"My Child Can Be President"

You did it. You made history tonight.

We salute you. And congratulations, President-elect Barack Obama.

Andrew Sullivan Makes It Clear: Obama for President

A very long and passionate post - worth reading. In short, Sullivan's anger and fear of al Qaeda has been overshadowed by his anger and fear of the Bush administration and the near-death of the Constitution - and he wants it stopped. In short:

If I were to give one reason why I believe electing Barack Obama is essential tomorrow, it would be an end to this dark, lawless period in American constitutional government.

It doesn't get more succinct than that.

Obama's Grandmother Passes

His de facto mother and inspiration, RIP. It was cancer - just one day before her hard work was about to pay off.

"It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer. She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility. She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances. She was proud of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and left this world with the knowledge that her impact on all of us was meaningful and enduring. Our debt to her is beyond measure.

"Our family wants to thank all of those who sent flowers, cards, well-wishes, and prayers during this difficult time. It brought our grandmother and us great comfort. Our grandmother was a private woman, and we will respect her wish for a small private ceremony to be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make a donation to any worthy organization in search of a cure for cancer."

Our hearts and prayers go out to the family. And we condemn what was pressed by the RNC just hours earlier.

GOTV This Weekend

CLICK and GOTV!

If you're phone-shy, they have plenty of other things for you to do. But go.

Gee, But McCain Might Get Mad At Him If He Does

Wouldn't he? Well, then, Barack Obama, COME ON DOWN! Richard Wolffe:

Obama’s senior aides are intrigued by several late polls that show a narrowing of the presidential contest in Arizona. Most recently, on Tuesday a Cronkite-Eight poll (named for Arizona State University's journalism school and the local PBS channel) showed the state a statistical tie, with the Arizona senator just 2 points ahead of Obama. That poll suggests Arizona is too close to call, with Obama making significant gains among women and independents.

The campaign is now seriously examining a late surge into the state. That may include ramping up TV advertising, on-the-ground staff or even deploying the candidate to stop there. Obama is scheduled to make a Western swing late this week, making an Arizona visit possible.

Our Next President Might Actually Know the Constitution

In case you didn't know, Barack Obama spent ten years teaching constitutional law. He had the opportunity to have a discussion with Brian WIlliams about the constitution in selecting justices to the Supreme Court. It must've been refreshing for WIlliams to talk to someone who actually knows what it is.

NOW Will You Click the Thermometer?

Kick in five dollars or more at the Obama link above. You earned it, and he's earned it.

Obama On Now

Get off the computer and turn on the TV.

:15 in: After hearing two hours of Tom DeLay, Dick Armey and a parade of GOP attack dogs talking about how Obama is an anti-American socialist crazy man, halfway into this, I feel like I just took a mint shower. An extraordinarily positive vision is coming out of this, and it's aimed directly at undecideds and skeptics. No ideology, no GOP bashing, no talking about McCain. Just Obama making the case for Obama and his fellow Americans. So far, brilliant.

WHOA. For the final four minutes, they go LIVE to a rally in Florida packed to the rafters for the wrapup. A very uplifting and emotional half hour. Honestly, I cannot imagine anyone on the other side crafting such a well-produced and soul-lifting message.

Money well spent. The GOP will trash it mercilessly because that's all they have. But our side took the moral and political high road tonight, no question.

Here it is, sans live rally.

UPDATE: And McCain bought a commercial post-special on MSNBC - the new snarky one about Sarah Obama not being ready...yet. There's your contrast: A splash of mud after the mint shower to bring you back to earth. Thanks, John. Now get out of the way.

Quote This Instead

"By the end of the week, he'll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in Kindergarten."

-Barack Obama on John McCain

Worth 1,000 Words

People are clucking about how presidential advertising shouldn't spend its time going after the opposing VP candidate, but what they're conveniently forgetting is that McCain launched that salvo last week using Biden's "tested" remarks. Moreover, this spot concentrates on not just McCain's economic ignorance (in his own words), but also on his judgment on who he thinks should handle it for him. A lethal two-punch combination.

Barack 'n' Baseball

They'll both go on as scheduled tomorrow.

Barack Obama’s planned broadcast roadblock during primetime Wednesday will not include ABC, as the Democratic presidential nominee’s campaign has decided to pass on buying airtime on the network. ABC will instead air a new episode of Pushing Daisies.

The Obama campaign has purchased ad time on Oct. 29 on CBS, NBC, Fox, and Univision; each is scheduled to air a 30-minute “closing argument” infomercial from Sen. Obama at 8:00 p.m. Fox had agreed to push back the start of game six of the World Series. However, since MLB is delaying the completion of game five due to weather conditions until Wednesday night, the remainder of that game will now follow the Obama half hour. 

The Obama campaign has not completely ignored the network, however, having two ad slots with the network that aired October 20 and 22 during World News With Charles Gibson for a reported $138,000 each.

Final Week: Will Obama Finally Do SNL?

Or will he wait until after the election for a victory lap? Either way, when it does happen, I'm expecting a backstage slice of life with Alec Baldwin calling him Fred Armisen, then when he realizes it's really Obama, telling him how much hotter he is in person.

Obama in Canton

MSNBC has an excerpt. The Obama camp is readying the entire thing on their site, but enjoy this for now.

This clip from Kos picks up where that one left off; the final several minutes which brought the house down. (We might piece together the whole thing from these clips.)

LIVE VIDEO: Barack Obama in Canton, OH

His closing argument...he's blowing the roof off the civic center in Canton, OH. Watch:

UPDATE: Obviously, it's done...and it was breathtaking. We'll post it as it becomes available, but the full text is here.

Obama Looks to Seal the Deal

As McCain falls back on Tony Rezko for the 48th time, Obama will go forward to Canton, Ohio tomorrow and deliver his closing argument.

In his speech, Senator Obama will tell voters that after twenty-one months and three debates, Senator McCain still has not been able to tell the American people a single major thing he’d do differently from George Bush when it comes to the economy. Obama will ask Americans to help him change this country, and say that in just one week, they can choose an economy that rewards work and creates new jobs and fuels prosperity from the bottom-up, they can choose to invest in health care for our families and education for our kids and renewable energy for our future, and they can choose hope over fear, unity over division and the promise of change over the power of the status quo.

We're Pretty Certain Obama Will Remember

Joe the Windsock wants to jump ship, hoping no one's been paying attention.

Joe Lieberman adopted the role of Republican attack dog early on, but as the election draws near, he's hoping the political world has a very short memory.

Lieberman, a self-proclaimed "independent Democrat" who was chosen by McCain to make the case against Obama at the Republican National Convention in early September, said his comments have been within bounds.

"When I go out, I say, 'I have a lot of respect for Sen. Obama. He's bright. He's eloquent.'"

My hunch is, Lieberman sees the direction of the political winds, and hopes to convince Democrats that while he's been a McCain sycophant, he's always been "respectful" towards Obama.

Lieberman, in other words, has to hope Democrats haven't been paying any attention at all. The party is supposed to forget, for example, when Lieberman argued that Obama doesn't put "country first."

And the time Lieberman said it was a "good question" to ask whether Obama is a "Marxist."

And the time Lieberman ironically accused the Obama campaign of "sleazy tactics."

And the time Lieberman, at the Republican National Convention, falsely accused Obama of trying to undermine the troops.

"Respectful"? Nice try, Joe.

I keep thinking back to the day Obama verbally slapped Joe the Turncoat around in a corner of the senate. Obama probably has a longer list than this and is more than happy to remind Joe of his oh-so-respectful comments.

Ron Howard's Call To Action

Compare This to Anything McCain or Palin Has Said

Seriously - I got into a heated discussion with a "They're All The Same" type today. If only I could have pulled this video out of my pocket (I know, but as long as iPhone uses AT&T, I won't carry one)...

Team Obama Is All Over It

This just landed in my inbox.

The Republican National Committee is distributing a mail piece that says "Terrorists" on the front and opens to a big picture of Barack saying "Not Who You Think He Is."

John McCain -- who promised to run a respectful campaign -- said just yesterday that he was "absolutely" proud of it.

We have 13 days to make sure John McCain doesn't win the White House through scare tactics.

Give this campaign the resources we need to fight back in the final push.

https://donate.barackobama.com/mailing

No screwing around. This campaign is on its game.

Obama's Role Model

Sullivan calls her "His Last Parent." Ta-Nehisi Coates responds:

I was looking at this picture of Obama's grandparents and thinking how much he looks like his grandfather. And suddenly, for whatever reason, I was struck by the fact that they had made the decision to love their daughter, no matter what, and love their grandson, no matter what. I'd bet money that they never even thought of themselves as courageous, that they didn't give much thought to the broader struggles in the the world at the time. They were just doing what right, honorable people do. But the fact is that, in the 60s, you could be disowned for falling in love with a black woman or black man. There is a reason why we have a long history of publicly biracial black people, but not so much of publicly biracial white people.

We often give a pass to racists by noting that they were "of their times." Fair enough, and I know Hawaii was a different beast, but still, today, let us speak of people who were ahead of their times, who were outside of their times. Let us remember that Barack Obama learned the great lessons of life from courageous white people. Let us speak of those who do what  normal, right people should always do when faced with a child--commit an act love. Here's to doing the right thing.

Obama Cancels Thursday and Friday Appearances

MSNBC is reporting he'll be traveling back to Hawaii to be with his grandmother who is apparently in failing health.

"JOBS, BABY, JOBS!"

Hillary just hit a new theme for the Obama campaign for which the candidate gave a big approval, and the crowd chanted with gusto. She also happened to give a great speech in Orlando, FL today - their first joint appearance in a rally since June.

Comic Art for Obama

BUMPED UP: Our old friend Kirk Manley has a great piece of original art up for auction at eBay. All the proceeds will go to the Obama campaign. Check this out.

Yeah. Wow. That's an original character of his, Little Red. Two superheroes in one sketch. This one's only a three-day auction so hurry. Go. Bid.

Limbaugh, Will and Buchanan

Yup...all think Powell suddenly can't look past skin color because the entire world is like them.

Limbaugh and Powell; Buchanan. Powell, who helped sell their war, is of no more use to them now and is in their trash heap.

A Hundred Fif...Fif...Fif...A Hundred Fif...Fif...

Say it. A hundred fifty million dollars in September. That's amazing.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama raised more than $150 million in September, a stunning and unprecedented eruption of political giving that has given him a wide spending advantage over rival John McCain.

The campaign released the figure on Sunday, one day before it must file a detailed report of its monthly finances with the Federal Election Commission.

Obama's money is fueling a vast campaign operation in an expanding field of competitive states. It also has underwritten a wave of both national and targeted video advertising unseen before in a presidential contest.

Campaign manager David Plouffe, in an e-mail to supporters Sunday morning, said the campaign had added 632,000 new donors in September, for a total of 3.1 million contributors to the campaign. He said the average donation was $86.