#10. Great Team. Obama assembled a great team that could work together. He stayed away from lobbyist insiders like Clinton's Mark Penn or McCain's Charlie Black, and choose political professionals who are committed to progressive values like David Plouffe, David Axelrod, Steve Hildebrand and Paul Tewes. From the first he insisted on one key rule: no drama. There was little of the infighting and division in the Obama operation that ate away at the Clinton campaign. Clinton had many capable staffers and consultants, but Penn's divisive leadership style and failures as a strategist doomed the campaign organization to dysfunction. When the brilliant Geoff Garin was tapped to succeed Penn as Chief Strategist in April, it was simply too late.

#9. All-State Strategy. Mark Penn was convinced that Clinton could sew up the nomination by Super Tuesday focusing only on the big states. In fact, some have reported that he mistakenly believed that California had a "winner take all" primary. Obama's team hunted for delegates in every nook and cranny of America - especially in the caucus states that Clinton really didn't contest. Obama ran an active, on-the-ground campaign in every contest, from California to Guam. As a consequence, as one anonymous Clinton insider reports, Clinton lost the nomination in February after Obama ran the table in 11 straight states.

#8. No Plan B. The Clinton campaign had no fall-back plan when it failed to capture the nomination on February 5. There was no money, no organization and no plan to contest the states that lie in the land beyond Super Tuesday.

#7. Excellence in Execution: Great Field. Obama ran the best field operation in American political history -- particularly in the all important Iowa Caucuses. His campaign left no stone unturned, or a vote on the table, in any state. It opened offices everywhere, hired and trained great staff, and managed through simple, streamlined structures. It would have been easy for Obama to squander the massive influx of volunteers who were mobilized through his inspirational message. But the campaign developed structures to integrate and effectively use volunteers, both on the ground and through the Internet. In particular, it developed highly sophisticated new Internet tools to allow volunteers around the country to participate meaningfully in voter ID and get out the vote operations.

#6. Explosive Obama Fundraising. Obama's ability to compete everywhere, to build great field structures and to out-communicate Clinton in the paid media rested squarely on the massive fundraising operation. Obama's traditional fundraising program ended up matching the vaunted Clinton fundraising machine. But the newly developed Internet operation provided a massive advantage. So far Obama has recruited over one-and-a-half-million donors. In other words, by the time the primary season ends, almost one of every ten Obama primary voters (so far there have been 16.3 million) will have made a financial contribution to his campaign. That is beyond unprecedented.

#5. Obama Out-Communicated Clinton Using One Consistent Message. Obama's message has been consistent from Day One. Clinton lurched from "experienced insider" to "populist outsider" from Margaret Thatcher-like "Iron Lady" to a "victim being bullied." And of course, Obama's huge small-donor-driven fundraising advantage gave him the ability to out-communicate her in the paid media - often by a factor of two-to-one.

#4. Hope and Inspiration trumped Fear and Anger. A core element of that Obama message has always been hope and inspiration. Early on, John Edwards hit an important cord of populist anger that is critical to any successful Democratic campaign. Right now especially, people want their leaders to be populist outsiders not "competent" insiders. But Edwards was unable to resolve that anger into hope. Obama touched the anger but also held out possibility. When Hillary "found her voice" as the fighting populist at the end of the campaign, she tapped into anger as well. She didn't hesitate to play the fear card -- both when it came to foreign policy, and by channeling the Republican frame that "elitist professional types" are trying to destroy your way of life. But she never managed to inspire and resolve that fear into hope.

Inspiration is the one political message that simultaneously persuades swing voters and motivates mobilizable voters who rarely come to the polls. The North Carolina landslide provided a striking example of how inspiration can generate massive mobilization at the same time it appeals to independent swing voters.

#3. Unity Trumped Division. Obama showed that appeals to division - whether from elements that stirred up fear that a "black candidate couldn't win" - or from his former pastor - could be overcome by America's overwhelming hunger for unity. Americans - and particularly young Americans - are sick of Republican appeals based on the things that divide us, particularly race. It isn't 1988 anymore. A whole generation has passed from the scene and been replaced by young people who simply don't get the passions that allowed the fear of "Willie Horton" to decide the 1988 presidential race.

#2. Change Trumped Experience. Clinton Chief Strategist Mark Penn's fundamental strategic error was to position Clinton as the "Experience" candidate, when America desperately wanted change. Eighty percent of the voters think America is on the wrong track. They want change in general - and most importantly, they want change in the way special interests dominate Washington. Mark Penn, the consummate lobbyist-insider himself embodied the very thing people believe is wrong in Washington. It's no wonder he made this catastrophic strategic blunder.

#1. Obama is an Extraordinary Candidate. Inspirational, articulate, brilliant, funny, attractive and naturally empathetic - his history as a community organizer, his experience abroad, his beautiful family, accomplished wife, and adorable kids: Obama is the kind of candidate any campaign manager would want in any year. But he is perfect for this year. While the Clintons represented the Bridge to the 21st Century, Obama is the 21st century. His own, multi-cultural story is the future of America. As the campaign tested him, he showed he was cool, deliberate and effective under fire.

In the end, people vote for people. Campaigns are ultimately about the qualities of candidates --about whether or not people want them to be their leaders. Potentially, Barack Obama could become an historic, transformational leader. But John McCain has many qualities that are attractive to swing voters as well. Nothing is preordained. Now it will be up to every Democrat, every Progressive, to take advantage of this historic opportunity to make Barack Obama the American President who leads the world into a new progressive era of unprecedented possibility.

(brought to you by: Robert C. of the Huffington Post)....

and I could not agree with these ten reasons more!! OBAMA in 2008!

5/12/2008 1:07:30 PM

do you know why George McGovern switched his support from Hilary to Obama recently?


he wanted to see somebody in his lifetime lose the presidential race worse than he did

[Edited on May 12, 2008 at 1:14 PM. Reason : daf]

5/12/2008 1:09:36 PM

silly dems

the fucking republicans could run another retarded monkey this go round and still win

BUT LOOK AT US, WE GOT A BLACK GUY AND A WOMAN!

5/12/2008 1:09:52 PM

yeah...they're so cool and edgy...

just like they were in the 60s

5/12/2008 1:13:58 PM

Quote :

"silly dems the fucking republicans could run another retarded monkey this go round and still win"

it's kind of sad that you recognize he's a retarded monkey, and that you still voted for him

5/12/2008 1:13:59 PM

I did not LOL at this.

5/12/2008 1:15:47 PM

if only tww had a section to post political articles and start political debate...

5/12/2008 1:16:05 PM

5/12/2008 1:16:11 PM

stop posting politics in chit chat already

5/12/2008 1:16:47 PM

i think he won because he is simply the better candidate. all of this is the frills of his betterness.

5/12/2008 1:16:55 PM

He hasn't secured 2025 delegates, therefore he hasn't "beat" her for the nomination.

5/12/2008 1:19:15 PM

I like obama regardless of his race. He speaks well and he doesnt appear as full of shit as the rest of the politicians ive seen. between him and mccain, itll be tough. i saw mccain on the daily show, and he seemed to have a decent enough personality to not be a huge douche. but we will see

5/12/2008 1:21:34 PM

Yeah and clinton will catch him..I THINK NOT!

5/12/2008 1:21:56 PM

Quote :

"the fucking republicans could run another retarded monkey this go round and still win BUT LOOK AT US, WE GOT A BLACK GUY AND A WOMAN! "

yeah no shit. After Bush's many fuck ups i thought the GOP had no shot in hell of winning back in 06. All the democrats had to do was pick a moderate "status quo" candidate with mass appeal to win. A smart move in the primaries the GOP pulled together enough common sense to nominate McCain who carries the most moderate/independent appeal and not a neo-con Bush successor (i.e Giulliani) or a right-wing conservative Christian nutbat like Huckabee. The dems on the other hand got to cocky and went to the far radical liberal extreme of giving voters the option of Hillary or Obama. Both candidates to which have a very polarizing effect on voters for various reasons. You think they would have learned their lesson after the success Pelosi the ultimate liberal congresswoman has had in the 2006 congress.

I have no problem voting for the right woman presidential candidate. Hillary though will NOT get my vote.

[Edited on May 12, 2008 at 1:23 PM. Reason : a]

5/12/2008 1:22:51 PM

i'm just confused as to why people think anyone with less than 5 years of national political experience and 11 years total political experience is experienced enough to be the leader of the free world...



^i wouldn't...i think a woman would be too emotional in the end to run THIS country.....not any country...just one like this one...

[Edited on May 12, 2008 at 1:31 PM. Reason : but whatever...i'm a sillly woman...what do i know]

5/12/2008 1:29:53 PM

Quote :

"Excellence in Execution"

Bret Hart gimmick infringement.

5/12/2008 1:31:25 PM

john mccain is going to win.

5/12/2008 1:32:43 PM

well duh

5/12/2008 1:33:14 PM

Quote :

"silly dems the fucking republicans could run another retarded monkey this go round and still win BUT LOOK AT US, WE GOT A BLACK GUY AND A WOMAN!"

How is the fishing career working out powerstarkid?

5/12/2008 1:34:52 PM

omg new?

5/12/2008 1:44:05 PM

Quote :

"Great Team. Obama assembled a great team that could work together. Hope and Inspiration trumped Fear and Anger. Unity Trumped Division."

partisanship aside, these are the types of things this gentleman did:

5/12/2008 1:45:58 PM

Im no Hillary supporter, but the statement of a woman being too emotional is a dumb ass statement, so a cocky, SOB, whose only experience as governor of TX-gives an individual the resources to lead the U.S. to the shitty ass state we are currently in....had Hillary played her cards right she would be the presumptive choice hands down...but b/c she let her ego get the best of her-like good 'ole GW she finds herself in the losers seat.

Come November '08, McCain will know what the taste of defeat feels like too! Hillary became a cocohy, SOB and look where it's taken her...and John boy is next!

5/12/2008 1:47:32 PM

i really hope you are a troll and aren't really that excited about somebody that's going to lose

5/12/2008 1:48:56 PM

Im no Hillary supporter, but the statement of a woman being too emotional is a dumb ass statement, so a cocky, SOB, whose only experience as governor of TX-gives an individual the resources to lead the U.S. to the shitty ass state we are currently in....had Hillary played her cards right she would be the presumptive choice hands down...but b/c she let her ego get the best of her-like good 'ole GW she finds herself in the losers seat.

Come November '08, McCain will know what the taste of defeat feels like too! Hillary became a cocohy, SOB and look where it's taken her...and John boy is next!

5/12/2008 1:49:55 PM

http://www.thingsyoungerthanmccain.com/

AARP is younger than John McCain.

The Polio Vaccine is younger than John McCain.

Both of Barack Obama’s parents - his mother (Ann Dunham, who passed away in 1999) and his father (Barack Obama, Sr., who passed away in 1982) were younger than John McCain.

Bugs Bunny is younger than John McCain.

Plutonium is younger than John McCain.

Alaska - the freaking state - is younger than John McCain.
And, for that matter, so is Hawaii. McCain is older than two of the fifty states.

The ballpoint pen is younger than John McCain.

FM radio is younger than John McCain.

5/12/2008 1:50:45 PM

^^i may be a woman, but i'm not illiterate...

i read it the first time

[Edited on May 12, 2008 at 1:51 PM. Reason : ^hahahah....nice]

5/12/2008 1:50:56 PM

There is no way in Hell Obama loses a national election. Every black person in the country will vote for him. Lets be honest...there is going to be such a black movement to elect the first black president, that it will be near impossible for Mccain to stop.

5/12/2008 1:51:44 PM

she's about to pwn obama in WV. lol

5/12/2008 1:51:56 PM

^ hillary does lover her uneducated white people demographic.

5/12/2008 1:57:25 PM

Oh and lets get another thing straight...if the person leading the democratic nomination was Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King Jr's son, or even Harold Ford Jr......none of them can hold a dime to Obama..and frankly none of my relatives or I would of even taken the time to vote for any fo those mentioned above(maybe Harold Ford Jr).....

so dont think this has anything to do with Obama being half Blk, b/c it's so much more than that and Obama resonates the same kind of leadership that Martin Luther King Jr. resonated with my grandparents. Oh and another thing, it wont be just African Americans voting for Obama come November..I promise you guys that!

5/12/2008 1:57:35 PM

Quote :

"Oh and another thing, it wont be just African Americans voting for Obama come November..I promise you guys that!"

Lots of whites are voting for him now, so that's a given.

But also record numbers of NEW registered blacks are voting for him too, which is often what's been pushing him over the top.

5/12/2008 1:59:02 PM

Other than having the same skin color, what could White, blue collar, under-educated people POSSIBLY have in common with the Clinton family who made over 100 million dollars in between 2000-2006?


CAN someone explain that too me....b/c I seriously doubt she owns overalls, a Jon Deere Tractor, or even know the lyrics to Margueritaville.....but wait I forgot-she can tan in the summer...so she MUST know what it like for a White, lower class family to live off of 35,000 a year and send their kids to public
schools....give me a FUCKING BREAK!!

5/12/2008 2:02:42 PM

Operation Chaos

5/12/2008 2:03:18 PM

also mentioning his experience is a specious argument. FDR had one term as gov. of NY and one term in the state senate before becoming president and Reagan only had 2 terms as gov. of CA.

For my money, someone that HASN'T been in Washington for an extended period of time is a good thing.

5/12/2008 2:05:01 PM

God I hate politics

5/12/2008 2:06:07 PM

stop posting politics in chit chat already

5/12/2008 2:06:18 PM

yeh, ur right. obama has no dirt, a perfect political record and he will probably win with about 80/90 percent of the popular vote
it's over. they should just kick bush out now.

lol

5/12/2008 2:07:31 PM

my boss said this morning that Obama would never win if they just showed footage of him bowling

Quote :

"There is no way in Hell Obama loses a national election. Every black person in the country will vote for him. Lets be honest...there is going to be such a black movement to elect the first black president, that it will be near impossible for Mccain to stop."

that's just silly.....if every black person in the country could actually vote there still wouldn't be enough of them for Obama to win...just going strictly be population


[Edited on May 12, 2008 at 2:18 PM. Reason : dsf]

5/12/2008 2:08:54 PM

regardless of who ends up winning in november, i think obama at least has a better shot than hillary to beat mccain. I'm not saying he actually will, just stating that if i had to make a guess as to which one would do better, i'd imagine he would.

5/12/2008 2:12:04 PM

^that's the only thing that's worth a shit that has been posted in this thread

5/12/2008 2:13:11 PM

^^^ not that silly (but a little).

If whites vote in the typical numbers, but blacks vote in above average numbers, it could easily swing the election, especially considering all the southern states that normally are republican have very large black populations.

5/12/2008 2:16:33 PM

^haha, nice one with the bowling comment, i was actually going to post that at the end of my post..

if they have to have a bowl off to settle it, he's screwed.


either way its not looking good for the dems.. the longer this goes on, the better it keeps getting for McCain.

5/12/2008 2:16:35 PM

#1 - The terrorist's man will always win

5/12/2008 2:19:20 PM

^^^reading comprehension is a bitch, i know....


i said IF EVERY BLACK PERSON IN THE US COULD ACTUALLY VOTE IT STILL WOULDN'T MATTER BASED STRICTLY ON THE NUMBERS....

since ~80% of the population is white and ~13% is black please tell me how it could work



[Edited on May 12, 2008 at 2:20 PM. Reason : adsf]

5/12/2008 2:19:55 PM

Hamas Endorses Obama

http://www.democrats.org/page/community/post/mark%20robinson/CWdn



lol, good to know the good guys are on your side.

5/12/2008 2:27:50 PM

Yes and teh KKK endorsed Bush..what's your fucking point??

5/12/2008 2:33:04 PM

^that we should have seen that as a clear sign of what life would be like under bush. How do you not see the clear connection there?

5/12/2008 2:34:49 PM

omg sauruman is part of hamas

5/12/2008 2:35:29 PM

I can see why Hamas would want to endorse Obama, he seems to be the only candidate right now that doesn't want to blow them up. McCain's "Spiritual Advisor" Rod Parsley is calling for a Holy War to kill them all off. Maybe they just want to stop fighting.

5/12/2008 2:35:47 PM

set me up for a 37!

[Edited on May 12, 2008 at 2:42 PM. Reason : .]

5/12/2008 2:41:25 PM