I'll continue to rely on the portrait of the campaign drawn by those like Julio and Charles who have first-hand knowledge of it to the Clinton and Republican talking points you repeat about it being the plaything of privileged wine- and latte-sipping liberals sporting Dolces and Gulfstreams.
.................
Um, wha?
Julio and Charles have "first-hand knowledge" of the workings and origin of the Obama campaign?
They've expressed the hope -- based on anecdotal evidence gathered from supporters and their reading of the media -- that the Senator's campaign will lead to something interesting and genuinely progressive.
That's no more first-hand than anything I've written or any experiences I've had.
Also, I'm repeating Clinton and Republican talking points?
That's just rude and inaccurate.
Rude and inaccurate, because if you'd paused for only a moment before pressing "send", you might have noted that I wasn't parroting (like some stupid asshole) HRC's talking points -- which is that she's the candidate of ordinary, "hard working" Americans and Sen. Obama is the darling of the privileged. I was saying that they were *both* so favored but now, one is much more favored than the other.
In fact, Clinton's desperate gambit to appeal to reactionaries can be read as an indication of her fall from grace with the right people.
Re: evidence of early elite-level support...
In 2003, Sen. Obama was listed as being among the "100 To Watch For" by the DLC. As every schoolchild should know, DLC support is considered the green light for Wall Street to pay attention to a Dem candidate -- an indication that she or he is trustworthy by the Street's narrow standards. It is no accident that financial sector funding soon followed. It is also no accident that, as Doug points out, the Senator was given pride of place at the 2004 Dem convention.
And speaking of "first-hand" knowledge...
As it happens, I'm currently consulting at a financial services firm whose market capitalization hovers somewhere north of 300 billion dollars. So, needless to say, a major actor. Obama has been popular with the highest levels of management here since his 2004 convention appearance. At first, I wondered why a junior Senator -- who'd barely warmed his seat in Washington -- was receiving so much attention from men who usually went for crotchety white guys.
In time, the chain of events became clear.
.d.
-- "I'm sorry, I can't hear you! I'm wearing a towel!"
H.J. Simpson
...................... http://monroelab.net/blog/