Today, March 15, is Ruth Bader Ginsburg's 75th birthday. Next month, John Paul Stevens will turn 88. Chances are, the next president will get to name their replacements. Do you want a right-wing-controlled John McCain to be the one?

Yup -- I'm playing the fear card, and I'm fine with that.

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." With these words, Isaac Newton paid homage to Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo. Newton's "Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica" is undeniably the greatest single scientific work ever; it introduced the calculus and explained basic laws of motion, planetary motion and gravity.

But Newton was building on the works of those who came before him -- and even someone as Narcissistic as Newton was willing to give credit where credit was due.

Today, in American politics, we have the "phenomenon" of Barack Obama. His message of change is nothing new; politicians have advocated for some sort of change ever since there were politicians. His speaking style isn't new either; preachers and politicians have been just as inspirational for millenia.

What is new is that Barack Obama could actually become President, something no inspirational, progressive politician has been able to do. A large part of the reason he could actually win has to do with a movement that started five years ago.

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, Daily Kos and The Albany Project.

Here is the press release:

Through the work of hundreds of volunteers, the Obama campaign filed for the New York State ballot and qualified for full delegate slates in all of New York’s 29 congressional districts.

Crossposted at DailyKos, One Million Strong and The Albany Project.

Just a quick photo-recap of last night's fundraiser at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Barack drew an overflow crowd of supporters and soon-to-be supporters.

Apologies for the quality of the photos. My little digital is not up to the task of taking photos in a dark theater from 15 rows back. Well, you'll get the idea anyway.


As is always the case with Obama events, people started lining up early. I was there 1 1/2 hours before the doors were scheduled to open, and the line in front of me was already quite long. A friend who was with me, who is still undecided for 2008, was amazed by the crowd, remarking, "How does he do this? It's incredible that he attracts all of these people!"

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.