<< Oct 05, 2008The Norwegian newspaper VG has reported a truly amazing story about a newly-wed trying to get to Norway to be with her husband, and the stranger who helped pay an unexpected luggage surcharge. The blog "Leisha's Random Thoughts" has translated the story.It was 1988, and Mary Andersen was at the Miami airport checking in for a long flight to Norway to be with her husband when the airline representative informed her that she wouldn't be able to check her luggage without paying a 100 surcharge:When it was finally Mary's turn, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness.-You'll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway, the man behind the counter said.Mary had no money. Her new husband had travelled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.-I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions, says Mary.As tears streamed down her face, she heard a "gentle and friendly voice" behind her saying, "That's okay, I'll pay for her."Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before.-He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. The first thing I thought was, Who is this man?Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authority that radiated from the man.-He was nicely dressed, fashionably dressed with brown leather shoes, a cotton shirt open at the throat and khaki pants, says Mary.She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he waved goodbye to her.Who was the man?Barack Obama.Twenty years later, she is thrilled that the friendly stranger at the airport may be the next President and has voted for him already and donated 100 dollars to his campaign:-He was my knight in shining armor, says Mary, smiling.She paid the 103 dollars back to Obama the day after she arrived in Norway. At that time he had just finished his job as a poorly paid community worker* in Chicago, and had started his law studies at prestigious Harvard university.Mary even convinced her parents to vote for him:In the spring of 2006 Mary's parents had heard that Obama was considering a run for president, but that he had still not decided. They chose to write a letter in which they told him that he would receive their votes. At the same time, they thanked Obama for helping their daughter 18 years earlier.And Obama replied:In a letter to Mary's parents dated May 4th, 2006 and stamped 'United States Senate, Washington DC', Barack Obama writes:'I want to thank you for the lovely things you wrote about me and for reminding me of what happened at Miami airport. I'm happy I could help back then, and I'm delighted to hear that your daughter is happy in Norway. Please send her my best wishes. Sincerely, Barack Obama, United States Senator'.The parents sent the letter on to Mary.Mary says that when her friends and associates talk about the election, especially when race relations is the heated subject, she relates the story of the k ind man who helped out a stranger-in-need over twenty years ago, years before he had even thought about running for high office.Truly a wonderful story, and something that needs to be passed along in the maelstorm of fear-and-smear politics we are being subjected to right now.UPDATE: Thanks for the recommends, folks! Also, remember this was 1988, when 100 dollars was quite a bit of money, compared to today's value.By the way, this would be the perfect antidote to the Smear E-mails going around. If anyone has a good long email chain list, shoot it out, and let it be passed along. >>
(note: the original email of this had a photo attached of the parents holding the original letter Obama sent their daughter on Senate stationery).
Most of the national polls -- including our NBC/WSJ survey -- are now showing Obama with a double-digit national lead. And here come a slew of brand-new state polls that also suggest Obama is in command of this presidential contest. The University of Wisconsin’s Big Ten Battleground polls have Obama up 10 points in Indiana (51%-41%), 13 points in Iowa (52%-39%), 22 in Michigan (58%-36%), 19 in Minnesota (57%-38%), 12 in Ohio (53%-41%), 11 in Pennsylvania (52%-41%), 13 in Wisconsin (53%-40%), and nearly 30 in Obama’s home state of Illinois (61%-32%). Meanwhile, there are new Quinnipiac surveys that show Obama up five points in Florida (49%-44%), 14 in Ohio (52%-38%), and 13 in Pennsylvania (53%-40%). And finally, new CNN/Time surveys find Obama ahead by five points among likely voters in Nevada (51%-46%), four points in North Carolina (51%-47%), four in Ohio (50%-46%), and 10 points in Virginia (54%-44%). The lone state survey that shows McCain ahead: CNN/Time’s West Virginia poll, where McCain’s nine (53%-44%).
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/23/1583632.aspx
<< The McCain campaign is defending crowd members at its recent rallies who have called Obama a terrorist, accused him of treason and even screamed "kill him" when his association with former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers has been broached. >>
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/10/mccain-defends-his-rabid_n_133710.html
I know Obama would hope to see a more measured response from a supporter, but this latest McCain outrage is so off the chart that even calling him a punk, as I do in the caption, seems mild, restrained. Anyone who's seen the videos in the last couple days of these rabid wingnuts spewing hate at Obama knows why even a conservative guy like David Gergen's been moved to warn of the real possibility of imminent violence.
<< "One of the most striking things we've seen in the last few days, we have seen it at the Palin rallies and we saw it at the McCain rally today," said David Gergen, appearing on Anderson Cooper 360 Thursday evening. "And we saw it to a considerable degree during the rescue package legislation. There is a free-floating sort of whipping-around anger that could really lead to some violence. And I think we're not far from that." >>
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/10/former-mccain-strategist_n_133523.html
Not to mention the additional, unnecessary burden Wreckless John's acquiescence in and tacit encouragement of this hate speech and rage directed at Obama must be placing on the Secret Service.
Calling McCain a punk let's him off easy; a lesser man might be calling him a punk-ass motherfu**er.
<< You may not agree with the following policy conclusions which led me to cross over for the first time in my life, and vote for Sen. Obama in Virginia's open primary, but THEY DID. And these same issues will resonate with other Republicans in voting booths across the country this fall...>>
http://baracklikeme.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-market-obama-to-your-republican.html
This is who McCain really is, and confirms what I've always thought about him: he's not a maverick, he's an insubbordinate anger case.
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain
William Ayers, Rev. Wright, with AP reporting racist undertones mixed in by McCain. Beautiful.
McCain now is running 100% attack ads. His only hope is to dirty up Obama. Fortunately, the O-Bomb has done a terrific job defining himself and what he proposes to do for the country. There may be a few who are swayed, but I think McCain's sleaze will see negative reactions from far more voters.
And Obama is ready, releasing today (noon, EST) a 13 minute video laying out McCain's role in the Keating 5 scandal, the savings and loan meltdown of the late '80s that cost taxpayers $2.3B and resulted in McCain's tight buddy, big-time contributor, and all-around go-to guy Charles Keating being convicted of fraud-releated felonies and doing serious time in prison.
In the meantime, the average of the national polls has Obama up 8 points, and leading in all the battleground states except Missouri.
Of course all Obama supporters must continue to work 25 hours a day for the next 29 days, as though our man were 5 points behind. But I think we'll look back on this campaign on two levels: as the time when the Democrat ran the tightest and smartest campaign in American history, and the time when the Republican, in a "change" election year, embarrassed himself by making a "base" VP pick because even the hard-core party faithful weren't buying his act.
And all the cutesy-pie cocktail waitress winking and the Romper Room-level oration will be seen as what it is: the low-point thrashings of a dying party overwhelmingly rejected by a majority of Americans.
McCain Pulling Out Of Michigan
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/02/mccain-pulling-out-of-mic_n_131287.html
Great news, of course, but given the recent polling jumps Obama's seen in virtually all the battleground states--and given the sense in the media that McCain's going down in flames, and the private, high level Republican freak out in Florida a couple days ago ("Florida GOP meets in secret as Obama passes McCain in polls" http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article835288.ece)--my only question is this: what kind of desperate, game-changing, horror show / outrage will McCain pull in the next few days to try to gain back momentum?
Since there are no FACTS he can look to to turn around voters, and since his style is to lie through his teeth about Obama, no matter the patent absurdity of the lie, I'm looking for an off the chart whopper or two. Or three. Make Obama deny whatever crap McCain's accused him of. But what exactly those lies might be is an open question.
Any guesses?
Pennsylvania Quinnipiac Obama 54, McCain 39 Obama +15
Ohio Quinnipiac Obama 50, McCain 42 Obama +8
Florida Quinnipiac Obama 51, McCain 43 Obama +8
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/latestpolls/index.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032553/
