Last night seems to (finally) have cemented it for Obama. Black President here we come. For those of you who've been in the trenches, Mike Lux has some good next-steps laid out. For those of you waiting for this nomination process to be over, well, it may take a few more weeks before it's officially over, but you should start thinking about:
How to explain to people that John McCain is a warmongering child of privilege who has no respect for women, no plan on healthcare, no grasp of economics, no idea how to address global climate change, and who's publicly stated he wants to pack the Supreme Court with more extreme conservatives.
How to explain to people that Barack Obama is not a terrorist, or a communist, or even (too bad) the second coming of FDR with extra melanin, but might in fact be just the guy to prevent Miami from being underwater in 100 years, keep Wall St. from completely fucking over homeowners, do something creative about the 2 million people we're letting rot in jail, get some needy kids food and medicine (in the US as well as elsewhere), and prevent Comcast, Verizon and Rupert Murdoch from taking over the internets.
I have high hopes that Big O will close it out in Mighty Oregon. That would be solid.
If Clinton were to drop out this week, we'd face an uncomfortable situation in West Virginia, with Clinton likely crushing Obama. That would look terrible for the presumptive nominee.
Better than that would be to garner enough superdelegate commitments this week, so that Oregon can push Obama past 2,024. That way, it isn't the supers who clinch it for Obama, but actual voters.
Kellymundo succeeded in getting me to watch a few consecutive episodes of The West Wing on DVD the other day, and as someone who's been steeped in politics over the past five years, it leaves an interesting impression. If 24 is the Dark Side of the contemporary political debate, The West Wing represents something of the sunny side.
The stuff I've seen is from Season two, which is something of a historical time-capsule, having been made prior to both the onset of the Bush Administration, and of course 9/11. It's totally enjoyable, but also strikes me as anachronistically sanguine, a grown-up Schoolhouse Rock but with the benefit of excellent production values. The cast is strong, and the writing is excellent from a literary standpoint. On substance, though, I think the text reflects all too well the hazy miasma that surrounds our allegedly elite political discourse.
Two quick examples from the three or four episodes I've seen:
I've been bored with politics and focusing on other things lately. The primaries are a drone for the most part. This, however, deserves attention.
House Democrats stood strong against immunity for Telecom companies that were helping with illegal wiretaps, and established meaningful oversight for domestic survalence going forward. Glenn Greewald explains:
bq. As impressive as the House vote itself was, more impressive still was the floor debate which preceded it. I can't recall ever watching a debate on the floor of either House of Congress that I found even remotely impressive -- until today. One Democrat after the next -- of all stripes -- delivered impassioned, defiant speeches in defense of the rule of law, oversight on presidential eavesdropping, and safeguards on government spying. They swatted away the GOP's fear-mongering claims with the dismissive contempt such tactics deserve, rejecting the principle that has predominated political debate in this country since 9/11: that the threat of the Terrorists means we must live under the rule of an omnipotent President and a dismantled constitutional framework.
This is a win for justice, but it's all the more exciting in that it happened because Democrats (including a number of newbies) broke through the miazma of "war on terra" fear. Nice work. Feels good, don't it? Winning is fun! Slapping down a shitty president with bad ideas is cool! Let's do more like this!
It's been a pretty good week so far. I would have more to say, but I've got to get ready to drive down to SF tomorrow, the better to fly to Boston for DrupalCon. So, here's a video I endorse:
My man Mike "Smiley" Connery wrote a book! It's pretty exciting. He'll be going on tour and doing the whole deal. It's a natural continuation of the work we started at Music For America, and I'm looking forward to reading the final copy.
I've been skeptical and critical of the Obama campaign, but I must admit I'm pleased to see the movement they've germinated really taking root and driving them ahead. With another three primary wins under their belt tonight, and the upcoming state of Wisconsin -- once though to be a "showdown" -- now trending towards another decisive victory:
Clinton's campaign is going to be up against a March 4th last-stand having won nothing in a month. Ohio and Texas are still favorable, but will they really buck the big O'mo for three more weeks?
And this is undeniably cool:
410,000 individual donors. A lot of those are $5 from people at a rally or online, but the breadth of the buy-in is pretty spectacular. This is what political junkies have talked about for a long time. The fact that they candidate to pull it off is an political cypher beloved by a decrepit establishment is a little bit of a surprise, but it does seem that Obama and his team have manages to pull off the big task: building a grassroots movement while simultaniously charming the pants off the national media.
