Last night I saw a flurry of emails blanket my inbox with aq series of "unbelieavable", "still in shock" and the not so occasional "I'm angry".

I had spent most of the afternoon trying to sort out my thoughts fast enough for an Op/Ed, and I would always come back to the misgivings I've had since he took office a little over a year ago. That Eliot Spitzer's problem and weakness has always been his success because he never really needed anything other than a vote from you or me to get elected.

Eliot Spitzer didn't really need a million New Yorkers giving $5 or $10 donations to his campaign to get elected. He never needed to learn how to get people out on the streets to support his campaign to get him elected. He never needed to swallow his pride and shut up and take criticism from his own base in order to gain political influence. And he certainly never had to pound the pavement and get people out on election day to make sure people would get out of their homes and offices to cast a vote.

Crossposted at DailyKos and One Million Strong.

If you want to know where the excitement and enthusiasm are in the 2008 primary race, you need look no further than an Obama event.

If you want to know who brings together people from all walks of life, working toward a common purpose, check out the junior Senator from Illinois and his supporters.

If you want to know what hope looks like, follow me below the fold....


Obama supporters in New York are stepping up our activities as we move toward super-duper Tuesday. We've been registering new voters, signing up supporters and volunteers, distributing literature and stickers and spreading hope.

Yesterday, Lamont, one of my favorite Obama supporters, led a "Walk for Obama" up Broadway from Union Square to Columbus Circle. I'll admit that when I first heard his plan, I thought it might be a bit overly ambitious. But I've learned not to underestimate Lamont.

Crossposted at One Million Strong and DailyKos.

I'm a member of a merry little band of Obama volunteers in New York City. This is the story of what we're doing on the ground.

I'm just one person in a small group in a big city in a very big Super-duper Tuesday state, a state in which the front runner in the race is a popular U.S. Senator.

Our group, Downtown East for Obama, may be a small piece of the overall campaign, but we've had a big impact. I'm very proud of what we've accomplished, and have seen first hand that Obama supporters are the most fired up, hard-working volunteers out there. It's exciting to imagine groups all across this city, state and nation doing their part--just as we've been doing ours--to help Barack win the nomination.

Believe it or not, some people want to know my opinion on things. Some of those things have to do with politics. For months now I've been telling people that Spitzer is not reaching out to the people he needs the most : The activists and advocated who pounded the pavement for him election.

Elizabeth Benjamin published yesterday an article that describes the sentiments of not only Democrats in Albany but everybody I know in the progressive grassroots.

In Clue us in, Democrats growl at Eliot Spitzer, Elizabeth gets on the record what people have been saying on the off since the Troopergate scandal broke off : Eliot has a serious communication problem with his base and this is not a problem we can just lay on his staff.

Here's the gold :

"He didn't consult us before, he didn't consult us now," said state Sen. Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx). "He let me go on the Senate floor and make a fool of myself. Now I have to take the time to stand up, eat crap and apologize. Eat my pride."

Some Spitzer allies saw the driver's license debacle as

Yes, I know. It sometimes seems as if the entire world is going to hell. War, pestilence, mayhem, famine, republicans, it can be too much to absorb on occasion.

Here are two small things you can do that can make a difference.

First, if you haven't registered to vote as a Democrat yet, or need to re-register in time to vote in the Democratic primary on February 5th - I hear anecdotal reports that Greens are coming home to be able to vote for Obama - do so now. The deadline in New York is October 12th, 2007. (Hat tip casperr)

Then, after you do that, stand up and take a stand against the tyrannical régime in Burma. The Buddhist Peace Fellowship is organizing a rally/vigil outside that country's consulate in New York City.

New York -- New York City

Monday, October 1st
Rally for Human Rights in Myanmar Burma
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Permanent Mission of the Union of Myanmar (Burma) to the United Nations 10 East 77th Street, New York, NY (near 5th avenue, east side of Central Park). Closest Subway: "6" Train to 77th St., walk west towards central park
Organized by Amnesty International USA

For questions, contact Matthew Kennis at or 212 633 4200

That's at most two hours out of your day, and you'll have done something real.

If you see me in a suit it generally means one of two things: I am going to a wedding or I am invited to an event with Bill Clinton.

The work I have done for Kiva, both as a lender and a blogger, has gotten some attention. My Kiva diaries are among the more popular ones I write. A little while back I was interviewed by BBC World News as a lender. And most recently, I was invited to a private panel discussion for the release of Bill Clinton’s latest Book, GIVING: How Each of Us Can Change the World. I do not have a copy of this book as of yet so this is not a book review, though that might come. Instead I want to discuss the event and some of the individuals and organizations that were highlighted.

Chris Bowers on Open Left has a fun and easy project eminently suitable for New Yorkers still flabbergasted that it could occur to anyone to consider Three Wives Rudy for the Presidency: a Google Bomb. The idea is simple: If you have a web site, add the words Rudy Giuliani and link them to an article that's a little bit more illustrative of the real Rudy than the Panglossian spin produced by the lame-ass media, let alone his campaign.

Bowers:

# That Rudy Giuliani was the only candidate not invited to speak to the Firefighters presidential Forum is now #10 on a Google search for Rudy Giuliani

# Rudy Giuliani is worse than Bush is now #25 on a Google search for Rudy Giuliani.

# How Rudy Giuliani was kicked off the Iraq Study Group because he never showed up for meetings is now #26 on a Google search for Rudy Giuliani.

Go for it, New Yorkers. We know better than most that this guy can't be let anywhere near the White House.

The Rude Pundit is responsible for my finally meeting Steve. Lee had just released the CD of his awesome one-man show and he threw a party to mark the event.

At he time I was a homeschooling mother of two and sometime consultant so I had barely any time to drop by. Lee said the magic words : Steve is coming.

O. M. G.

Having the opportunity to meet two of my superheroes in one night was too good to pass up and so I begged and implored the patriarchy at home to release me. As fast as I could, I oiled myself into a pair of jeans and scooted to the West Village.

When I got there once I gave a big hug to Lee I jumped all over Steve and to say he was a bit taken aback but loving it is not to be off the mark. I needed to let him know how much he meant to me as a writer, as an activist and as a blatina. I needed to cram as much in as little a time and thusly went to town.

Believe it or not, he blushed.

Steve was a muscular writer but in person he was could be quite unassuming. "Stop it!" He said it many times and so after the fangirlishness susbsided, we just shot the shit.

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There's a gulf opening between the black elected leadership and black voters over the question of whom to support in the Presidential sweepstakes; in a sense, this gulf parallels the rift between much of the larger official party and the party base. The question is, simply put, whether Hillary's home state advantage gives her a higher claim on the support of New York Democrats than what the other candidates might expect.

In normal times, and with a more conventional cast of candidates, there probably wouldn't be much debate. However, given that this race features the historical breakthrough of an African-American candidate with a real chance at winning the nomination, the deck has been reshuffled.

In evidence of this, Chris Owens emails over the announcement of Brooklyn for Barack, a grassroots online effort to organize the borough on behalf of the Illinois Senator.