Daily Archives: 10/19/2008

(Community Matters)

ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos Reports: Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich reacted this morning to Colin Powell’s endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama explaining “what that just did in one sound bite…is that it eliminated the experience argument.” The Former Bush Secretary of State announced his long-awaited endorsement Sunday morning, explaining that he is backing Obama “because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of this campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities – we have to take that into account – as well as his substance – he has both style and substance – he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president.”

Former Presidential Advisor David Gergen categorized Powell’s announcement as “the most important endorsement of the campaign so far”. Tom Friedman of The New York Times agreed explaining, “General Powell helps a lot especially at this moment… That’s a real affirmation that the country can trust Obama as commander in chief.”

And Democratic strategist Donna Brazile added, “this is an endorsement that has enormous dividends for Obama… It says that he wants to govern in a different way… It says that he’s going to reach across the aisle.”

Gingrich, Gergen, Friedman and Brazile were featured, along with George Will, in a powerhouse roundtable on this Sunday’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”.

on line here

(Community Matters) Prop 8 – California. Debates around the country.

I don’t get it. Part of who I am is I love Steven Tomlinson. Most people think that’s a good thing. Everyone who knows Steven sees that as a wonderful thing.

(Community Matters) The girls were a little shocked when I pulled into a trailer park for dinner, especially since they’d dressed nicely in new duds for an evening at the theater. Though, comfort, casual friendliness and good food soon won out. Dinner at Torchy’s on S. 1st. It’s a must in our invigorating fall weather.

Zach Scott’s Caroline, or Change. They and Steven loved the show. I liked it a lot, especially Shavanna Calder who STOOD OUT as Emmie Thibodeaux. Tiffany Mann as Radio/the Moon and Frank Viveros as the Dryer/Bus Driver too. All the cast did a terrific job. Wish I’d seen the show on Broadway, because I’d love to talk about the improvements Dave Steakley made as director. I can’t compare but I just know there are many. It was well staged and directed. Knowing how much Michael Raiford adds in additional to set design, kudos to him for his obvious & not-so-obvious contributions. Tony Kushner certainly one of America’s most important contemporary playwrights.

(Community Matters) Disturbing observations from Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com:

John McCain has once again improved his position in the national tracking polls, having gained ground in 4 of the 5 6 trackers that published today (Rasmussen and IBD/TIPP were the exceptions).** Our model now perceives that Obama has come somewhat off his peak numbers, which were realized perhaps 5-7 days ago.

Though, perhaps explained by:

At the same time, McCain’s improved position in the trackers is a little bit difficult to reconcile with certain other pieces of evidence. In the Research 2000 tracking poll, for instance, while McCain has gained 5 points worth of ground in 48 hours in the topline numbers, the candidates’ approval ratings over that period are completely unmoved. In the Gallup tracker, while McCain has gained ground among likely voters since the debate, he has lost ground among registered voters. Lastly, every poll conducted on the debate itself suggested that Obama won the event.

What I think we may be seeing are some improvements in Republican enthusiasm. Prior to the debate, McCain was having a very rough go of things in the media, as the only stories seemed to be the ineffectiveness of his attacks on Bill Ayers, and the nonresponsiveness of his campaign to the economy. In the polls that measured these things, there was evidence that enthusaism was very low among McCain supporters. A conservative voter, having little real message to latch on to, and seeing McCain far behind in the polls, might have been telling pollsters that he wasn’t sure if he was going to bother to vote, and therefore might have been screened out by likely voter models, which all of the tracking polls are now using.

The McCain/Sarah Palin campaign, the RNC and several 527’s are unleashing millions of dollars and tens of thousands of volunteers with misleading messages, dishonest robocalls and political flyers that would make Jesse Helms blush.

Please, please consider:

1. Volunteering to make calls into battleground states,
2. Traveling to a battleground state to campaign and/or
3. Making one more financial contribution here

To volunteer here or email: snolan@barackobama.com

(Community Matters) Ben Smith, Politico.com: Barack Obama apparently attracted more people to his rally today in St. Louis than to his August acceptance speech at Invesco Field in Denver.

Lt. Samuel Dotson of the St. Louis Police Department placed the crowd count at 100,000 people, according to the campaign.

“All I can say is, ‘Wow,'” Obama said just after taking the stage underneath the Gatway Arch.
Politico called Dotson to confirm the crowd figure but has not yet heard back.

If the number is verified, it would be Obama’s largest American crowd, second only to the 200,000 people who turned out for his speech in Berlin, Germany, and more than the 80,000 people who attended his Democratic National Convention speech.
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(Community Matters) Much fun with the girls last night. We enjoyed the symphony, especially Anton’s performance. And, they were impressed with our new performing arts center, immediately noting how cool for a dance party on the City Terrace.

After, we stopped in to see the indie band, Ethos for which my young friend James Marshall plays the drums. The girls seemed to enjoy the scene. Ethos’ first CD is due out any day. They had a warm following of young 20-something fans/friends.

This morning, the Farmer’s Market, 2nd St and Jo’s where we ran into Lisa, Xchel & Langston. They’re off with Uncle Steven for S. Congress, 1st St & the Drag shopping (who knew Urban Outfitters and American something were the rage?), then we’ll hit Torchy’s and Zach’s Caroline or Change this evening.
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