Eenie, meanie, chili beanie, the spirits are about to speak: Dean is first.

I don't detest Clinton and never have.  She's no firebrand and she's obviously politically careful, but I never thought of her as some blue dog or Bush Democrat.  Saying that, I'm intrigued by the phenomenon of the particularly deep schism between Democratic supporters of Clinton and Obama.  I could never have predicted the shrill tone of the debate in a year when any old Democrat was about to flatten whatever flimsy condidate got promoted to the Republican ticket.

I don't understand it still, but the consistent demographic makeup of supporters within the two camps suggests a theory.  As a general premise, more educated, more affluent and younger supporters have joined blacks behind the Obama campaign.  In contrast, older, working class supporters have joined women in backing Clinton.  The division, in some way, reflects the Dean phenomenon, when crowds of curious newly interested voters flocked to a campaign that seemed to welcome them where other campaigns had seemed to be directed exclusively towards well-connected insiders and partisan loyalists.

As former Dean supporters, we all know these generalizations are stereotypical characterizations, and I'm not suggesting they're not.  But you may recall, as I do, the survey done with Dean followers that revealed the extent to which they tended to be better educated, more affluent, more diverse, and less immersed in conventional politics as the practice is understood.  This supporter profile shared attributes that transfer almost precisely to that of the average Obama supporter.

Without implying that the distinction isn't a little pat, there does seem to be this similar divide between what could be described as a sort of coalition of an elite, intellectual branch of party voters with traditionally excluded minority voters, and a traditional coalition of labor-related, ethnic, or the by now cliched category of "Reagan Democrats" (which I reject as an accurate description but use as a convenient shorthand for moderates, essentially) and hidebound, establishment, insider Democrats.  In other words, there's a type of class warfare at work.

Does anyone else notice this?  I read somewhere that there are Clinton supporters who will opt for McCain if Obama wins the Democratic nomination because, incredibly, Obama isn't regarded by them as being as patriotic as McCain because he doesn't wear a flag lapel pin or put his hand over his heart for the national anthem.  My first reaction was that how asinine can you be, but then I stopped to think that this may very well a true perception of someone who simply looks at things differently than I do.  That's what got me thinking.

11:43 AM EDT

Missoula, Montana:

http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/global/story.asp?s=8112802

Tickets SOLD OUT for Obama's Missoula visit

Posted: April 3, 2008 11:39 AM EDT

The tickets for Illinois Senator Barack Obama's Saturday, April 5th rally at the University of Montana in Missoula are now SOLD OUT.

The campaign web site reported at 9:30 a.m. that "tickets for the Rally with Barack Obama in Missoula, MT are no longer available".

The event is being held at the Adams Center, beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. The doors open to the public at 8:00 a.m.

...

Tom - the blue collar workers, the party old timers, women who have hoped for a female president in their lifetime - they still stand behind 'the Clintons'.  even those who would shudder and run the other way if they were aware of the machinations of their 'leaders', the DLC crowd.  they're familiar, they're the old guard, the core of the party and most folks really haven't been paying attention to who's really doing what.  the newbies, the Dean crowd, those with better access to the interent and news the mainstream doesn't read - they're the Obama crowd.  they know it isn't just Clinton vs Obama - its the DLC centrist swing of the party against the power of the people in that party.  jmho.

11:47 AM EDT

GOTVing in Indiana:

http://www.wishtv.com/global/story.asp?s=8110491

Students crowd Obama office for free Dave Matthews tickets

Posted: April 2, 2008 10:21 PM EDT

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) - Grammy Award-winning singer and song writer Dave Matthews will perform at Assembly Hall in Bloomington on behalf of the Barack Obama campaign.

...

"I think it's a good way to get people...to get college students motivated to come out and get registered to vote," said I.U. Sophomore, Katie Bryan.

I.U. Sophomore Allison Straub was first in line to get tickets. This will be her first time voting in a presidential election.

"It's real exciting, both for the concert and for the people that he's going to inspire to go vote," said Straub.

Straub is exactly the kind of person the Obama campaign is targeting.

"One of the things that our campaign prides itself on is the number of new people that have gotten involved that haven't before," said Chris Liddell of the Barack Obama in Indiana campaign.

The concert is scheduled for Sunday at 7 p.m. at Assembly Hall.

Thursday, students will have another opportunity to get the free tickets.

They are available at Barack Obama's campaign office on North Meridian Street in Indianapolis, the I.U. student union and in Lafayette at Obama's campaign office on 4th Street.

I talked to a former high school teacher friend of mine, she was my daughters' government teacher.

She said she would not vote for Obama cause his middle name in Hussain. And since we are fighting in the middle east we can't have a prez named Hussain.

I almost fell off my chair.

11:50 AM EDT

the reason I'm voting for Obama is not due to class warfare, ethnicity, etc. --

-- it's due to I want change --

-- and not just a change from Bush's politics --

-- I want a change from the Clintons's politics too.

I saw another bumper sticker today on a car parked nearby --

http://store.barackobama.com/product_p/bs26054.htm

...

...

I think I do.

11:57 AM EDT

ok, it's not a reading of My Pet Goat but -- :

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//080324/ids_photos_wl/r2563747229.jpg/#photoViewer=/080324/ids_photos_ts/r20993546.jpg

A girl yawns as Jenna Bush, the daughter of U.S. President George W. Bush, reads the book "Where the Wild Things Are" to children at the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, March 24, 2008. The traditional White House event dates back to 1878.REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES)

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//080324/ids_photos_wl/r2563747229.jpg/#photoViewer=/080324/480/6bca4dd1a8f74d50875321a3afa878bc

President Bush hugs a person dressed as the Easter bunny at the start of the annual Easter Egg Roll, Monday, March 24, 2008, overlooking the South Lawn of the White House in Washington.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

I am voting for Barack Obama cause I want change. I don't want grandpa running the store.

He is one scaring dude.

And I see the young people coming out in droves for Obama. I am inspired by that.

I am voting for Barack Obama.

I heard that former Congressman Lee Hamilton of Indiana has announced his support of Senator Obama's presidential campaign.

How about that...


No surprised here linda b. Obama's middle name has always been an asset. That is why it was attacked.


Thank you Danny for the wonderful post.


by Susan "Husseina" Rowe

  In contrast, older, working class supporters have joined women in backing Clinton. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tom it isn't that deep. Economic times were better under Bill Clinton and the gender draw is also obvious.

simple as that

that should be a working majority in this party but isn't because of the polarizing nature of the candidate and the stretch to being a change agent populist, but those demographics are quite large

Susan, I love it. I am going to rename myself . Linda "Husseina" Brooks

yup

12:24 PM EDT

like Soca (ie. Calypso) music ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntSalB09uzM

Phil H. Specht here too, lol, gotta love it how we Democrats stick together, and you have to think Barry is going to be a popular kids name over the next few years.

Michelle too.

bbl

Thanks for the post, Danny

After all these years, we're finally learning what Woody was trying to tell us. 

Hope it's not too late

phil, why barry?

Michelle too.

bbl

+++

like Michelle Phillips ? [smile]

The only reason that I can think of as to why neither Clinton nor Obama is criticising Mc Insane is that they want to preserve the option of lurching to the right if the "soft on terror" and "Surrender in Iraq" memes start to take root.

They should be attacking and ridiculing his positions on a daily basis.

12:48

12:45 PM EDT

linda -

Barry is the nickname Barack's friends call him (especially when he was younger).

12:53 PM EDT

Grandpa speaks:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080403/wl_afp/usvotemccainobama_080403164358

McCain hammers "dishonest" Obama on national security

9 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican John McCain Thursday portrayed his possible Democratic presidential election rival Barack Obama as a national security neophyte who was dishonestly misrepresenting him on Iraq.

...

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs meanwhile argued that his candidate's national security judgement was superior to that of either McCain or Clinton, whom he said had faced a moment of foreign policy peril, and made the wrong decision.

"Quite frankly, John McCain and Hillary Clinton had a 3:00 am moment when it came to Iraq and they both made the wrong decision," Gibbs told MSNBC.

"The only person that made the right decision on whether we should go to war with Iraq and distract ourselves from Afghanistan was indeed Barack Obama."

...

linda -

Barry is the nickname Barack's friends call him (especially when he was younger).

1:07 PM EDT

Does this mean if McCain becomes our next president, it's free beer for a year ?:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/apr/03/beer-executive-could-be-next-first-lady/

The Associated Press

Thu, Apr 3, 2008 (8:22 a.m.)

On a spring day at a speedway in the South, John McCain posed with his wife, Cindy, and racing star Dale Earnhardt Jr., highlighting the couple's political and business interests in a single snapshot.

McCain served as honorary starter of the NASCAR race that weekend in Charlotte, N.C. Earnhardt drove the Budweiser car, painted military camouflage, rather than its trademark red, to honor the troops.

Budweiser, then NASCAR's official beer, is brewed by Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., whose products have made Cindy McCain and her family a fortune.

The brewer sold toy replicas of its race car to aid the Special Operations Warrior Foundation and publicized its support for the group, on whose board John McCain served and whose chairman later endorsed him. The speedway appearance helped McCain court NASCAR voters, and his campaign circulated video of the event over the Internet.

...

Former President Clinton stands to reap around $20 million -- and will sever a politically sensitive partnership tie to Dubai -- by ending his high-profile business relationship with the investment firm of billionaire friend Ron Burkle.

Mr. Clinton is negotiating to end his relationship with Mr. Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. as part of a broader effort to protect the presidential campaign of his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, from potential conflicts of interest. Details of Mr. Clinton's involvement in Yucaipa and his efforts to unwind it come from documents and interviews with people familiar with the matter.

The former president has had links to Yucaipa since early 2002, when Mr. Burkle -- a longtime friend and political contributor -- offered him a role there. Mr. Clinton's association with the firm began at a time when he was looking to earn large amounts of money, partly to pay heavy legal bills accumulated to defend himself and Mrs. Clinton from several investigations during his presidency.

Now, as he negotiates with Yucaipa to withdraw from the relationship, he is a wealthy man, thanks partly to tens of millions of dollars he has earned making speeches around the world.

Mr. Clinton initially signed on with Mr. Burkle as a senior adviser to closely held Yucaipa. As part of that arrangement, Mr. Burkle agreed to give Mr. Clinton a share of the profits from two Yucaipa domestic investment funds if their returns reached a certain threshold. Mr. Clinton's adviser arrangement ended in early 2007, five years after it began. But Mr. Clinton still hasn't settled the issue of his payout.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120097424021905843.html

From Barack's site...

The campaign announced today that more than 442,000 contributors across the country together contributed more than $40 million in March. Of those contributors, over 218,000 were donating to the campaign for the first time.

14.

* rdorgan
Thu, 04/03/08

Thank YOU!

One more time everybody.

Don't forget to put on your dancin' slippers or you can just kick off the ones you have on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntSalB09u...

1:33 PM EDT

Susan -

You're welcome.

The Mighty Sparrow !

IS THIS WONDERFUL OR WHAT??

• Story Highlights
• Philadelphia marathoner found herself running past homeless shelter every day
  
• After contacting shelter, Anne Mahlum started running club "Back On My Feet"
  
• Club now has teams in three city shelters with 54 homeless members
  
• Job training partnership has helped members take classes, find employment
  
• Next Article in Living »

• Read
• VIDEO

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- At 5 a.m. on any given day, Anne Mahlum could be found running the dark streets of Philadelphia -- with homeless men cheering her on as she passed their shelter. But one morning last spring, she stopped in her tracks.

"Running really is a metaphor for life," Anne Mahlum says. "You just have to take it one step at a time."

"Why am I running past these guys?" recalls Mahlum, 27. "I'm moving my life forward every day -- and these guys are standing in the same spot."

Instead of continuing to pass them by, the veteran marathoner sprang into action so they could join her.

She contacted the shelter, got donations of running gear, and in July 2007 the "Back On My Feet" running club hit the streets.

The first day, Mahlum led nine shelter residents in a mile-long run. Today, Back on My Feet has teams in three Philadelphia shelters, including 54 homeless members and more than 250 volunteers. The group has logged more than 5,000 miles.

Requirements for shelter residents to join are simple -- they must live in an affiliated facility and be clean and sober for 30 days. Members receive new shoes and running clothes, and teams run together three times a week between 5:30 and 6 a.m.

The runners are diverse -- doctors, janitors, students and shelter residents -- but such distinctions aren't apparent.

"All you can tell is who's the fastest," says Mahlum. "You can't tell who's homeless and who's not."

For Mahlum and others, Back On My Feet is more than a running club.

"We're a community of support, love, respect," she says.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/04/02/heroes.mahlum/index.html

1:42

linda -

Great to hear about Anne Malhum !

For a change of pace--

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/3/121658/2767/692/489504 

1:50 PM EDT

Casey and Rendell on MTP this Sunday, should be interesting.

1:48 PM EDT

Before you know it, tomorrow morning, April 4, will be here:

http://lyrics.interference.com/u2/lyrics/albums/unforgettable-fire/pride.html

U2's

One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come, he to justify
One man to overthrow

...

One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach.
One man betrayed with a kiss

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

(nobody like you...)

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

...

typo - Great to hear about Anne Malhum !

s/b - Great to hear about Anne Mahlum !

 it's a Beatles song--i actually think it's  "michelle, ma belle"  (Michelle, my beauty)

Michelle, my bell.
These are words that go together well,
My Michelle.

Michelle, my bell.
Sont les mots qui vont très bien ensemble,
Très bien ensemble.

I love you, I love you, I love you.
That's all I want to say.
Until I find a way
I will say the only words I know that
You'll understand.

Michelle, my bell.
Sont les mots qui vont très bien ensemble,
Très bien ensemble.

I need to, I need to, I need to.
I need to make you see,
Oh, what you mean to me.
Until I do I'm hoping you will
Know what I mean.

I love you...

I want you, I want you, I want you.
I think you know by now
I'll get to you somehow.
Until I do I'm telling you so
You'll understand.

Michelle, my bell.
Sont les mots qui vont très bien ensemble,
Très bien ensemble.

I will say the only words I know that
You'll understand, my Michelle.

Susan thanks for the Sparrow video.

Fun and I am a dancing.

She said she would not vote for Obama cause his middle name in Hussain. And since we are fighting in the middle east we can't have a prez named Hussain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HEP's been playing with

Barack "Who's Sane" Obama

New thread.