50,000 in attendance.  21,000 new ground troops added to the campaign. THIS is field organization at work.

Oh man, how I love The Boss!

For those of you close enough, and lucky enough, there are still two more Springsteen for Obama events:

Columbus, Ohio on Sunday, October 5

Where: Ohio State University's Main Oval
When: Sunday, October 5. Doors open at 3:00, showtime is 4:30
How: For access to the best viewing area, preferred tickets will be distributed starting on Thursday, Oct. 2, from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. For ticket pick-up locations, see the Dayton Daily News.

Ypsilanti, Michigan on Monday, October 6

Where: Oestrike Stadium
When: Monday, October 6. Gates open at 3:00, showtime is 4:30
How: A limited supply of tickets will be made available Friday, Oct. 3, at Obama campaign offices as well as all EMU ticket offices. Tickets will be given out on a first- come, first-served basis. EMU students will be able to obtain one ticket by showing a valid EMU ID. Eastern Michigan University will expand its normal ticket office hours Friday to accommodate the expected demand. The expanded hours and locations are as follows: Quirk Hall, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Student Center, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and the Convocation Center, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The general public should use the Convocation Center location for ticket requests.

The piece is beautifully written so I'm not going to interrupt to point out relevant points.  What I want to reinforce is just how efficient the Obama team is when it comes to using these events as genuine campaign tools. This is great field organization - nothing left to chance, multiple layers of redundancy packed into the event.  The second point is that there is a great sense of the enthusiasm we have.  Springsteen may have been the draw, but a lot of these people were there for Obama. The quote from a volunteer who had found only 10 people still unregistered seems to be a great sign.  

From http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_pag e/20081005_As_Springsteen_sings__Obama_s _camp_signs.html

Bruce Springsteen had pounded through his second song as though his acoustic guitar were a pickax, then handed it off to an assistant. The rocker in rolled-up plaid sleeves slung another guitar over his shoulder and tossed out a raspy line that made clear to the thousands on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway how he feels about Barack Obama.

"We tried this four years ago," said Springsteen, who held concerts for then-Democratic nominee John Kerry and headlined yesterday's get-out-the-vote rally for Obama in Center City. "This time, we're winning."

Though organized by the Obama campaign in just a few days, the concert, at 20th and the Parkway, drew an estimated 50,000 people. According to Obama staff, it also added 21,000 new ground troops to the Illinois senator's campaign effort in must-win Pennsylvania.

The Democratic presidential candidate's potent ground operation was on display up and down the Parkway, with volunteers at almost every turn collecting personal information about concertgoers and doling out voter-registration forms.

As good as this is, it gets even BETTER after the jump  - pics & video included!

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On this day, May 20th, in which Obama will win a majority of pledged elected delegates, I would like to offer a dozen reasons, a baker's dozen, for why Barack Obama will be the next president. I know that this is a difficult time for Clinton supporters, but we have a candidate who can win in November.  Let's do it!  (I will post this on The Daily Kos also.)  

1. The Change Factor: Yes, you have heard it before, but it is for real. People are hungry for it, especially after the worst presidency in living memory. A key point here is that Obama has been on message about change from DAY ONE. He is the Change candidate.

2. The Organization Factor: Obama has built a remarkable organization. Nothing quite like it has been seen before in its capacity to raise money, generate enthusiasm, and get out the vote. For more on the uniqueness of Obama's organization, see Joshua Green's piece, "The Amazing Money Machine"http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200806/ob ama-finance and Marc Ambinder's "His Space" in The Atlantic http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200806/am binder-obama

3.The Charisma Factor: Hard to explain. Hard to quantify. But you know it when you see it. (Obama's recent Portland crowd, 75,000 in a primary election, was no accident.)

4. The Republican Factor: They are in disarray and have money problems. This will have an impact on the Presidential race. How much? Good question. But no doubt it will have some.

5. The Money Factor: A corollary to the Organization Factor. Obama will have lots of it and will be able to raise more and more of it. To those who say that money can't buy love or office, agreed, at least in terms of the former. But money can certainly help win office. It is especially helpful if you have a good candidate, a good brand as they say, to sell. Obama is such a brand.

6. The Even Keel Factor: In this case, the young man, Obama, seems to have a more even temperament than the older candidate. This undermines a potential advantage for McCain and also defies expectations, namely, that age should bring a more even temper. (McCain's anger problem is for real.) Americans believe that we need a steady hand on the rudder in these difficult times.

7. The Intellectual and Expert Factor: There are those who have claimed that Obama is an elitist, a pointy head, etc., and that too many in his campaign fit this bill. But the bottom line is that candidates who can comfortably make use of experts and genuine intellectuals-not faux intellectuals, for example, the neo-conservative ideologues-are in stronger position than those who cannot. Knowledge may not be power, but it sure can help keep power from making foolish mistakes, like Iraq. It can also help win elections. (It was the "nerds," after all, who really understood how the delegate process worked in the Democratic race. And guess who had them on staff and who listened to them.)

8. The African-American Vote. Obama will draw the greatest number of African-American voters in American history. It will make a difference. As Poblano's analysis shows, just a 10% to 20% increase can make a significant difference in who wins in the fall. (Poblano suggests 13 electoral votes for each 10%.) See Josh Kalven's "Obama Over the Top: How New Voters Could Redraw the Electoral Map"http://progressillinois.com/2008/05/11/f eatures/obama-over-the-top

9. The Youth Vote and Support: Typically the youth vote is viewed as an unreliable voting block. But Obama has shown that he can increase the youth vote. In addition, youth represents `boots on the ground.' They do much of the door to door and office work that campaigns require. On how the youth vote could assist Obama, once again, see Josh Kalven's "Obama Over the Top: How New Voters Could Redraw the Electoral Map"http://progressillinois.com/2008/05/11/f eatures/obama-over-the-top

10. A Motivated Democratic Party: Yes, there is the issue of whether most of Hillary's supporters will come around. And there are unknowns in terms of whether Obama will be able to bring more working class folks into his corner. But the Democrats are hungry and they have resources. There will be some synergy between Presidential, Congressional, and local races.

11. The Oratory Factor. We know what the man can do. He is pretty much in a class by himself. Speeches matter. Words delivered well matter. McCain, on the other hand, is not a strong public speaker. (The "My friends" thing just isn't going to cut it.) In addition, Obama will best him in the debates.

12. The Bush factor: Obama is the anti-Bush. He listens to those outside an inner circle. He is anti-Iraq war, exceptionally intelligent, reasonably hip, etc. McCain, on the other hand, appears to be running for Bush's third term. The McBush notion will stick with a significant number of voters.

13. Michelle Obama: Michelle has made some gaffes. Some view her as coming on too strong. But her story will get out: poor kid from the South Side of Chicago, who through her own hard work and intelligence made it to Princeton and Harvard. She is now the mother of two young daughters, juggling family and career. Women, many of Hillary's supporters, will relate. Further, Michelle is a powerful speaker. The Republicans would be foolish to underestimate her.

For a baker's dozen of reasons for why McCain will NOT win, I shamelessly offer you a link to my blog  http://msa4.wordpress.com/

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All early indication has it that Obama is running up the score against Clinton in Nebraska.

Preliminary results as recounted by Elvis meets Nixon over at dailycos.com has http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/9/1 24350/3207/224/453352has Obama winning precincts by more than 3 to 1. Here's how Elvis put it:

I am in District 12 in Omaha, meeting at Ralston Middle school. Officials reported we had over 900 people including 200 who switched from Independent or Republican affiliation.The demographics were stark. On the HRC side mostly white women over 40, one black woman, some men. On the BHO side it was as diverse as Omaha could be, some high school kids who will be voting age, men, women, black, asian, all ages. We estimated early it was 2 to 1.
   The final tally means 3 delagates for HRC and 7 for Obama for the state convention.
  Other districts:6, 31, and 39 all report same or better for Obama with same demographics. there are a total of 49 legislative districts in Nebraska

Though there's not much we can make of these unrepresentative sample out of Nebraska but it's probably a harbinger of what to come later tonight when we get the results. Hillary supporters, consider yourself warned!!!

Live blogging out Omaha,Nebraska also has bad news for Hillary. Follow it here  http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=28 35&u_sid=10254218

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Barack Obama's campaign is on track to raise another $30 million in February, sources close to the Illinois senator say, while Hillary Rodham Clinton's spokesman revealed Wednesday that she had loaned her campaign $5 million.

Insiders in both campaigns say the growing financial disparity virtually ensures that Obama will be able to significantly outspend Clinton in the critical primaries to come.

Even before all the Super Tuesday votes were counted, Obama began airing advertisements in Nebraska, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Maine -- the next round of primary and caucus states -- before Clinton did.

His campaign has raised $2.2 million in the past 24 hours, sources say.

"Obama's financial superiority is straining the Clinton campaign at this point. That's reflected in how he spread the field on her in Super Tuesday.

His ability to advertise in more states than she did, to put more resources on the ground than she did," gave Obama an edge, said Anthony Corrado, an expert on campaign finance at Colby College.

The continuing infusion of cash will allow Obama to remain a step ahead of Clinton as the primary map shifts to states where he has some built-in advantages and more time to interact with voters who are less familiar with him than with the New York senator.

Bill Burton, an Obama spokesman, cautioned that the fundraising pace may slip and downplayed talk of another $30 million month.

"We're obviously pleased with the amount of grass-roots support that we have, but it's way too early to be making predictions like that," he said.

Even so, an extraordinary February seems less far-fetched coming on the heels of a stunning January.

The Obama camp reported last week that it raised $32 million last month. The Clinton campaign reported raising $14 million, and it is unclear if that includes the Clintons' personal loan.

And, according to the Obama campaign, only 3 percent of his donors have given the maximum $2,300 donation for the primary.

That means he can go back to the vast majority of his supporters, over and over again, and ask them to send another check.

Indeed, the strength of the Obama fundraising machine from the outset was based on its unusual recruitment and reliance on small donors.

According to a study by The Campaign Finance Institute, a nonpartisan organization that tracks political giving, only about a third of the donors who gave Obama $200 or more had given the maximum.

In contrast, Clinton raised about half of her money from donors who gave the maximum.

More striking, the report found that nearly half of Obama's individual contributors in the fourth quarter of 2007 gave donations of $200 or less -- amounts so small that the Federal Election Commission doesn't even demand the givers be named on disclosure reports.

According to the campaign, that pattern continued in January. Of the thousands of Internet donations Obama received, 90 percent amounted to less than $100 each. Ten thousand people gave between $5 and $10.

In January alone, the Obama campaign raised more than $28 million from Internet donations, more than the entire amount raised by the groundbreaking Internet-based campaign of Howard Dean in 2004.

The infusion of money "is testament to the grass-roots support we have from all over the country and shows a financial sustainability that the other campaigns don't appear to have," said Burton.

The Clinton campaign is acutely aware of the risks posed by the Obama financial juggernaut.

Spokesman Howard Wolfson said Wednesday that Clinton loaned her campaign money to illustrate her "commitment to this effort and to ensuring that our campaign has the resources it needs to compete and win across this nation."

The campaign sent out an appeal for cash as soon as Clinton began pocketing big victories on Super Tuesday.

It's also working to elevate the presence of its website -- and its online giving features.

One of the major advantages of Internet donations is that it doesn't cost a campaign much money to raise them.

More traditional fundraising activities, such as hotel gatherings and direct mail, are not as efficient.

The calendar does have some bright spots for Clinton. The slower pace between contests will allow time for her to fly to big fundraisers in California and New York, even as she taps the pockets of donors in big upcoming primary states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.

"We're going to have more than enough resources to do what we need to do," said spokesman Phil Singer.

But Corrado cautioned that Clinton's fundraising appeals will be delivered at the same time that Obama could be capturing primary titles in Virginia, Louisiana and Maryland.

"She has a calendar now that does not favor her. This will be a real test of the loyalty and enthusiasm of the Clinton fundraising base," he said.

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?u uid=F0E7F5C6-3048-5C12-00B5C5AF15A1E57E

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Throughout this democratic primary, Barack Obama surprised Hillary countless times, much to the dismay of the Washington insiders . He forced her to enter the race much earlier than expected, he outraised her twice when she was widely expected to be the standard-bearer in the money race, and she had to abandon her above the fray status as Obama closes on her in recent weeks. Today, with only eight days to go before the Iowa caucus, it's worth asking is another shocker in the making?

Other than the(basically) one man story reported by Jeff Zeleny on Nov.26 about the former marine, Roy Smith, dedicated effort to garner supporters for Obama in Western Iowa,the Obama camp has been very quiet about their field operation. So what can we make of this low profile?

My best guess is the Obama camp must be very happy about how things are going on the field in Iowa.Just as they kept quiet during the money race and then surprised team Hillary and almost everyone, I suspect another shocker is not too far away!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/26/us/pol itics/26organizer.html 

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