Obama is winning

1) James Forman with some additional great points.  Obama won 8 states yesterday with more than 60% of the vote vs. 1 for Clinton.  Also:

Electability anyone? Clinton can win Cali and Mass. and NY ok, but those are state the Dems always win anyway.  Being strong there does nothing in the general, esp against McCain, because whoever is the Dem nominee will win those.  But Obama is strong in the places the Dems are weak, and he puts some of those states in play by peeling off independents and some Republicans.

Obama cannot close the deal unless we keep pushing.  Clinton just lent herself $5 million!  That is, on the one hand, a sense of how strapped she is for cash and good for Obama who has proven a better fundraiser.  But it also makes another point.  The Clintons are really rich.  Wherever they started out, they are now in the super duper elite.   This makes a difference, and I think it is a difference that has come out in how people perceive the Clintons v. the Obamas.  The Clintons just loaned themselves 4 times more than the entire net worth of the Obamas.  Here's what one friend writes about why this matters:

Hillary might have middle class roots and even did a fair amount of direct work with poor folk, women and children.  But she's become isolated and surrounded by wealthy people, and political people.  That's what happens to presidents and their families.  And over time that takes its toll—and almost inevitably you lose touch.  Obama's closer to the real world.  He's closer chronologically to when he really did organizing.  And he's only a few months removed from having to do basic things like go to the grocery store, go to his kids schools, driving himself, getting stuck in traffic and taking his car to the shop, paying his own credit card bills.  I think this stuff matters and helps folks stay grounded.  Hillary hasn't done this stuff in years, the downside of experience in the White House.

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From: James Forman [mailto:jamesformanjr@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 11:01 PM
To: James Forman, Jr.
Subject: Obama is winning

I was really surprised at how many glum Obamans I saw today.  Did people get over-hyped about the last minute polling?  And therefore not recognize that last night was huge for Obama?  Remember Super Tuesday was supposed to favor Clinton.  She saw this as the time to give Obama a knock out blow.  Didn't happen.  And now the calendar favors him.

Obama is in an incredibly strong position.  He is, in my view, the front-runner.  Not a prohibitive favorite, it is still really really close, but he is a slight favorite.  For more on why, ck out http://kos.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/6/142357/5631/340/451210

A few fun facts to remind you who won yesterday:

States Obama won with (so far) more than 60% of the vote:

Alaska (over 70%)
Colorado
Georgia
Idaho (over 70%)
Illinois
Kansas (over 70%)
Minnesota
North Dakota

States Clinton won with (so far) more than 60% of the vote:

Arkansas.

In addition,

Obama won more delegates on Super Tuesday: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8358.html

He won more states overall, and he won more Red States (9 to 4).  Obama won Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, North Dakota, Kansas, Missouri, Alabama, and Georgia.

Clinton won Arizona, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee.

Electability anyone? Clinton can win Cali and Mass. and NY ok, but those are state the Dems always win anyway.  Being strong there does nothing in the general, esp against McCain, because whoever is the Dem nominee will win those.  But Obama is strong in the places the Dems are weak, and he puts some of those states in play by peeling off independents and some Republicans.

Obama cannot close the deal unless we keep pushing.  Clinton just lent herself $5 million!  That is, on the one hand, a sense of how strapped she is for cash and good for Obama who has proven a better fundraiser.  But it also makes another point.  The Clintons are really rich.  Wherever they started out, they are now in the super duper elite.   This makes a difference, and I think it is a difference that has come out in how people perceive the Clintons v. the Obamas.  The Clintons just loaned themselves 4 times more than the entire net worth of the Obamas.  Here's what one friend writes about why this matters:

Hillary might have middle class roots and even did a fair amount of direct work with poor folk, women and children.  But she's become isolated and surrounded by wealthy people, and political people.  That's what happens to presidents and their families.  And over time that takes its toll—and almost inevitably you lose touch.  Obama's closer to the real world.  He's closer chronologically to when he really did organizing.  And he's only a few months removed from having to do basic things like go to the grocery store, go to his kids schools, driving himself, getting stuck in traffic and taking his car to the shop, paying his own credit card bills.  I think this stuff matters and helps folks stay grounded.  Hillary hasn't done this stuff in years, the downside of experience in the White House.

As crazy as this sounds, after hearing about the loan I just went online and made my largest donation yet to the Obama campaign.  It just offends me that one guy should have to raise money by proving himself to the American public and another can just give themselves money--money which they have largely because they have already had 8 years in the White House and Bill can now charge $500,000 to speak to corporations around the world (all the while portraying himself as a victim).  I normally don't do fundraising appeals in my emails, but this would be a really good time to go online to www.barackobama.com and give, even if it is only a few dollars.  It would send a great message.

Finally, I want to reiterate my appeal that folks need to come to DC.  One person saw that request and said that some of you may be thinking: why should I do that, when the polls say DC is a lock and Obama is favored in MD too?  Here's an answer to that question from a friend:

Two reasons:  (a) Proportional delegates…maybe Obama can win almost all the delegates in a couple of these spots, and not just split delegates.  In a close primary race, every vote really does matter, even here in DC. (b) Momentum…Obama can win the next 7 states or so (so folks say).  If he romps in them, that will start to change the perception of electability, etc. in places like Texas and Ohio.  So, a vote in DC, MD, or Virginia actually can carry weight far beyond the state lines.  Obama doesn't need to just win these next states, he needs to win big, accumulate lots of delegates that will add up, and he needs wins big enough to sway folks in these big states to come—that they either see him as inevitable nominee, or see him as better, more electable candidate.

So come help out.  We are doing a huge push in Baltimore, where Obama needs to get a lot of votes and has a good ground operation but is desperately short on volunteers.  We need you.

We are the ones we've been waiting for. 

Love, James