recognize email make you feel like you are their corporate employees when you show up for their events. Some of the time.
I don't know anyone else who shows up for these events who does cutting edge political work.
Pressure, Union Square
This was the Generation Barack Obama event. The place was huge and packed. Jeremy Goldberg runs the show. Phil was there. Two huge spreads of space. Nice choice. I talked to many people. Just basic small talk. What's your name? How long have you been coming to Obama events? Met two recent Brown graduate women, one Puerto Rican, another ethnic Chinese.
Lamont Carolina
Sylvan had mentioned. But Lamont said let's go to the party at Irish Rogue. ObamaNYC had a party going on there. Lamont and his two friends Hose and Ken, we all hopped into Lamont's car.
Lamont said in a celebratory tone, "There are four minorities in the car."
This dude totally knows how to work the crowd.
Just when we needed parking, a car pulled out and made space just in time. Lamont described it as "New York love."
Jeff Kurzon
He is back in town. He is one of those early Obama supporters in town. He took a six month leave of absence for Obama. He works at a fancy law firm. He started in New Hampshire, his home state, and then went state hopping with the campaign. He was in California, at one point. It was good to see him after so long.
Kurzo was in a competitive mood. Which party is bigger? GBO or ObamaNYC? He said he got told the GBO party had a thousand RSVPs.
Back At Pressure
After a while I was back at the GBO party. Hillary took Rhode Island, Barack took Vermont, that was early in the evening. Hillary had been projected winner in Ohio. The two were neck and neck in Texas, that is when I left. I went home.
All The Way
This race is going to Pennsylvania and beyond. The Clintons call it never, never, never give up. We are going to make use of our money advantage.
Got To Hit Back
Obama 08 needs a rapid response mechanism.
Wet Clay Group Dynamics
Group dynamics is my thing. I have always been good at it. It is just that these past few years I have taken that to the 2.0 environment. Now when I am trying to get back into 5.0, I feel like I should do the wet clay thing. Most people take pride in being baked clay. They are set in their ways.
I want to start afresh. I want to challenge assumptions. I want to experiment. I want to participate. I want to have fun. I want to shape and be shaped.
Raise Money, Burn Money
Round one money got raised. Now it is all about burning it. That is another kind of pressure.
On Your Own
On your own, what do you think? How do you feel?
In The News
Ohio win boosts Clinton Los Angeles Times
Clinton gets must win in Ohio
Clinton hits Obama on experience; he fires back Chicago Tribune
Clinton calls Ohio and Texas must-wins
McCain blasts Obama's and Clinton's attacks on NAFTA
Bill Clinton: The Bitter Half Time Bill Clinton after a quadruple bypass has given up jogging in favor of long walks ..... how much of the blame for her predicament belongs to him. "I think he just did her such damage," says a friend and supporter, expressing a sentiment that many feel privately. "They'll never see it that way, because they can't. And he has no self-knowledge. This has magnified all his worst traits." ......... The biggest fear was that he would shine too bright, burn too hot, consign the candidate to his shadow. ...... a lack of self-control and an excess of self-absorption. It hasn't always been clear whether Bill Clinton sees Obama as a threat to his wife's prospects, or to his own legacy. ....... Liberal columnist Jonathan Chait wondered, "Were the conservatives right about Bill Clinton all along?" ...... Bill "hijacked the candidacy in South Carolina. It was appalling to watch it." ...... the person who seemed least aware of the havoc he was causing was Bill Clinton ....... "political malpractice" by Hillary's campaign ...... spent money with abandon in the earliest primaries and assumed that the race would not last past Super Tuesday, on Feb. 5 — and failed to prepare for any of the states that followed ...... what's really wrong with Hillary's campaign is something that is simply beyond even Bill Clinton's ability to fix. "It may be," says a friend, "their day has passed."
Dee Dee Myers: Why Women Should Rule Dee Dee Myers thinks motherhood should count as diplomacy experience. ..... confronting Leon Panetta on her pay, why she won't endorse Hillary Clinton, and whether or not women rule her own household. ...... bringing more women into all avenues of public life ...... more women in Congress, legislature, business, diplomacy, at every level of public life ....... what makes government work better, what makes business more efficient. ....... it's still more difficult for women to be taken seriously ........ Hillary has had to prove she was tough enough to be Commander in Chief. That's one reason her campaign made her 30 years of experience its foundation. Then again, if you're too tough, then people think you're too hard, you're not feminine enough. The B word comes up. It's a whole other set of obstacles. There's still a double standard. ........ Maybe we thought we were further along. You can still say some things about women that are pretty shocking, and there's no penalty for saying it. ........ I am endlessly fascinated that playing football is considered a training ground for leadership, but raising children isn't. ...... Trying to negotiate getting a couple of kids to watch the same TV show requires serious diplomacy. ...... you were stiffed when it came to proper pay, authority and even the press secretary's rightful office ...... Leon Panetta told you you didn't deserve what a male colleague of lower rank made because you weren't a man supporting a family ........ Bill Clinton was under pressure to appoint women to visible positions. I was 31, I'd never worked in Washington. ....... women are paid less. Women don't ask. ...... men were seven times more likely to negotiate a starting salary than women are. There are all kinds of reasons [for unequal pay]; there's residual discrimination ....... When I was in college 25 years ago, I thought that by the time I reached this elderly station in my life, these problems would be solved. Well, they're not. ....... men are more violent. Men have a greater propensity for violence. ...... George W. Bush similarly, for appointing more women to senior and cabinet-level jobs than any of his predecessors ......... a confidence gap between men and women that begins very young ...... Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths ....... . The woman said, Gosh, I was so surprised. The young man said, I knew my project was great — I always knew I'd win. One thinks he deserves to win; the other is surprised.
A Clash of Styles in Ohio Debate another cordial, high-road finish. ..... Obama, taking advantage of his front-runner status, played good, error-free baseball ...... used his time to rise above the arguments, elevate the conversation and invoke the larger causes ...... Obama showed a lawyer's flair for conceding the small points that aren't worth arguing about ..... asked whether there was much of a semantic difference between the words "reject" and "denounce," but then defused the situation by ceding the point to Clinton and agreeing to do both. ..... At the end, each candidate threw a bouquet at the other
Obama's Ohio Grassroots Advantage She used Obama's website to recruit volunteers and run a phone bank from her living room. ........ — and all but locking up the Democratic nomination .... [Obama's] is the most spontaneous, energetic political operation that I've ever seen ...... the benefits of having a candidate who used to be a community organizer and has run a voter registration drive. ...... a new breed of grassroots campaign — viral, internet-based, built from the ground up by neophytes ...... Obama's surging grassroots success has stolen Clinton's establishment base right out from under her ..... Obama's has a lot more volunteers, and they're all grassroots people from the neighborhood
As Ohio Goes "we've gone from 57 foreclosures 10 years ago to more than 500 last year." ...... the slow-motion depreciation of the American middle class has reached critical mass, and not just in Ohio and Michigan ...... "You wonder why there can't be some middle ground" between the old-fashioned, inflexible unions and "the ceos selling out these companies, shipping jobs overseas." ...... the false nonchoices of "victory" or "surrender."
Clinton, Obama go down to the wire in Texas, Ohio AFP The rivals set off on a frenzied weekend hop-scotch between two states blanketed by no-holds-barred television advertising blitzes ..... new polls showed a virtual tie in the two states, leaving Tuesday's contests as unpredictable as any in the roller-coaster 2008 election. ...... She was due in economically depressed Ohio, for a cross-state trek Sunday. ...... "Real change isn't voting for George Bush's war in Iraq and then telling the American people it was actually a vote for more diplomacy when you start running for president" ...... "The title of the bill was 'A Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq.' What else were you voting for?" ....... Obama leading Clinton 45 percent to 43 percent in Texas. A previous poll by Zogby released Friday had Obama up 48 to 42 percent. ...... In Ohio, the Democratic contenders were tied at 45 percent, according to Saturday's poll. ..... Obama was dismissive of her gambit. "The question is, what kind of judgment will you exercise when you pick up that phone? In fact, we have had a red phone moment. It was the decision to invade Iraq."
Clinton employs famous Mondale ad strategy
For Obama, a Taste of What a Long Battle Holds New York Times he is sure to face an onslaught from Republicans and their allies that will be very different in tone and intensity from what he has faced so far. ...... as the party adapts to the prospect that it will be running against Mr. Obama rather than Mrs. Clinton. ...... portray him as out of step with the nation’s values, challenge his appeal to independent voters and emphasize his lack of experience in foreign policy and national security. ...... taxes, spending, judges, health care and national security — there is a divide as deep and wide on those issues as the Grand Canyon ...... used against a candidate who is trying to cultivate an appeal that transcends policy specifics, would fall flat this time
Nepal Strike Ends as Government Accepts Madhesi Autonomy Demand
Obama and Clinton Flush With Cash From February
Barack Obama hits back after Hussein taunts Times Online Matt Drudge, the website’s owner, said that the photograph was leaked by the Hillary Clinton campaign. The former First Lady said in a debate on Tuesday night that as far as she knew it did not come from her campaign. ..... Obama denounced, and eventually rejected, Mr Farrakhan’s support ...... “If anyone is still puzzled about the facts, I have never been a Muslim.” ...... Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York, said that he would not launch a presidential bid as an independent.
Clinton lawsuit could muddy Texas caucuses
Democrats compete to outbash NAFTA
Why I’m Afraid of the Clintons New York Times
Obama calls for a cool-down Los Angeles Times, USA "Certainly I don't think that photograph was circulated to enhance my candidacy. ...... Cleveland, where the biggest storm of the winter is forecast to dump 8 inches of snow on the city. ...... Obama smiled when Dodd quipped that he himself had campaigned on his years of experience, to poor results. ...... he feared that if the campaign grew uglier, it could undermine Democratic hopes in the fall. "It's now the hour to come together," he said, "... to get behind this campaign." ...... former Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White, who had earlier backed Clinton, also endorsed Obama.
