Obama-Related Links

I was looking at Obama's website tonight, and it had a link to call voters in Virginia. That made me think of my friend and Wellesley classmate Leslie G., who lives in Arlington, so I thought I'd call her and see if she were voting tomorrow. She went to an Obama rally at a high-school gym yesterday, and they got there early, but there was a very long wait until the man himself showed up. But she said that everyone was very much "fired up" for the Senator. She sent me a nice photo:

She was inspired to donate money to Obama's campaign, but because she is a registered lobbyist for MetLife, she couldn't donate, even though it was a private donation, not in her capacity as a MetLife employee. A bummer, but I'm glad that Obama refuses corporate and lobbyists' donations. This is a bottom-up campaign, not top down.

I had mentioned some Obama-related links to my friend, so I sent them along, and will share with y'all here:

Frank Rich's column in the NYT today quotes a Latino L.A. Times columnist who claims that the Clinton campaign is trying to "sow misinformation and racial division." Even though there are a lot of commenters protesting what they claim is Mr. Rich's "biased personal attack," I think he makes some valid points about character. Bill Kristol's NYT column, also interesting, especially coming from a conservative.

You've all seen Obama's "Yes We Can" video; here's the link to the McCain parody video. More like "No, We Can't."

Here's a link to a Laurence Lessig video on why he's for Obama. Here's a link to a transcript, which might be quicker if you just want the ideas and not the whole 20-minute video presentation.

And a verrrrry interesting Op-Ed piece from the notoriously conservative Wall Street Journal, written by none other than former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan, saying that in the general election, Obama is "bulletproof." And also, "The Democrats continue not to recognize what they have in this guy. Believe me, Republican professionals know. They can tell."

Oh, and I was looking for yard signs online the other day, and there was this huge comment thread on Obama's website blog, and I discovered that the online store is backlogged by several weeks, and so someone used Ning to set up a new online group called "Obamacycle" where people who live in states with upcoming primaries can post asking for campaign signs and gear from people in states whose primaries have passed. I have posted a request on there for yard signs, but haven't gotten any specific offers, except for someone around the corner who said that if he gets extras from out of state, he'll give me one. [Update: I did get a sign. Yay organization!] I was just going to say that if you have any friends, neighbors, or coworkers who have extry signs (not the stakes, just the signs) I'd love to have them.

David Cay Johnston has written a new book about the ways the rich get richer at our expense. Terry Gross did a really interesting interview with him on Fresh Air a few weeks back. The title of his book is: Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You With the Bill). It's great to have all the evidence in one place.