A Blue View

Obama Sign Thief Gets One-Upped

It's amazing how much local action is required to elect a President:

High Level Obama Aide Meets With Grass-Roots Leaders

From the Wash Post:

More than 2,500 grass-roots leaders from across the country gathered in the hotel's grand ballroom to strategize about their role in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama.

The discussions -- which organizers said fulfilled an Obama promise to have his transition team meet with community groups -- focused on a range of topics, including health-care and immigration reform, the economic crisis and job creation.

Congressional and labor leaders were among the speakers, but the spirited crowd rose to its feet for the closing speaker: Valerie Jarrett, a longtime Obama confidante who is co-chair of his transition team and was recently named a White House senior adviser.

"I am here representing somebody who began his career as one of you," said Jarrett, who led the crowd in a chant of "Yes, we did!"

Jarrett acknowledged that Obama's early career as a community organizer in Chicago was scorned by his Republican opponents during the presidential race, but she said the focus on relationship-building and inclusiveness was fundamental to his campaign.

She reassured the cheering activists that they will be fundamental to Obama's governing as well. She said the administration plans to get input from grass-roots leaders through town hall meetings and Internet forums and have key players from the organizing community in the administration.

She announced the appointment of Cecelia Munoz, a senior vice president with the National Council of La Raza, a Latino advocacy group, as director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Relations.

"The work starts now. The election was a victory, but we've got work to do to make it real for people," Munoz said. "It is awesome to see people work together to achieve real goals. That is what it is going to take to change the country."  ...

Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change, also encouraged the crowd to shift from "the politics of protest to the challenge of government." He said the role of community organizers now is "not to oppose, but propose."

In her brief remarks, Jarrett acknowledged her own shift in thinking.

"For those of you who know me, I have been a little nervous about moving to Washington, D.C.," she said. "Why? Because I've spent so much of my career complaining about Washington, D.C."

The View From Alabama: Endorsements

First, Palin's hometown newspaper endorses Obama for President, saying that if she had to step into the role, it "would stretch the governor beyond her range." Now this report from Wade Kwon deep in red territory:

Alabama may be a solid red state, with polls predicting a 20-point John McCain victory come Election Day, but the newspapers have endorsed Barack Obama by a more than 2-1 margin.

Of the eight newspapers that have published endorsements in the presidential race, five support Obama, two support McCain, and one endorsed neither. Before the cries of “liberal media bias” ring out, keep in mind that most of these same papers endorsed Republican George W. Bush in the previous two elections.

Daily Home (Talladega): “When the dust clears over campaign promises, and the truth emerges, we like a tax plan that gives more relief to the middle class. We like the choice of a running mate that is clearly qualified in foreign affairs. And we like a cool, calm, steady approach to problem solving rather than an erratic, flip-flop in the face of financial crisis. Those are the hallmarks of an Obama presidency.”

Decatur Daily: “Sen. Obama represents change the nation wants. He’s toughened up during the long series of Democratic primaries and the grueling general election campaign. He’s solid, he’s smart, and he keeps a cool head. He is the better choice to be the next president of the United States.”

Montgomery Advertiser: “Obama combines an appeal to all that is good in America, to that deep-seated knowledge that we can and should do better, with sensible policy proposals that the nation can embrace. It is time for change. Obama represents that change.”

TimesDaily (Florence): “As president, Obama would restore much of the moral high ground that has been lost. He would work closely with our allies. As to the criticism that Obama would meet unconditionally with our enemies, it appears to us that he would be practicing a bit of ancient wisdom all leaders should remember: Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.”

Tuscaloosa News: “[Obama] has a vision — unity, cooperation, healing and transformation — that most Americans share. He wants to re-orient the country to empower ordinary people, not just its wealthy voters, big corporations or Washington lobbyists. He wants to make government a helpful ally, not a suspicious monitor. He wants to replace swagger and bombast with genuine concern for rights and well-being.”

State Of The Race: Albuquerque

From FirstRead:

Audra and Sam Kochansky decided to come to John McCain's rally at the New Mexico state fairgrounds today "to hear what they're going to do for us." But they weren't happy with what they heard.

"More of the same," said Audra Kochansky of McCain's remarks. "This is saber-rattling," said her husband, Sam.

Although these may sound like Democratic talking points, the married pair of nurse anesthetists are lifelong Republicans, but they consider themselves undecided in this election.

Mr. Kochansky, who describes himself as a "diehard Republican who's registered independent," says that Republicans disheartened after eight years of the Bush Administration have been left with an unsavory choice.  "I'm trying to make a decision," he said. "That's not the way the Republican Party should have conducted itself." ...

"Bush has been very disappointing and I thought maybe there was some hope in McCain but quite frankly it's the same saber rattling, just a different century, and it's disappointing," said Mr. Kochansky. "I want to hear about what he can do for us middle class people. I want specific ideas. I want some specificity to a political plan. Right now it's more negative. It's what Obama's going to do to us but not what he's telling us. He votes for this package for the congressional bailout but then he blames the Democrats."

The pair also said they were surprised that the turnout for today's event, attended by less than a thousand people, was so small. 

An Albuquerque Journal poll conducted in early October showed McCain trailing Obama by five points in the state.

"Just from talking with our neighbors and such it's we're tired of the last eight years and even though McCain says he's not Bush, take a look around you," he said. "It's still the Republican Party, and unfortunately my Republican Party is still the last eight years and that's very disappointing to me." ...

But would they consider voting for Obama? "We've had eight years of saber rattling," Mr. Kochansky said. "It's time to move on, and so if Obama comes down the pike and says 'I have hope for America and this is what it's all about,' yeah, I'll vote for Obama." Mrs. Kochansky agreed.

Women For Obama's Sarasota Fl Bridge Rally

As I watched this video, the contrast between the hope this crowd exhibited and the hate displayed at McCain/Palin rallies (The Brown Shirts At McCain & Pallin Rallies) could not have been any more glaring:

Proof Obama Is Winning The Ground Game (Or Where Your Donations Have Been Going)

You want evidence Obama is not sitting on his lead and is working hard to earn the win? Check out these latest GOTV numbers from a Wash Post poll:

Barack Obama's campaign has been more successful than John McCain's at reaching out to voters - both in the "base" and across battleground states.

Overall, about three in 10 voters, 29 percent, in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll report having been asked to support Obama, compared with 21 percent who have heard from the McCain campaign.

It is a crucial advantage for Obama as Election Day nears. The final days of any political campaign are often a frenzied push to get supporters to the polls, and campaign contacts are a key measure of the strength of each campaign's get-out-the-vote effort.

Unsurprisingly, the campaigns' national operations have not reached as broad a swath of voters as in the uber-swing state of Ohio, where a Post-ABC poll conducted earlier in the month found 43 percent had been contacted by Obama, 33 percent by McCain. But the national numbers are large on both sides.

Breaking down the nationwide contacts by mode, 21 percent of likely voters have heard from Obama either through in-person contacts or on the phone, and 16 percent by e-mail or text messaging (the campaign has reached out to 8 percent both ways). McCain's campaign has reached 14 percent by phone or in-person and 10 percent by e-mail or text message. All told, about four in 10 have been contacted by at least one campaign, and roughly one in 10 report having been contacted by both.

Obama's campaign has made no secret of its outreach to African Americans, and 56 percent of black likely voters said they have been contacted. Just 16 percent had been contacted by McCain.

Younger voters have also been a heavy focus, and among those under age 35, 29 percent report hearing from Obama, just 11 percent from McCain. Obama holds a narrower edge on outreach to seniors, 32 to 25 percent.

McCain has outpaced Obama on reaching out to white evangelical Protestants (26 percent, compared with 15 percent reached by Obama), but not among some other core GOP constituencies. The McCain campaign has reached fewer Republicans, 25 percent, than Obama has Democrats, 44 percent, and the two candidates have each contacted about the same proportion of conservatives, 22 percent have heard from Obama, 23 percent from McCain.

The battleground, however, is among independents, 26 percent of whom have heard from the Democrat, 20 percent from the Republican.

And in the literal battleground, those coveted purple states we wrote about yesterday, 36 percent of likely voters report having heard from Obama, 23 percent from McCain.

New Hampshire College Tour

Kal Penn, Olivia Wilde, and Justin Long traverse the Granite State for Barack Obama, making sure NH students are registered to vote and turning out this fall. Visit NH.BarackObama.com today to get involved.

Jill Biden Phonebanking At Obama/Biden HQ

Barack Obama Canvasses In Ohio

Just a normal day in the neighborhood canvassing ... with a large press entourage ;)

How To Legally Vote For Obama More Than Once: Canvass

As A Blue View reader John writes:

I canvas because I want to vote for Obama more than once and canvassing is the closest I can come (legally). There are only three more weeks until the election so if you want to put Obama in the White House, if you don’t want to have regrets on November 5, you’ve got to do something now!

You too can canvas. It’s easier than you think. It’s important. And it’s fun

Read John's excellent guide to canvassing.

{3:00 Update} I just found this video within which, after canvassing for Barack, Emily and Anya talk about their experiences:

  

Republicans For Obama: Michigan

Former Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee and Republican Michigan State Senator Phil Arthurhultz talk candidly in Michigan on why, despite their strong Republican credentials, they are supporting Barack Obama.

A Distressing Ground View Of McCain's Field Ops

From Karen Tumulty:

John McCain's new message about running a respectful campaign is not filtering out to the troops. Yesterday, I visited the field operations of both campaigns in Virginia, as part of a longer story that I am doing for dead-tree TIME. I arrived at McCain's new field office in Gainesville just in time to witness this scene, which I wrote about in a dispatch for TIME.com:

With so much at stake, and time running short, [Virginia Republican Party Chairman Jeff] Frederick did not feel he had the luxury of subtlety. He climbed atop a folding chair to give 30 campaign volunteers who were about to go canvassing door to door their talking points — for instance, the connection between Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden: "Both have friends that bombed the Pentagon," he said. "That is scary." It is also not exactly true — though that distorted reference to Obama's controversial association with William Ayers, a former 60s radical, was enough to get the volunteers stoked. "And he won't salute the flag," one woman added, repeating another myth about Obama. She was quickly topped by a man who called out, "We don't even know where Senator Obama was really born." Actually, we do; it's Hawaii.

The Talk: Convince Your Family to Vote Obama

A more serious, campaign-sponsored version of Sarah Silverman's Schlep to Florida video: talk to your family (read old people) about why they should vote for Obama. There's even a Web page to help you: my.barackobama.com/thetalk.

Missouri Focus Group

First Read has an interesting report on a Missouri focus group composed of "working-class, Republican-leaning voters."  Their take on the last few weeks of the campaing are worth reading if you're curious ...

“His temper concerns me,” Spitzer said of McCain. Being a “maverick could be bad,” he added, particularly when it comes to negotiating with other countries. “I could see him getting mad in a meeting…. that concerns me. … Maybe it’s better to have something fresh, new.”

Coates and Tim Wohlschlaeger, 44, a tool and die shop designer, said they were likely voting for McCain before his campaign “suspension.” They still lean that way, but they seemed perplexed by the tactic and are now reconsidering.

Rather than suspend, Wohlschlaeger said, McCain should have “taken care of business.” By contrast, he said, Obama was “respectful” and understood he wasn’t a “one-man band” on the bailout. “But I wish they would have talked to each other and done it together.”

50% More New Virginians Registered To Vote This Year Than 2004

From the Wash Post:

The Virginia Board of Elections today posted new numbers showing the GOP nominee facing an unusually challenging climate in the state, which George Bush won with 54 percent of the vote in 2004 ... As it now stands, there have been 163,000 voters added to the rolls during the general election period, for a total of 305,000 new voters since the start of the year. And a few days still remain before the Oct. 6 registration deadline. That compares with 210,000 new voters who were added between the start of 2004 and Oct. 1 of that year.

There is no way of knowing which way the new voters lean politically, since Virginia's registrations are nonpartisan. But one can speculate about their inclinations based on where they're coming from -- and a disproportionate number of the new voters reside in Democratic strongholds ...

The Obama campaign has been estimating that 80 percent of the new voters are Obama supporters, and that they'll turn out at a rate of about 75 percent, which the campaign predicts could mean about a 1.75 percent boost on Election Day. That's enough to make a difference in a close race.

Seniors For Obama

A Typical American Family Asks You To Vote For Change

Ground Level View: Virginia Veterans for Obama

Ground Level View: McCain Office In Parma, Ohio

Can Technology Help The Dems Win The Ground Game This Year?

From Bloomberg:

Barack Obama has spent tens of millions of dollars on advertising, consultants and polling. It may be the money that he is spending on a database, though, that helps determine whether the Democrat wins the race for the White House this year ...

George W. Bush won the last two presidential elections by targeting a small number of voters in just a few states. Obama is trying to ensure that doesn't happen again.

[Harold] Ickes, a Democratic media consultant and former Clinton adviser, has spent four years and $15 million building Catalist, a database that scores 200 million Americans according to their likelihood to vote for party candidates. Illinois Senator Obama, 47, is one of his biggest clients ...

This year, with polls again showing a tight presidential campaign, Catalist may enable Democrats to level the playing field by allowing Obama and the party's down-ticket candidates to focus on voters who will support them and ignore those who won't, he said.

Catalist collects and stores millions of pieces of information from public records and commercial sources. In addition to voting rolls and tax information, it also has data about voters' magazine subscriptions and their cars. Campaigns also contribute e-mails, cell-phone numbers and even times when people are likely to be home.

Ickes, 69, said that by using Catalist the Obama campaign is able to generate data as detailed as lists of swing voters who are home in the afternoon in a six-block neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio. The list can even suggest which voters would be receptive to a pitch based on Obama's ``change'' theme, and which may be more interested in his health-care or energy policies.

``Not every one is going to pan out, but a relatively high percentage is going to pan out compared to just going in to a geographic area and knocking on every door and phoning every home,'' Ickes said ...

Finally, A Sound Bite: The Ol' Boys Network Just Another McCain Staff Meeting

McCain is in trouble if Obama keeps saying things like this:

“This is somebody who’s been in Congress for twenty-six years, who put seven of the most powerful Washington lobbyists in charge of his campaign, and now he tells us that he’s the one who will take on the ol' boy network. The ol’ boy network? In the McCain campaign, that’s called a staff meeting."

On McCain saying the fundamentals of the economy are sound: "Now his campaign must have realized that probably this wasn't the smartest thing to say on the day of a financial meltdown, so they sent him out a few hours later to clean up his remark. Johhn McCain went on to say how angry he is at the greedy corporate interests on Wall Street. He’s so angry he wants to punish them with $200 billion in tax cuts. And if they’re not careful, he’ll give them even more tax cuts for shipping our jobs overseas. Where is he getting these lines? The lobbyists running his campaign?”

On McCain's suggestion of forming a panel similar to the 9/11 Commission to look into the financial crisis: "That's Washington-speak for 'we’ll get back to you later. At this rate, by the end of the week John McCain will be telling us how he and Phil Gramm and the seven lobbyists [working for his campaign] are planning to storm the Treasury Department with torches and pitchforks. Come on!”

Watch the complete speech. Watch the very positive local Nevada press coverage of the speech.

Ground Level View: Stomping In PA & Barbecuing In NC

Two different worlds, both supporting Barak. First, a cook out in Raeford NC

Then a Stomp competition in Philadelphia, Pa

Ground Level View: US troops In Iraq Speak Out About The War

This is the first part of a video report that shows the life and death of US soldiers in the 101st Airborne during the summer of 2008. The footage is raw and unfiltered. The report was first shown on BBC TV in the UK on September 10th. It was also shown on the weekly edition of "Newsnight" on BBC America on September 12th.

Part 2 is here.

How come we don't see such reports on American TV?

How To Fight Back: Call Your Neighbors Using New Online Tool

Are you angry at McCain for his new cultural sleeze offensive?  Are you dumbfounded by the media's continuing acquiesence to their lies?  Well, here's a very cool, bottom-up way to fight back and channel some of that energy:

Ground Level View: Mamoud And The ObamaMobile

Mamoud is a super Obama for America volunteer who 's taken his ObamaMobile to 18 states promoting Senator Obama for President.

Republicans For Obama In Indiana

Another ground level view of what's going on below the MSM radar:

Overload Slowed 3 AM Text Message

Once again, the Obama campaign shows their smarts: sending the VP announcement via text message was a brilliant way to acquire million of phone numbers that will be incredibly helpful on election day ("Hi, I'm with the Obama campaign.  Have you voted yet?"). Though it was a nice ironic touch to send it at 3:00 am, technical problems delayed many people from receiving it for hours. From the Wash Post:

It was the text message read round the country -- for those who got it.

Many of those who signed up to receive a text alerting them of Sen. Barack Obama's vice presidential selection had to wait minutes, if not hours, to learn that Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. was the pick. The problem was most likely a scaling issue, mobile experts said, with carriers' messaging systems overwhelmed by the number of people receiving the text.

"It was one message that had to reach any number of devices," said Stephanie Vinge-Walsh of Sprint Nextel. She added that traffic on Sprint's short code for the Obama campaign -- 62262, which spells O-B-A-M-A on cellphone keypads -- rose more than 250 percent within an hour of the announcement ...

"Whatever you want to think of when it was sent, you have to admit this was a really smart way for the campaign to get thousands, if not millions, of numbers. Texting is a huge new tool."

Ground Level View: How Many Houses Do You Own?

A DNC Web video:

And this unofficial video that thoughtfully tries to help McCain learn how many he owns:

"Obama Tears into McCain"

From the Wash Post:

So much for hugging in church. A day after Barack Obama and John McCain exchanged an embrace during a faith forum at a California megachurch, Obama called the U.S. economy a disaster thanks to "John McCain's president, George W. Bush," and chided his Republican rival's campaign team for trying to make him look unpatriotic and weak.

At a town hall meeting with several hundred union members ... after praising the Arizona senator as a "genuine American patriot," the Democratic presidential hopeful got back to business _ methodically tearing into McCain's health care, tax and energy policies and criticizing his advisers.

"McCain says 'Here's my plan, I'm going to drill here, drill now which is something he only came up with two months ago when he started looking at polling," Obama said of McCain's energy policy ...

The Illinois senator also criticized McCain's advisers as "the same old folks that brought you George W. Bush. The same team." He noted many had been lobbyists in Washington before McCain asked them to sever all lobbying ties.

Obama added, "They say this other guy is unpatriotic, or this guy likes French people. That's what they said about Kerry," referring to the 2004 Democratic nominee who lost narrowly to Bush. "They try to make it out like Democrats aren't tough enough, aren't macho enough. It's the same strategy."

... Even so, Obama stepped to McCain's defense when a voter criticized his Vietnam era record. A Naval aviator, McCain spent 5- 1/2 years as a prisoner of war there after being shot down and badly wounded.

"Respectfully I'm going to disagree with you on McCain and his service," Obama said. "I think his service was honorable. He deserves respect."

This video begins with why Obama is running for President and then segues into Obama "discussing" McCain (key sections at about the 7 and 13 minute marks):

Ground Level View: Arizona In Play?

First we found that the only way to get around Arizona is in Cindy's private plane (here), then we learned the NY Times thought the state might actually be in play (here). Now, even Az local TV news is picking up on the meme:

Ground Level View: Democracy In Action As Obama Is Heckled

And they say McCain excels at town hall meetings! First some St Petersberg Florida protesters heckle him:

Then he answers their question:

Ground Level: Street Interviews With Berlin Speech Attendees

From Atlantic-community.org:

Ground Level: Enthusiastic Reaction To Obama In Kuwait

On the way to Afganistan, Obama stopped in Kuwait.  Here's how he was received:

Then he shot some hoops:

Ground Level: Barack Obama's Sister, Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng, Campaigns In Tampa Fl

Among other things, Maya offers some interesting anecdotes I have never heard on how Barack was a kind of pseudo-father to her:

Ground Level View: Coloradans Dance/March For Obama

Obama supporters marched, chanted, and danced their way through City Park in Denver for the Black Arts Festival July 8, 2008: