Obama disconnected

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:20:00 +0000

If the history of American politics can be summarized as an ongoing battle between organized money and organized people, American progressives had reason to be optimistic that the victory of Barack Obama in 2008 might tip the scales toward the needs and interests of ordinary people rather than those of big money.

His campaign’s success in both the primary fight against Hillary Clinton and the general election against John McCain was powered by an unprecedented wave of mass participation. The numbers were staggering: 13 million e-mail addresses collected (20 percent of his total vote), almost 4 million individual donors (more than double amassed by President George W. Bush in 2004), $500 million raised online, 2 million registered members of the my.BarackObama.com social network, tens of thousands of trained organizers.

Minnesota maverick

Fri, 30 Oct 1998 20:00:00 +0000

MINNEAPOLIS --No matter the result of next week's Minnesota gubernatorial race, a 47-year-old former Navy Seal, 11-year professional wrestler ("The Body"), actor ("Predator"), talk-radio host and maverick mayor of a Minneapolis suburb named Jesse Ventura has emerged as the surprise wild card of this fall's election season. Ventura is running as the candidate of Ross Perot's Reform Party, and with a bravura style that blends attacks on "career politicians" and high taxes with support for smaller public school classes, he has shocked the political establishment of this staid Midwestern state.

A week and a half ago, the Star Tribune/KMSP-TV Minnesota Poll found support for Ventura among likely voters had doubled in the last month, from 10 to 21 percent, while the front-running Democratic candidate, Minnesota Attorney General Hubert "Skip" Humphrey III (son of the former vice president and a state icon), had crashed 14 points to 35 percent. Republican nominee Norm Coleman, the New York-born mayor of St. Paul, was in a close second at 34 percent. But the attention has suddenly shifted to Ventura, a Minnesota native and imposing 6-foot-4-inch presence on any stage.

Salon.com > Micah Sifry

Obama disconnected

Minnesota maverick