As Barack Obama begins his courtship of Pennsylvania voters, he's getting a late start, for all three Clintons have been barnstorming the state for over three weeks. Obama's laggardly beginning has annoyed some of the two hundred-and-fifty or so people I've talked to over the weekend in western PA; at bottom, they've been afraid that he wouldn't show up for them the way he has for other states. Much to my surprise, Pennsylvanians are eager to have their voices heard--here Hillary Clinton is right. As a reporter, I may be flagging; but the citizens of Altoona, Greensburg and Johnstown are bright and eager. Obama has kicked off his campaign here with a six-day bus tour, moving west to east, from Pittsburg to Philly. What fun! I said to myself back in California. Eager to get back on the campaign trail, I kicked off those blogger bunny scuffs and hied myself straight to the Keystone State.
Obama has tweaked the tone of his campaign since Texas. Given the nastiness of the contest of late, he is always careful now to praise Senator Clinton, and it is clear from the way he inserts a compliment into every town hall meeting and speech, that this is part of his daily "to do" list. The subject came up naturally at the town hall meeting in Johnstown on Saturday, when a man asked Senator Obama if he thought the country was becoming an oligarchy, with only two families possibly running things for twenty-eight years (Yes, his math was off.) But Obama didn't second the man's comment; instead he asserted that "Senator Clinton should be judged on her own merits," and he refused to be drawn into the laughter this response provoked. In many ways, Obama's attitude is nothing new, for he has always treated Senator Clinton better than she has dealt with him. A revealing difference is that, almost without exception, Obama has always referred to Hillary Clinton by her name--always--while Senator Clinton and Bill Clinton almost always call Obama "my opponent." In the three weeks I was in Texas, for example, I never heard either Clinton utter Obama's name.
Contributing to the tone of the campaign now is Obama's assertion, which he also works into every appearance, that the way the contest has gone on so long is a plus positive. Here is how he put it in a formal speech before 20,000 people (actually, not that many showed up--it was a very cold day) on the great lawn before Old Main Building at Penn State: "The primary has gone on a little bit long. There have been people who've been voicing some frustration. They've been saying the campaigns have been going at it--back and forth--and we feel like the initial hopefulness that we had is kinda slipping away. I want everybody to understand--this has been a great contest , great for America. It's engaged and involved people like never before. I think it's terrific that Senator Clinton's supporters have been as passionate as my supporters have been. Because that means the people are invested and engaged in the process--and I am absolutely confident that when this primary season is all over, Democrats will be united because we understand what is at stake in this election."
If sunny optimism is the face of Obama Pennsylvania, everything else about the Senator and his campaign now coalesces around polarities. Bob Casey, who is traveling on the bus, always introduces Obama as "a fighter" and "the underdog." But of course Obama is topdog/underdog. And he is way too laid back to be a fighter. A question he got in Johnstown was what he has learned during the campaign. After several truisms ("The American people have so much in common wherever you go"), Obama made this revealing admission. "I've always thought I had a calm temper. And during this campaign, I've learned that I really am calm." For a man who travels in a phalanx of Secret Service protection (there must be a dozen red-pinned agents, as opposed to plain-clothes, with him now), Obama is indeed a remarkably serene individual.
Obama is a canny survivor--in many ways the politician of whom he reminds me most is Octavian--and one of the ways he keeps going is through humor and laughter. There's been lots of that in Pennsylvania. Last night before a packed house in Harrisburg, he was cracking one joke after another, some of them extempore., and using his humor to keep the obstreperous, sometimes nearly out-of-control crowd, in hand. Despite all these positive vibes, Obama's message rides on a dark undercurrent. He always begins his remarks by saying that "there is such a thing as being too late, and that hour is almost upon us." In the end, "the fierce urgency of now" is his own. Here is a man whose parents, both of them, died relatively young. That fact as much as anything seems to drive his ambition and also his sense of connection with Lincoln. In his desire to bring a riven nation together, Obama has planted himself in Lincoln's footsteps. Before the crowd at Penn State in University Park, Obama spoke of Lincoln and his signing the university into existence via land grant (Indeed the beautiful Old Main building is inscribed "July 2, 1862--signed A. Lincoln. ") Obama ruminated about the Lincoln top hat that the university owns and how "some people are allowed to see it" (Whether he was so allowed, he never said.)
So Barack Obama is now the alpha dog underdog laid back candidate with a sense of urgency who loves the long campaign despite his frequent comment that "babies have been born and learned to walk and talk since I began running ." This is Obama the candidate and Obama the man now--the same and yet different than when I left him in Texas. (Clearly, he had hoped to put Senator Clinton away there or in Ohio.) The bus tour itself is another story.
"No," Jen says. "I'm sorry. Afraid not. The Secret Service, you know." Obama Communications has put the kabosh on my trusty rental car and me. We are not going to be allowed to follow the Obama "Road to Change" bus tour. But here I am in Johnstown, the town hall meeting is finished, and I'd like to tag along for all the interesting and unscripted stops the bus will make during the afternoon. I well remember Bill and Al and the wives on the bus in '92. I remember thinking on the day they set off, this is really cool--Americans are going to love it--this guy is the next president of the United States. The Clintons' autobiographies recount chance single encounters as well as "thousands of people" lining the road and filling the fields. Hillary Clinton tells the story of how her husband would yell "Stop the bus!" so often that after awhile Al Gore, seeing one solitary soul by the side of the road, would intone, "I feel a sojourn coming on."
Times have changed. The iconic American road trip is no longer possible for a candidate with a serious hope of the Presidency. The Obama "bus tour" is a caravan of state trooper cars, Secret Service agents crammed into SUVs, a pooled press bus (the second press bus goes on to the evening's caravanserai ) and Obama's Greyhound MyLuxuryBus.com, which has been "securified" into the sort of quasi-military vehicle that pops up in action movies. It's not hard to follow such a procession around the highways and byways of Pennsylvania. What's the worst that could happen to me? Impound me. (I've begun to think of myself, as well as Obama, in canine terms. I'm that unwanted stray that bounds after the departing family car.)
Well, I'm wrong. The worst is roadkill. It turns out that the Obama bus tour is a road hazard. Inexplicably, the procession chooses to putt-putt along in the fast lane of Pennsylvania's mostly two-lane highways. Is this somehow better protection against woodland snipers? If so, the rest of the traffic refuses to act as buffer. Cars pile up in the slow lane, afraid to pass the flashing patrol cars in the inside lane. So everybody motors along in tandem, with fast-approaching cars hitting the brakes behind the caboose patrol car, before choosing either to fall in line behind the rest of us or to run the gauntlet and pass on the right. I experience two near-misses and their accompanying adrenalin rushes. This wasn't the kind of adventure I had in mind. Saturday afternoon the Obama cavalcade winds about for an hour-and-a-half. The man has just spoken about our need for a new energy policy, and here he is in a vehicle that must get a mile to the gallon. I'm noticing this because I'm cross--I'm hungry and I have to pee. It's after 4 o'clock--don't these people ever get hungry?
The cavalcade finally leaves the highway for the town of Altoona, cruising swiftly through the deserted downtown before stopping before the small storefront of Altoon'a Texas Hot Dogs. This would seem to be an impromptu pit stop, and certainly Altoona has not been expecting Barack. Indeed, as I quickly discover, Altoonans have been aggrieved that they have been left out of the campaign's west-state itinerary. The Saturday Altoona Mirror runs the headline, "Presidential Candidates Ignore Blair" (Altoona is in Blair County.) For the next two hours, I stand across the street from Texas Hot Dogs, along with the fifty-or-so Altoonans who had walked downtown with a late-afternoon weiner yen. We are trapped, for the Secret Service (nine of them in the deserted street alone, more in the alley and out back) have barricaded us in with yellow plastic crime scene tape. After awhile, a portly Secret Service agent in a much-admired green tie steps in to wand everybody down. For me, this is a golden opportunity to talk to people about the election. Here is a perfect group--brought together by a liking not for a particular candidate but for hot dogs. The problem with interviewing people at a rally or a town hall meeting is that such events tend to be self-selecting, in that they draw mostly folks who already support the candidate. And particularly this late in the campaign, supporters' remarks are less and less probative.
The first thing I discover is that--not surprisingly, since Altoona has fallen on hard times--the town has a drug problem. Upon seeing the patrol cars, the Altoonans had assumed a drug bust. The second thing I heard--and had already heard elsewhere in western PA and would hear again--is an intense dislike of Governor Rendell. Bob Casey is the man in western Pennsylvania, and he is about the best thing to happen to Barack Obama lately (I may have to eat my words dismissing the value of endorsements.) And it's not just that westerners love Casey; it's also that Casey and Obama seem to have hit if off big time in a way that goes beyond their shooting hoops together every morning. So the Altoonans are almost as happy to wait two hours to shake Casey's hand as Obama's. The third thing I learn is just how wary Obama staffers have become of random press--and internet media in particular (From Texas to Pennsylvania, they act like they've been taken out into the yard and birched.) Max, a western field director for the campaign, is talking to friends inside the cordon when I come up to shake his hand and introduce myself. He looks at me suspiciously and says, pointing to the press bus, "We already have press." And then he says, nodding to his friends, "Everything I've been telling them is off-the-record." What he's been telling them is that he was surprised, when looking up Texas Hot Dogs on his Blackberry, that there is another one out in the mall by Macy's. When he turns to go, I ask him if Texas Hot Dogs is famous. "I wouldn't know," he says, "I've never heard of it before."
Eventually, licking their lips, Obama and Casey do emerge from Texas Hot Dogs and spend some time with the little cordon. After the caravan departs (for an hour of Altoona bowling, as it turns out--more on the bowlers and their opinions tomorrow), we street people rush for the storefront. Inside I find not only that a hot dog costs $1.36 ($1.41 with cheese) but that the seemingly-impromptu stop has been planned well-in-advance. Two days before, Secret Service agents had talked to the owner and cased the place. He, of course, had been sworn to silence. The night before, a local agent (probably out of Harrisburg) had spent the night there. He remains behind for supper after the Obama entourage leaves and talks with the waitress over pie. Diners are quietly pleased with themselves about Obama's visit, and all the talk is about how funny he was and how long he stayed and how he spent time with folks at every table. The interesting thing is that these folk have the same calm that imbues Obama. There's a small town atmosphere--everybody knows everybody else, children are well-behaved, old people get respect--everybody know who they are and who their neighbors are (Not that everybody is registered to vote, but that's another story.) This is such a vanishing piece of Americana that I feel privileged to be eating a hot dog in otherwise deserted downtown Altoona on a Saturday night. Of course, there are those drug dealers out there somewhere, and I find myself looking right and left--and me, a longtime resident of Oakland!--as I head for my car.
There's the light and the dark everywhere--and not just in Obama, or in the campaigns. It's clear now that the Obama bus tour is not going to be an impromptu adventure. He is never going to be able to stop for cider at a roadside stand. We know what could happen--and not just because we all saw the movie Babel last year. That's the riven world in which we live, the divided country Barack Obama is calmly determined to bring together.
[Tomorrow: Pennsylvanians talk to me about the candidates. Obama Wants to Put the Country, Including That Portly Secret Service Agent, on a Diet.]
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Mayhill, Obama certainly can be a fighter. He is like a refined boxer with all the tools. He tries to be positive because that is the way he is.
"[Obama] is way too laid back to be a fighter." This is an outrageous assessment. 1) There is no way Obama could have moved from total obscurity in Hawaii to become one of the most famous politicians in recent history and our potential president if he were not a fighter. and
2)Because he is a black man, Obama CANNOT portray himself as a conventional fighter figure or he would be frightening to white people. He has to present himself as calm and level-headed or he will be dismissed as an "angry black man." That doesn't mean he's not a fighter. It just means he's not an idiot.
Mayhill,
If you're covering Pennsylvania politics and heading to PittsburgH, I hope you'll learn how to spell the name of Steel City before you leave. It ends with an "H."
"But of course Obama is topdog/underdog. And he is way too laid back to be a fighter."
Since we are going against the Republicans, we need a fighter, not a laid back dreamer who thinks that the world can be changed with a smile and a nice speech, not a top-puppy.
It will not be terrorists, but Republicans dancing in the streets, if Obama is actually nominated. Hillary is a tough nut to crack, you can't keep a good woman down. Obambi will be sunk by Rove and McCain. He will never know what hit him, not even after they are finished with him.
That's the point. Our congress Fights and we get nowhere. the Republicans are all talk. They are great at scaring folks but they don't scare me. You act as though John McCain doesn't have any warts - he has big ones. We just aren't paying any attention to them now. The dems have 527s that rival the Repubs - Obama doesn't need to "fight". Look where it's gotten Hillary -
I completely enjoyed this story, thank you for your thoughtful candor and insights into our man Barack Obama!
YES WE CAN!
In PA, too!
Rick in NJ
Of course Senator Obama behaves with more politeness then the Clintons. He has manners and class. They have spin and dirty tricks.
Actually the man's math was not off at all. 4 years for Bush Sr. plus 8 years for Bill Clinton plus 8 years for Little Bush plus a possible 8 years for Hillary = 28 years. MORON!
I was going to post the same thing, except I was going to leave out the "moron", moron.
I always add 8 more yrs. for GHWBs vice presidency.
What a fun read! Thank you!
Obama by a landslide in November. The rest is somewhat boring at this point. The race is over, except for those who dwell in BushWorld and Clintangria.
Great post! I very much enjoyed reading it and felt like I was there on the trail, too. More just like this please!!
Octavian? How do we know he was like Obama? Or there is there a rapper named Octavian?
Yes, this one bothered me too. Octavian (actually better known as Augustus) is the guy who was adopted by Julius Ceasar in his will and who eventually became the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Although I generally liked the post, this odd reference to Octavian was jaring. Octavian is incomparable to any American politician living or dead (except with the one remote possibility of Alexander Hamilton) because we have never had any politician trying to wrest control of the American government by force of arms -- this is what Octavian did. And what Julius Caesar did before him (not without cause) and what Cornelius Sulla did before him and what Gaius Marius did before him.... and so you get the idea.. This comparison was very odd and not at all accurate.
How Obama tried to steal Texas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LASNtFcqF4g
This is crap, as you would expect from Fox news.
That video is from a few weeks ago. This morning Obama was declared the winner of Texas.
Why should he steal, what was given to him by the Texan democratic electorate, anyway...? Get real.
This was a terrific and engaing piece, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Like some of the others, I am looking forward to part 2!
Thank you so much, this was such a peasure to read.
For some reasoin my reply to a post didn't make the cut..
So HERE is a nice little poll out of Kentucky.- birthplace of Jefferson Davis.
Here Are The Results of SurveyUSA Election Poll #13652
Geography Surveyed: Kentucky
Data Collected: 03/28/2008 - 03/30/2008
Release Date: 03/31/2008 10:00 AM ET
Sponsors: WCPO-TV Cincinnati, WHAS-TV Louisville
In Kentucky, Clinton 2:1 Atop Obama,
7 Weeks to the Primary: In a Democratic Primary in Kentucky today, 03/31/08, 7 weeks till the votes are counted, Hillary Clinton defeats Barack Obama 58% to 29%, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted for WHAS-TV Louisville and WCPO-TV Cincinnati. Clinton leads narrowly in greater Louisville, but leads decisively in other parts of the state, including 4:1 in Eastern KY. Obama trails by 20 among men, trails by 37 among women.
Filtering: 1,600 state of KY adults were interviewed 03/28/08 through 03/30/08. Of them, 1,454 were registered to vote. Of them, 572 were determined by SurveyUSA to be likely to vote in the 05/20/08 closed Democratic Primary.
1 Asked of 572 likely voters
Margin of Sampling Error for this question = ± 4.1%
If the Democratic Primary for President of the United States were today, would you vote for...(names rotated) Hillary Clinton? Barack Obama? Or some other Democrat?
58% Clinton
29% Obama
10% Other
4% Undecided
x Complete Interactive Crosstabs
i Statement of Methodology
! © 2008 SurveyUSA / Contractual Obligations
Wowsers! You mean Hillary might win Kentucky?!? Wow, Obama should pack it in because we all know Kentucky is the pulse of the nation!
So? Senator Obama was behind Senator Clinton by 20 points in Pennsylvania two weeks ago. He has now closed this gap to 5 points. Didn't you know everybody in the Country knows who Senator Clinton is? This is why it is truly extraordinary that Senator Obama is winning this nominating process. Who would have thought that a little-known politician could out-organize, out-fundraise and out-perform one of the best Democratic politicians who is not above fighting very, very dirty. Senator Obama is winning this race-- cannot you see how much this changes everything? We, the People, are tired of the mud and the distractions. We are awake now and ready to take back our Country. Senator Obama has not campaigned in Kentucky yet-- but he will and lots of the folks there will wake up there just like they have in every other state.
I don't know if Senator Obama has enough time to win Kentucky. Time is always his enemy. If he had 7 weeks in Kentucky, he could do it. I can tell you Senator Obama will not lose by 20 points. That margin will shrink -- and once the good folks in Kentucky become engaged in the political process, Senator Obama's support will continue to grow there long after the polls have closed.
He will be the 44th President of these States United and together we will change this Country for the better!
Ya know, when people refer to parts of my homestate of PA as "Pennsyltucky," it's not a compliment. Winning there isn't a victory of numbers for Clinton, and those who might claim it as a moral victory haven't thought about WHY Clinton is so preferred there.
WHY?
This is a great piece. It does not take sides but tells a great story. I wish there were more human interest pieces like this one amid all the grandstanding. Thanks for the great writing.
His math wasn't off, consider Reagan/Bush. The President's father was a very active Vice President, and there is some controversy about when Reagan started developing Alzheimer's and how powerful VP Bush was during the Reagan Assassination Attempt.
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Posted March 31, 2008 | 06:38 AM (EST)