Register To ParticipateD’ Tales from Denver
Signed, Sealed, Delivered!
Posted on February 16, 2009 by Steve Linsky
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Of the approximately two million in attendance, very few, if any, contemplate they will ever witness an inauguration of this kind in their lifetimes. Two million. Many, like my daughter and I, squished into sections in or near the mall. All fixated on the Capitol for the swearing in of a man, whose roots run from the middle of America to the middle of Africa. The first global president of an emerging global culture and economy. And the most marked departure of any presidential transition in history.
The Washington of January 20, 2009 was cold and peaceful, not perfect. The elaborate ticketing and security plans broke down. Thousands were left on the outskirts of the main event - in tunnels, on side streets, outside gates. There were complaints but not one drop of anger. No arrests were reported.
The repeated warnings of the resulting infastructural dysfunction from the security and large crowds brought many out before the break of dawn. Just to be safe, we managed to stay close enough so we could walk in and avoid the overburdened subway. Along the way, we encountered a broad swath of humanity converging on the capitol. We sensed, as did everyone else, something very different in the air that morning.
As they passed the vendors who punctuated the chilled air with boom boxed renditions of renowned Obama campaign speeches, many were prepared to witness an inaugural address of Lincoln or Kennedy proportions. The thirst for the ending of an era and the beginning of another reached a crescendo when the helicopter carrying the departing Bush residents was spotted.
The stage was set. The seemingly botched swearing-in puzzled but did not significantly deflect attention from what everyone contemplated to be the main event. The simple affirmation sufficed. Sighs of relief and joyful hugs accompanied the conclusion of the oath. Obama had been delivered and now he was set to deliver to the nation and to the world.
The address wasn’t one that pointed upward, that lifted the countenance of a nation with soaring words of anticipation. Instead, it was an address delivered with a vision aimed straight ahead depicting a young man accepting with great seriousness and sobriety the mantle of leadership in the crucible of January 2009 America. It asked America to look for inward strength. And it asked the world to see America once again for its hope, promise and ideals.
No president has had to assume the kind and extent of leadership that has been required of Barack Obama from the moment of his election. He was required to govern while he was in the process of forming his government. In the days following his swearing-in, it has become equally clear that despite his popularity, he will enjoy little, if any, honeymoon period.
Despite the daunting nature of the circumstances accompanying his ascendency, Obama appears comfortable. As am I. For once in my life, there is a president who has my complete trust and confidence, even when I disagree with him. I hope and suspect I am not alone - now and in 2012.
V-DAY 11-04-08: CHANGE HAS ARRIVED! FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE TO THE WORLD!
Posted on January 26, 2009 by Steve Linsky
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Having begun my efforts on the Obama campaign in New Hampshire one year earlier, as so many campaigns similarly begin, i needed to return one last time from Florida to see it through to completion.
It was sometime around 9:14 PM, long after gleeful poll volunteers (center) had rolled up their signs and departed, when the elections clerk (right) in Bend, New Hampshire on the outskirts of Concord, stood to announce the election results. In that one brief moment, the hope of the world had reverberated through this small New England town in much the same way, as it turned out, in much the same numbers as were ultimately garnered across the country. Obama won the town. He then won the state and finally, the country. He had long before won over the world.
The return trip to Boston was a joyous one as additional results filtered in from across the country. What had once been a mere dream, then a hopeful aspiration, and then a distinct possibility, had finally become a concrete reality. The annuls of U.S. political history would now have a new chapter - the election of Barack Obama.
Election day in New Hampshire had a good feel from the moment of our arrival. The response to visibility remained strong in the Nashua area. Later that day in Concord, the phone polling response seemed even more positive. People had voted. Turnout looked good. The results in Bend made it all real.
Later that night, it was impossible not to well up at the sight of the Obama family taking the stage at Grant Park to accept the verdict of the American electorate. e Pluribus Unum. This was truly a time when from many came one.
Florida Finale
Posted on January 26, 2009 by Steve Linsky
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Just before take-off, a newly released released CNN poll showing Obama up by 2% in Florida flashed in the Tampa International terminal. This comported with my sense as to where things stood as I departed Florida.
The tide had seemingly turned.
Despite the signs of rust in the Democratic machine, evidenced by very dated voter listings, a residue, perhaps, of the lack of a primary season, I sensed a swelling in the Obama ranks. The phone lines were heavy with people belatedly scrambling to find ways to cast a vote. The lines for early voting had remained long.
The candidate called to exort the troops. Word spread that Tampa had ranked third in number of contacts made over this weekend.
A sense of inevitability was taking hold, among volunteers, voters and the media. Even the Wall Street Journal seemed to join in. This was counterbalanced by caution. For every volunteer new to politics, there were a number of veterans who had been through many campaigns. Florida and Ohio remained freshly engraved in their psyche. But even among these veterans there was a sense that this year, this campaign, and this candidate was different.
Before leaving, I purchased a handmade cigar from one of Ybor City’s many cigar sellars lining 7th Avenue in preparation for a potential, and perhaps pending, victory.
Touchdown in Tampa
Posted on November 2, 2008 by Steve Linsky
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I arrived at the start of the final weekend where the outcome of the election may finally be determined - the I-4 belt running between Tampa and Orlando. If Obama is able to stay even in this belt, it is likely that the influx of votes from the south will overcome the solid vote McCain is expected to receive in the northern portion of the state.
Tampa is both the site of Obama state operations as well as where McCain will launch his final 7-state tour on Monday.
One Obama organizer estimated that there were now some 400,000 Obama volunteers were in Florida. If so, that would mean that approximately 1/4 of the more than 1.5 estimated Obama volunteers on the ground nationally were in Florida.
If the results of yesterday’s GOTV (Get Out the Vote) activities were any indication, the west end of this critical I-4 belt seemed solidly in Obama’s control.
I have never participated in a canvass operation where the response was so positive - even uplifting. We were canvassing in some of the poorer areas of Tampa, including many public housing complexes surrounded by somewhat modest, in some instances, tattered housing. The landscape throughout was dotted with Obama yard signs, most of them simply stated ‘Change’.
The vast majority of those we reached, both young and old, had reported that they either voted or intended to vote for Obama. They told us where they had voted or where they planned to vote and which family member was going to accompany them. Reports out of the early voter sites confirmed the large volume of voting and the waits voters had to endure. But they did.
I ran into one man who was moving from the area and was taking a flight to New Orleans later that evening. He had attempted to vote twice before but the lines were too long. He was thinking of perhaps voting in New Orleans. However, when we talked about how important it was to vote in Florida he jumped in his car with only a half-hour before the early voting sites were due to close to try once again. Another young man who believed he hadn’t received the necessary papers to vote was elated when I showed him his name on my list of voters.
Most of the areas we canvassed had a number of neighborhood churches, many as modest in size and appearance as most of the surrounding housing of its congregants. It was evident that these churches played a major role in organizing and directing the voting for Obama, particularly among women. One woman showed me an information sheet she had received from her church relative to the various provisions for voting. Consequently, many were as informed, and in some instances even more informed, than the canvassers about the particulars of voting in their county as Florida counties are allowed to set hours and locations of voting. And many of these were constantly changing, particularly in regard to pre-voting.
It was clear that for many of those we met voting this time was more than some bureaucratic exercise. It was a mission. A mission that seemed to evoke a tangible sense of satisfaction when accomplished.
Sunshine State Showdown
Posted on November 1, 2008 by Steve Linsky
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When I touched down at Palm Beach International Airport, I had arrived at what has become the Ground Zero of American presidential politics. The battle that began some eight years ago rages on- only with greater intensity as both sides have poured enormous resources into Florida to wrest the presidency.
Polling would suggest MCain can’t win without Florida. Consequently, McCain has launched a renewed effort to take the state, including more personal appearances across the state and the influx of National Republican party money to bolster McCain’s media campaign. And Palin has recently attracted large crowds- some 60,000 outside of Orlando and some 18,000 in Ft. Myers. In 2004, Bush won the state by scoring well in the I-4 belt in the heart of the Orlando-Tampa corridor. McCain, with the help of Palin, hope to duplicate that result.
To counter, Obama hopes to improve upon the net gain Democrats have received in the southern portion of the state. Al Gore was in the state today exhorting Democrats to finish the task begun eight years earlier. To this end, Obama has countered McCain’s efforts with deployment of a massive field operation featuring some 500 additional staffers and thousands of volunteers aimed at mobilizing voter turnout. Unlike the Florida of 2000, Florida 2008 now has early voting - a feature the Obama camp believes it can exploit with its field organization. That is why many remain somewhat mystified by the recent Executive Order issued by the state’s Republican governor (who, at one point, was on the proverbial VP short list) that expanded the hours for pre-voting. It is now estimated that some 4 million Floridians, nearly 40-45% of the projected turnout, will have voted at early voting sites before the polls open on November 4th.
Subsequent to receiving voter protection training, I observed one such site in Boynton Beach. Voter challenges had been few to that point. With only three days of early voting remaining, Obama supporters were upbeat. There had been periodic reports of police intimidation of campaign volunteers and voters. Many counties reported long but orderly lines. Generally, Obama suporters were upbeat in what they were seeing. The lingering question would be whether the margins they were building would be enough to offset projected losses in other parts of the state.
Today I joined a get-out-the vote (GOTV) effort in Delray. My group included former Sha-Na-Na singer John ‘Bowser’ Bowman (above, right). Numerous other luminaries from politics and entertainment were at work across the state, including Caroline Kennedy, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Danny DeVito, and Rhea Perlman. The response in the neighborhoods we visited in Boca Raton were generally quite favorable.
Tomorrow I leave the guardedly optimistic southern sector to travel to the state campaign headquarters in Tampa to work through the weekend.
Reflections
Posted on September 14, 2008 by Steve Linsky
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With the conventions over, the mountains and moose receding from short term memory, the time to reflect has momentarily settled upon me.
Back in April, my chief purpose in serving as a delegate was to support Barack Obama in what had all the makings of a potentially stormy convention. My mission was clear.
When I arose the morning after the Obama speech some four months later, I’m sure I shared the same sentiment that most convention attendees awoke with. That is, considering all the potential pitfalls that could have occurred at nearly every juncture between the Obama and Clinton camps, the convention went remarkably well.
The story coming out of Denver was not that of a split party. Rather, the final vision of the convention was that of a confident nominee commanding a jubilant stadium will all the majesty of a closing ceremony. That the TV ratings for Obama’s speech exceeded those of the Summer Olympics, must have brought tears of joy to the Obama command. It demonstrated that when the campaign acts boldly and not in retreat, good things happen.
The storms had, for that moment, passed and the forecast seemed as sunny as the late August Denver weather.
But this was a short-lived moment.
As puffy-eyed convention-goers struggled out of the hotel, there was the Palin announcement.
I am reminded of a story Alan Solomont likes to recall of Bob Farmer, a chief fundraiser for Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis, who, in surveying the triumphant scene of the 1988 convention in Atlanta, declared that things could never be better. The lesson, of course, was in the simple truth of the statement. Things didn’t get better in 1988.
The immediate reaction to the Palin announcement, apart from the upset of being stripped of a good newsday from the afterglow of the Obama speech, was one of puzzlement, then joy, and then uneasiness. The uneasiness has lingered. Will she continue to blaze to glory or will she go up in flames? The jury is still out.
As Palin began to come more clearly into view, in one fell swoop we were all collectively reminded of the two cultural Americas, paraphrasing, for one brief moment, the now invisible and forgotten John Edwards. There is the America epitomized by Joe Biden, a tale of survival growing up in a white ethnic, hardscrabbled Scranton, Pennsylvania long past its glory days of an industrializing America, balancing the youthful, multi-racial, global orientation represented by Obama. And there is the America now epitomized by Sarah Palin, a combination, of sorts, of the former rural frontier America with the now fast-growth America in the south and west, dotted with evangelical churches, housing developments, strip malls, mining and oil rigs, balancing the older, more autere and convential McCain.
Palin could readily be viewed as a reworking of a Mark Twain character - a 21st century version of a tom boy that every gun-toting, pick-up driving, red-meat eating, flag-waving, football-tossing white American male could come to love. But arguably, these folks represent the nascent base of any Republican’s core support. Now they’ve been energized, the question becomes whether support for Palin extends beyond that base, especially among independent voters, and particularly among female independent voters.
Just as Vegas bookmakers lay out the odds in advance of sports campaigns, so too, following the conclusion of party conventions, all eyes turn to polls to assess the respective bump in the polls earned by each candidate following their respective conventions.
The early assessment, is that what was a fairly close race prior to the conventions has gotten even closer - with no clear favorite or underdog.
Now, conventional wisdom holds that the election becomes an exercise in convincing the 10-20% of the electorate who have, to date, paid the least attention to the presidential race that has raged over nearly two years. To do so, campaigns tend to peg their messages to the least common denominator. And it is here, American elections tend to get even uglier.
Obama will try to reach out with a more positive message as he needs to motivate many newly registered voters voting this year for the first time. McCain has begun his campaign using the traditional Republican playbook of directing the campaign off issues and into the realm of personality and character for which mud-slinging tactics have proved successful.
Both camps are in the process of seeking to define the agenda on which the election will be debated and the identiy they desire for themselves and each other.
The race is on.
More to come.
View from the Mountains
Posted on September 5, 2008 by Steve Linsky
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Friday morning.
Few got up early. No more the breakfasts, events and parties. Only memories. In the sobering moments of the new day, the buzz had begun to turn to Sarah Palin announcement. Most were somewhat baffled. Some worried. A few bemused. Only I seemed intrigued.
I was fairly certain when the convention emptied that morning there would be many who would be catching the first plane home but some who would head to the mountains.
Sure enough, once I reached my favorite Ft. Collins micro-brewery on Friday and Rocky Mountain National Park on Saturday, I ran into many who had just come from the convention. Nearly all were still giddy. For that matter, so was I. I had made myself relatively conspicuous by adorning some convention memorabilia, especially my Obama hat and shirt.
But the most telling remarks I encountered weren’t from those who had gone down to Denver. They were from those who watched Thursday night’s speech on television. To a person, the comments followed a certain pattern. It was one of the greatest speeches they had ever heard. They had been moved by the historic nature of the event. And, most importantly, that Obama had laid out precisely what he intended to do as president. On this count, it seemed evident that the strategy to convey a more focused and precise agenda had hit its target in tone and content. There were also quite a few comments deriding and/or dismissing the Palin selection.
In Toto.
On my way back from the mountains and the six moose I had seen there, I encountered one of the largest and most beautiful rainbows I had ever seen. No, this wasn’t Oz or Kansas. It was Colorado - a state Obama most Coloradans I spoke with were cautiously optimistic that he could carry. But I was left with a warm feeling and a portend, perhaps, of good things to come.
Yes, He Can!
Posted on August 29, 2008 by Steve Linsky
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Thursday night’s acceptance speech epitomized all the reasons why Barack Obama is the party nominee and why the party, for this moment and perhaps for a while, is firmly in his control.
It was - first and foremost - bold.
The Obama organization has been bold at every point in the campaign from his preemptive announcement in February 2007. Wholly apart from the boldness, perhaps the audacity, of challenging the Clintons at every juncture (who, as evidenced by their speeches this week, are still in their prime) it was bold to reach for the heights, and take on the risks, of moving the acceptance speech into a stadium venue. But from the very moment I stepped into a rocking, sparkling and sunny Invesco Field, I realized just how right this decision was.
Yes. The date was historic as the 45th anniversary of King’s ‘I Have a Dream Speech’. But the history of the moment was palpable to the 80,000 in attendance, many of whom, myself included, had spent hours in lines snaking around the stadium. But everyone around me seemed spirited and joyous. And the joy quickly spread to every inch of the stadium. A dance floor emerged near our delegation, rocking to the parade of music interspersed within a carefully choreographed program of speakers that featured, among other things, five average Americans, many of whom were former Republicans and one named Barney Smith who played on the proclivity of Republicans to care about the Smith Barneys and not the Barney Smiths, and a stage replete with former military generals. Together they laid out, with precision, why they were voting for Obama as president of a new economy and commander-in-chief of a renewed American foreign policy.
By the time Obama took the stage, the sun had just set, and the lighting illuminated a figure that was designed to evoke a steely eyed and spined candidate ready to take the reigns of the country. His speech hit many of the his standard themes but the delivery was clearly more pointed and hard-edged. He threw down a challenge to debate the temperament and experience to be commander-in-chief. Strong stuff but right on target.
The pyrotechnics that followed were nothing short of breathtaking - another advantage of being in an outdoor stadium. Without exception, after the event, everyone in the delegation was literally blown away by what they had just witnessed, and in awe of the incredible organization required to pull this event off - even though the state delegation was seated in one of the worst sections of the venue (although the Massachusetts delegation seating at Pepsi had been among the best). Everyone fully appreciated they had just been part of history.
Now Obama and Biden prepare to take the show on the road, much as Clinton and Gore did in 1992.
We’ll soon see how the message and the candidates play across the Midwest, particularly now with McCain’s selection of Palin.
‘Darr He Goes!
Posted on August 28, 2008 by Steve Linsky
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It didn’t take long for Joshua Darr to make his mark in Denver.
Joshua is quoted in today’s Wall Street Journal (p. A6) about plans to deliver the youth vote to Obama.
The Biden Connection
Posted on August 28, 2008 by Steve Linsky
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Family Matters.
The theme became immediately evident. Following a stoically eloquent introduction from his son, Beau, the present Attorney General of Delaware who is about to deploy to Iraq (a story that will likely make its way into the election coverage), Joe Biden took the stage and in the following twenty minutes managed to underscore two major convention themes honed by the Obama convention handlers:
(1) the rise from modest working class family roots though the embracing of the American dream;
(2) McCain’s similarity to Bush.
Biden delivered the first task, largely by reference to the advice he received from his mother who was pictured sitting with the Obama family next to Obama’s uncle who served in WWII. The imagery portrayed a working class Irish-American upbringing that focused on overcoming obstacles and burdens (through the biblical reference of receiving only those crosses we are presumably able to bear). One such burden repeatedly referenced was a childhood stuttering problem that in the course of his Catholic education Biden cured by fortitude, as well as the occasional fist to the lips of childhood deriders. Toughness was put to the forefront and Biden’s Ivy League education was studiously avoided (just as Obama will likely do tonight).
This led to Biden’s taking on McCain. Acknowledging his personal friendship with McCain (a similar sentiment echoed by Kerry and others in an effort to proactively address whatever McCain tries to gain on his relationships across the proverbial aisle), Biden picked up on themes echoed by Clinton and Kerry, including:
(1) that McCain’s internal inconsistency falsifies his claims of independence from the grasp of the Republican right wing - the proof being his voting record which evidences his 90+% support for Bush (both Biden and Kerry referred to Bush when they presumably meant McCain, raising questions as to whether these slips were contrived or simply, as Biden professed, a mere Freudian slip)
(2) while McCain was an honorable soldier (again, a theme meant to preempt any gain to McCain derived from his war hero status) what was now needed in a president and commander-in-chief, given the decline in America’s international status under the Bush administration, was a great leader not merely a good soldier.
By the time Biden surrounded himself with his family and cute, young grandchildren, the convention hall was thoroughly won over.
Underestimated?
My initial assessment of the Biden selection didn’t account for what I now appreciate to be Biden’s general popularity within the party. Under the circumstances Obama faced, this acceptability of Biden may buy Obama much needed political capital within the party.
Home Run in his first at bat?
Bill Clinton went so far as to declare that he loved Joe Biden and that Biden’s selection represented that Obama, in his first official act, the naming of a VP, had hit a home run.
High Expectations
Following three days in which virtually all the attendees I have spoken with (as well as what is otherwise conveyed publicly and privately) conclude that this has been an excellent convention (logistics aside), there remains a myriad of expectations for Obama’s speech tonight.
The Clinton, Kerry, Biden speeches, along with a host of service personnel on parade to last evening’s podium, with its emphasis on military and security issues, provide Obama with more leeway to focus on, and connect to, the bread and butter economic issues facing the voters.
In addition, given the graciousness extended by the Clintons over the past two days, Obama will need to acknowledge Clinton supporters both in the stadium as well as in the viewing audience.
Every acceptance speech typically involves high stakes and high expectations. The overall sense from here is that these expectations are extraordinarily high tonight. For me, I have seen only two politicians in my lifetime who seem to constantly come up big when the chips are down. Bill Clinton is one and Barack Obama is the other. Clinton was at his certifiable best last night.
Will Barack Obama take his place tonight?
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