OBAMARAMA

The latest Rasmussen poll has good news for Sen. Obama:

The race for the Democratic Presidential nomination is getting a bit tighter. Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D) has closed to within five points of the frontrunner—Senator Hillary Clinton. A week ago, Clinton held a 12-point lead.

The former First Lady now attracts 35% of the vote down slightly from 38% last week. Obama gained four points and now is the top choice for 30% of Likely Voters. That’s the highest level of support for Obama in any Rasmussen Reports survey since the Election 2008 season began.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting on a Quinnipiac poll showing that Sen. Obama’s support in Ohio has increased from 13 percent in January to 22 percent now. In contrast, Sen. Clinton’s support has dipped from 38 percent down to 32 percent.

As the article notes:

There’s good news for Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy: The senator from Illinois is getting more popular in Ohio, while Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York is holding steady at best.

…”The Democrats generally seem to be doing somewhat better in Ohio than in some other historical swing states,” Quinniiac’s Peter Brown says in a statement. “Although it is 20 months until Election Day, the Republicans may want to determine why. This poll is especially good news for Sen. Obama as some Democrats seem to be looking for someone other than Sen. Clinton.”

Long story short: A well-made internet ad based on Apple’s original commercial introducing the Macintosh computer was customized into an anti-Hillary Clinton, pro-Barack Obama spot using digital technology. It was then posted anonymously on YouTube. The ad’s creativity, as well as its author’s anonymity, fueled intense media coverage this week.

Now it’s come to light that the creator worked for a company that consults for presidential campaigns and is currently under contract with the Obama campaign. He made it on his own time, with his own equipment, and without the knowledge of his bosses. He never worked on his company’s Obama account, and he has since been fired.

Given the buzz the ad generated, there’s no doubt the media will be discussing the “political ramifications” of the creator’s vicinity to the Obama campaign today. Howard Fineman was just on the Today show talking about how there are “too many dots too close together” here. That’s undoubtedly just the beginning of coverage that will inevitably question whether this undermines Sen. Obama’s attempt to rise above petty political games.

Of course it doesn’t. While the way this situation has shaken out is unfortunate — some might even say “boneheaded” on the creator’s part — it’s still just an internet ad made independent of the campaign. (UPDATE: The ad’s creator even says, “I recognize that this ad is not [Sen. Obama’s] style of politics.”)  Sen. Obama can’t reasonably be held accountable for it. And given Sen. Clinton’s previous dismissal of the ad’s significance, I can’t imagine she could have much to say about it. Right?

More to come on this today, I’m sure. If you happen to be one of the few people left on the planet who hasn’t seen the ad, it’s after the jump.

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It has been widely reported that the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, the 501(c)4 wing of the CBC, is seriously considering co-hosting a presidential debate with FOX News. Their reasoning isn’t entirely clear.

One thing that is clear, though, writes MyDD’s Matt Stoller, is that one member of the CBC could stop it with a single phone call. That’s Sen. Obama. Stoller writes:

He is probably the most important member of the CBC and a key figure in this whole episode. … Obama could gain more credibility with new progressive activists that he’s serious about a new type of politics with some quiet behind-the-scenes maneuvering here.

Without some gentle quiet prodding, though, Fox News will get their CBC debate. … He should pick now before everyone’s backed into a corner and garner more credibility before it goes public, and risk a backlash.

And just in case anyone needs a reminder about why putting FOX News in charge of a Democratic presidential debate is like putting crocodiles in charge of a day care center, the Political Wire points us toward a 2004 poll showing that “Fox News viewers supported George Bush over John Kerry by 88% to 7%.” That’s a higher concentration of Republicans than any other demographic, including “evangelical Christians, gun owners, and supporters of the Iraq war.”

And let’s not even get started on the fact that 67% of FOX News viewers were convinced we found a link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.

This isn’t about being unwilling to engage with people who disagree with you. It’s about delegitimizing an agenda-driven organization that is posing as an objective news source to the detriment of millions of Americans.

First CNN sent a reporter to Jakarta following FOX News’s fallacious reporting on Sen. Obama’s schooling. Now ABC has analyzed Sen. Obama’s position on the Iraq War following the Clinton’s campaign’s disingenuous claims about its consistency.

Their finding: “However much others try to fuzz up the record,” Sen. Obama has had a “consistent anti-war message” and “stood out” for “opposing the war quite firmly when the war was overwhelmingly popular.” The reporters analyzed Sen. Obama’s interviews and remarks — including those cited by the Clinton campaign — and concluded that his opponent’s spin on his position is precisely that: spin.

The article quotes Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton, who sums it all up:

“The important thing here is that Obama has been 100% consistent in his opposition to the war, and now he has a responsible plan to end the conflict,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. “Even when you look at the statements he’s made about others who supported the war, it’s clear that he’s in sharp opposition to the war.”

ABC also has a comprehensive video to back up their findings entitled “Obama Opposes Iraq War From Start.”

Given Sen. Obama’s consistency, it’s understandable that Josh Gerstein at the New York Sun is saying that “why Mrs. Clinton’s team would want Mr. Obama’s strongly anti-war statements from 2002 in broader circulation is beyond me.”

Us too.

If I was the Clinton campaign, and I was watching as the biggest applause line my main Democratic competitor received every night was his assertion that we must find a solution to a war that “never should have been authorized,” I’d want to do what I could to neutralize that advantage.

If I was sneaky enough, I’d probably try to conflate my candidate’s record with his, and suggest that there is “very little difference” in their Senate voting records on the issue.

If I was truly disingenuous, I might even try to muddy his crystal clear stance on the subject, perhaps by taking comments he made in support of Sen. Kerry and John Edwards back in 2004 out of context to suggest that he hasn’t been opposed to the war from the beginning.

Yes, I suppose if I were desperate enough, I might do these things — though I hope I would have enough scruples to abstain from this sort of political hackery, relying instead on my candidate’s record. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for Mark Penn, Sen. Clinton’s chief strategist. His candidate’s record on the war is proving a major obstacle, and so he has apparently decided that smearing her competitor is a better strategy than debating the issue on the merits.

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Appearing last night on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Sen. Obama said that he thinks “it’s about time” for Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to be replaced:

I may be one of the few people left who is not convinced that MySpace is the be all end all for presidential candidates looking to harness the power of the internets, the absolute shibboleth of political success. I certainly appreciate the important role social networking sites can play in voter mobilization and momentum building, but at the end of the day — don’t shoot the messenger, now — it’s basically just a message board.

And that’s not worth much if you don’t have a message.

Fortunately, Sen. Obama’s got one — which may explain why he is cleaning up on the social networking scene. The Honolulu Advertiser reports today that on Impact Channel — MySpace’s new political component — Sen. Obama “already had 68,412 ‘friends’ as of this morning, by far the highest among the other candidates.”

According to the article, “Obama’s profile lists his status as ‘married,’ his occupation (’senator’), his ethnicity (’other’) and zodiac sign (’Leo’).”

Of course it’s great that the Obama campaign is dominating in this arena. I’d expect nothing less from a campaign so grounded in organic, grassroots political empowerment and the notion that everyone has a contribution to make. But if I turn on the computer one day to see a picture of Sen. Obama shotgunning a beer while “My Humps” plays in the background, I will be very disappointed.

Click on the image below to watch a great news clip of Sen. Obama’s rally in Denver yesterday:

The Concord Monitor reports on an appearance Sen. Obama made at a New Hampshire senior center last week. Entitled “Obama Keeps It Simple,” the article points out that the age of the audience did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm, reporting that “The silver-haired crowd was on their feet, clapping and whistling before the youngest presidential candidate even opened his mouth.”

The article goes on to underscore Sen. Obama’s push for public involvement in the political process, saying that he “made a harder sell for civic engagement than he did for votes”:

“When the American people don’t pay attention, Washington gets into a whole bunch of mischief,” he said. “In the Obama presidency, I want people looking over my shoulder, because I’m not going to be perfect myself.”

More than once, Obama touted the quality of the Democratic field. He urged the crowd to support him, but asked that if they didn’t, they work for one of the other candidates, “because this is one of those elections I don’t think we can sit out.”

The piece also includes this choice quote from State Rep. Ellen Nielsen, who said of Sen. Obama:

“I read his book and liked it. I like the fact that he understands the Constitution, having taught Constitutional law,” she said. “And he’s hot.”

Over 10,000 people turned out to see Sen. Obama at his first Bay Area rally, which took place yesterday in an outdoor amphitheater in front of the Oakland City Hall. According to the AP, “Obama’s afternoon appearance brought the downtown to a standstill. His amplified voice echoed off the downtown buildings and people peered through office building windows and waved from rooftop balconies.”

Fortunately for us, OBAMARAMA reader Stacy from California was on hand for yesterday’s rally, and she emailed in this description (as well as the great photos below) to help give us a sense of what it was like to be there:

Obama’s rally in Oakland was a true success! Some say over 12,000 people were there! Although that sounds chaotic, the hope and excitement in the air far outweighed any thoughts of fear about the massive amount of people you were standing with. I saw first hand what kind of positive energy Obama’s presence can bring!

The crowd chanted “Obama” in anticipation. Once he was on stage in the sunken amphitheater, not everyone could actually see the Senator, but that didn’t stop the crowd from wildly cheering for him. You could hear a loud chorus of “boo” when Obama mentioned that some thought he didn’t have enough experience, and cheers of jubilation when he made his statement that he’s been in “Washington long enough to know that Washington needs to change.”

I know that I was truly part of history in the making! I am more sure than ever that Obama has the energy to evoke amazing followers of all ethnic backgrounds and will be the next President of our United States!

See Stacy’s pictures after the jump.

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This week, Chris Rock answers the incessant question of “Is America ready” as only he can, in the hilarious opening sketch from last night’s Saturday Night Live:

The Political Wire reports that Mark Penn, chief pollster to Sen. Clinton, is challenging the results of the TIME Magazine poll we touted here yesterday. The poll showed Sen. Obama closing in on Sen. Clinton, particularly among independents and in the south.

It’s that whole independent thing that irks Penn. According to the New York Sun, he thinks that “the proportion of independent voters in the Time poll, 25%, was too high and skewed the results against Mrs. Clinton, who does best with registered Democrats.”

It’s all well and good to dispute the accuracy of the poll’s sampling of independents — a recent Washington Post article put the actual number of independents at 19 percent — but at the end of the day, do you really want to be underscoring the extent to which your candidate does not appeal to moderate voters? Is her established polarizing nature really the kind of thing you want to highlight?

Sen. Obama’s ability to appeal to Democratic primary voters (who identify with his policy priorities) as well as to the general electorate (which is drawn to his post-partisanship — and not alienated by perceptions about his character or burnout over his past) is precisely what makes him such a compelling candidate.

Sen. Clinton may find strong support among primary voters, but whoever wins the nomination is going to have to appeal to the entire country. And anyone who thinks primary voters don’t take that into consideration should ask Howard Dean how he feels about the word “electability.”

Watch Sen. Obama discuss national security and Iraq, as well as the attorney purge, with Meredith Vieira on March 15:

A new TIME poll that has Sen. Obama narrowing the gap with Sen. Clinton to a mere seven points has several even more exciting statistics just below the surface, as the New York Post reports today:

The Time poll reveals southerners scrambling away from Clinton. She now leads Obama in the region by just 4 points — down from a whopping 23-point edge in the South last month.

While Clinton and Obama remained deadlocked among blacks, she holds a 7-point lead among whites and a 25-point advantage with evangelical Christians.

The poll of Democrats and left-leaning independents showed Clinton wielding a 9-point edge (31 percent to 22 percent) among registered Democrats but trailing Obama among independents, 27 percent to 25 percent.

The news is even better in the head-to-head matchups with Republican frontrunner Rudy Giuliani, where Sen. Obama once again wins the day:

And in head-to-head match-ups, Obama edges GOP front-runner Rudy Giuliani (44 percent to 43 percent) while Clinton loses to him (47 percent to 43 percent).