Allentown Burger King to Obama: Stimulate Us Buy a Whopper

Obama's time in Allentown today. If you missed the speech, check it out here. Don't miss the photo of the day.

Obama Greets Workers at Lehigh Valley Employment Center in Pennsylvania

This is the photo of the day and this is the Obama that wingnuts--blinded by hate and ideology--can't see:

He told the assembled group, “I just want you to know I’m thinking about you every day.”

A woman gave him a private letter from one of her daughters and showed Mr. Obama a picture of the girls. Mr. Obama tucked the letter in the pocket of his suit jacket, but took a moment to write a note back. At one point, he turned to the group and said, “You guys seem very employable.’’

Another woman showed him her résumé. And still another said he had visited her former place of employment, an apparel manufacturer, while campaigning for the White House. The company has since shut down. Mr. Obama said he was sorry to hear it.

To a woman who was downsized out of her hotel industry job, he said it had been a rough year, but “it’s going to start picking up.” Read more at Politico

Obama Speaks on Jobs in Allentown Dec. 4 Video

In Allentown, Obama greeted workers at the Purina plant, where one of the workers gave Obama a fine compliment. He met with workers at an employment center, greeting each one. He also had lunch with the locals at Ham Fam.

Politico talks to the vet who asked the question about his GI benefits:

Hold No Hope in Pennsylvania For Obama

unless, new voters take to the polls. but north carolina and indiana should make up for pennsylvania. apparently, his speech was only for the "elites." i know i'm not an elite. anyway, it looks like the "budweiser" class is very upset with obama. i wonder if they like to be called the budweiser class? do they realize that they're being belittled?
pennsylvania's looking the same as ohio in terms of its fear of scary black people.
ironically, if there's anyone who could help the budweiser class it would be obama because that's what he cares about most-- lifting the working people.
politico:

PHILADELPHIA — Stephanie Gill, a bartender in a white working-class neighborhood, noticed the shift immediately.

A week ago, her customers at Rauchut’s Tavern in Tacony didn’t have much to say about Barack Obama. But when she returned to work Wednesday, a day after the Illinois senator attempted to quell the furor over his pastor’s racially incendiary remarks, the reaction inside the corner bar was raw and unapologetic.

“People are not happy with Obama,” Gill said. “It’s the race stuff.”

Obama has always been a tough sell in largely white Northeast Philadelphia and in the city's blue-collar river wards, a collection of white ethnic enclaves where customers at the local watering hole are often born and raised in the neighborhood that supports it.
.........
“The speech plays only among the elites,” Ceisler said. “The average person on the street cares about the economy and the war and everyday life.”

Glenn Peter, 54, a patron at Rauchut’s Tavern, said he heard finger pointing, not reconciliation. He took issue with Obama’s explanation that Wright’s observations of a racist America were reflecting the racial scars of his past.

“I don’t want to hear that you are blaming us for him saying this,” said Peter, who is white and worked at an auto parts factory until it was shuttered several years ago. Cutting ties with the church “would have been the best way to do it. That way, I could have been able to listen to him again.”

Obama’s Pennsylvania Strategy
Clinton Must Win Pennsylvania

Turning Out Democrats in Pennsylvania

obama's working to turn out the democrats in pennslyvania. in pennylvania, voters have to be registered democrats to vote for obama and they need to be registered by march 24. some results:

Figures released this week by the state show Pennsylvania Democrats have added more than 65,000 voters since last fall — almost 2 percent of the party’s statewide registration of 3.8 million — while Republicans gained only 3,212.

The number of party change applications in February showed a 250 percent jump from a year earlier, according to a spreadsheet provided Wednesday by the Department of State. In January, there was a 65 percent increase.

Both Democratic campaigns are claiming credit.

attytood, a pennsylvania political blog

Obama’s Pennsylvania Strategy

Clinton Must Win Pennsylvania

more strategy

Upcoming primary and caucus schedule

Poll: McCain Leads Obama and Clinton in Pennsylvania

that's the bad news.
here's the good news, mccain leads by a smaller margin in a matchup with obama.
another piece of good news, clinton says pennsylvania is one of those all important "big states" but in the general election, obama is closer to beating mccain than clinton. so she may win it now, (maybe not) but against mccain, nope.

When survey respondents were asked if they would choose McCain or Clinton in the general election, 48% opted for McCain versus 42% for Clinton. A match-up between McCain and Obama was closer, with McCain receiving 47% and Obama at 44%.

Obama’s Pennsylvania Strategy

Who Can Beat McCain?

Obama Up in Polls

pennsylvania particulars

Obama Widely Underestimated

tv pundits and newspaper columnists have been going go on and on with their knee-jerk reacting about how obama isn't tough enough, isn't fending off clinton's attacks, but i believe he's being widely underestimated. here's why:

1) he's playing by his rules, not hers.

2) he knows and has known that it's all about the delegates. that means that each state, even the itty bitty ones, matter.

3) he's been building momentum and his grass roots organization for more than a year now. its roots are deep. and obama's supporters know how to caucus.

4) at no time has clinton truly been ahead. sure, she won ohio and rhode island but who really won texas? who has popular vote? who's won the most states? who has gained 12 superdelegates since march 4?

5) obama's got patience, even though that's been tough for some of his supporters. this isn't a day at the races, it's a fight for the highest office in the nation.

6) he's not playing the media's game either. the media goes on and on... can he take a punch? can he throw one back?... he's lost his momentum, he's got it back....

obama's got everyone outsmarted. he doesn't need to punch back to get ahead. he's already ahead.

organizing in pennsylvania, where unlike obama, it's a must-win for clinton:

philly inquirer: So Obama's organization has begun pushing full-bore here, recruiting volunteers and - most important in Pennsylvania's closed primary system - registering as many Democratic voters as possible before the March 24 deadline.

Sean Smith, 37, the Connecticut political communications specialist brought in by the Obama campaign to be its Pennsylvania press secretary, was undaunted.

Smith said that in the last week Obama had opened five campaign offices in Pennsylvania - in Philadelphia, Doylestown, Bethlehem, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh - and that more would follow.

Smith said he was among 20 paid campaign staffers in Pennsylvania but "we'll probably get 100 more this weekend, and this might just be the beginning."

Over the weekend, Obama campaign staffers trained 2,000 Pennsylvania volunteers to help in telephone fund-raising and voter registration, which Smith said was where the campaign was now focusing its efforts.

Because of Pennsylvania's closed primary, only voters who are registered Democrats by the March 24 deadline can vote to nominate Obama, 46, of Chicago, or Clinton, 60, of New York, as the Democratic presidential candidate.

Smith said that 47,000 Pennsylvanians had switched parties to register as Democrats and that he believed the "vast majority" of them did so to vote for Obama.

"We can win with the people who are Democrats right now, but we just want to get everybody who does want to vote the opportunity to do that," Smith added.

Pennsylvania's voter rolls show 3.89 million registered Democrats, 3.25 million Republicans, and 984,349 independents and other-party voters. It is this latter group, Smith said, that Obama's volunteers will be pursuing over the next two weeks.

Smith noted that even before Obama began establishing his formal campaign organization here this week, volunteers had already achieved much. He said Obama's volunteers, including 25 Pennsylvania college campus chapters, had helped the candidate obtain 21,000 valid signatures in three weeks and more than 50,000 overall - just 2,000 were needed - to get Obama and a full slate of delegates on the primary ballot.read more
Note: pennsylvanians have until march 24 to register to vote in the april 22 primary. only voters registered with a party can vote in that party's primary.

and in mississippi:

The more than 1,000 free tickets available for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's town hall-style meeting Monday at Mississippi University for Women are gone.

Mississippi's 33 delegates are at stake Tuesday, and Democratic candidates for United States president continue last minute campaign efforts.

Speaking on behalf of his wife, presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, former President Bill Clinton Friday visited Tupelo.

And Obama will visit Columbus Monday for a town hall-style meeting at Pohl/Stark Recreation Center on the Mississippi University for Women campus.

But all available tickets, which are required for the free event, were claimed by Saturday afternoon.

Doors open at 9:30 a.m. for the event; more than 1,000 people are expected to attend.

“We're working with local and state agencies to prepare security,” said Columbus Police Chief Joe St. John. “I don't know how many offices will be involved; we're still working on plans. But we are working with them diligently and we're going to give all the assistance we can to make sure things are safe and secure.”

Meanwhile, neighborhood by neighborhood, dozens of Barack Obama campaign volunteers fanned out across the Golden Triangle today to blanket each home with campaign literature and urge voters to vote for Obama in Tuesday's Democratic presidential primary.

“We knocked on probably 70 houses this morning,” said Obama campaign volunteer Cheikh Taylor, of Starkville, Saturday afternoon, as he and childhood friend Carlos Harris picked up more door hangers and brochures at the Starkville Obama headquarters on Main Street at Level III. The two had been to the Rosedale neighborhood and were headed out to the Hancock Street neighborhood, Taylor's boyhood home.

“This is a real close-knit community,” he said after taking time out to visit with Darlene Spivey, who remembers back when Taylor and Harris were growing up several doors away.

Obama is expected to do well in Mississippi and likely beat Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, who is coming off of wins in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island in the March 4 contests. According to The New York Times delegate count, Clinton picked up 188 delegates that day and Obama trailed lightly picking up 182 delegates. He also won the Wyoming caucus Saturday. Mississippi is the only state with Presidential primary contests Tuesday.

Back on Hancock Circle, you could say that the warm welcome greeting Taylor and Harris - and by extension, Obama - is because these men know nearly everyone on the block. But even in the Rosedale neighborhood, where these volunteers were virtually unknown, the response to the Illinois senator has been overwhelmingly supportive.

“The response is that ‘he has my vote,'” said Taylor after canvassing in the morning.

Obama: the Un-Beholden President
Bogus Big States Argument
Obama’s Pennsylvania Strategy
Superdelegates, Superdelegates, Superdelegates
General Election Map and Calculator

Obama's Pennslyvania Strategy

as one of the slowest growing states, economically speaking, pennsylvania's in need of some jobs. looks like obama will be holding several roundtables and town hall meetings--as opposed to big rallies--to talk economy, which is especially on the minds of pennsylvanians.

there's another thing about pennsylvania, which holds its primary april 22. it's being cast in clinton's corner because it has the same demographics as ohio. but i don't think she's got it in the bag. though it has the white working-class workers, the ones who favored clinton in ohio, having spent time in pennsylvania, i don't think it has as big of a problem with race as ohio does.

many of those "lunchbox" workers in ohio said they voted for clinton because they wouldn't vote for "a black," but i think pennsylvania is more integrated so the state might be more inclined to go with obama.

pennsylvania is one of the "big states" with 158 delgates (it could've had more). but again, the big state argument is bogus for the general election.

clinton says pennsylvania is a must have for her, while not so for the obama camp. it is sticking to its strategy of getting as many delegates in all of the states. clinton has double-digit lead in the polls in pennsylvania and has deep ties there:

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, in a separate conference call, said Obama is focused on "the whole picture, and not just one state."

"We will be campaigning a lot in Pennsylvania, but we will not be defined by it," Plouffe said. "Undeniably this is a state where Sen. Clinton has huge advantages."

Clinton has led Obama in Pennsylvania polls for more than a year. Gov. Ed Rendell, the state's top Democrat, and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, another powerful Democrat, are backing her.

"She should probably be expected to win by some margin," Plouffe said. "We are going to fight very hard in Pennsylvania. We have a lot of support there. We are going to campaign as hard as we can to get as many delegates and votes as we can."

Obama has nothing to lose by lowering the expectations in Pennsylvania, and everything to gain if he wins, according to analysts who say an Obama triumph in the Keystone State likely would sink Clinton's campaign.

"I think Pennsylvania is a must-win for Clinton," said Brian Schaffner, a political science professor at American University.

"It is a state where she should perform well, and it is a state that her campaign has singled out as one that they expect to win," Schaffner said. "Not to mention the fact that this race eventually comes down to delegates, and she cannot cut into his lead without winning Pennsylvania by at least several points."

the story also goes on to say that if clinton doesn't win pennsylvania, it's over for her.

Bert Rockman, chairman of the political science department at Purdue University, said Pennsylvania is "tailor-made for Hillary."

"Lots of white, working-class voters. Lots of older Democrats. A closed primary. Vintage lunch-bucket Democrats," said Rockman, a former University of Pittsburgh professor. "I believe that in general election voting patterns, Pittsburgh has the most Democratic white population of any city in the country."

G. Terry Madonna, a political scientist at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster County, said the stakes are higher in Pennsylvania for Clinton because her campaign has made an issue of being able to take big states, such as her primary wins in Texas and Ohio.

"If Obama wins Pennsylvania, it's over," Madonna said.

Upcoming primary and caucus schedule

Obama: the Un-Beholden President

Clinton’s Deliberate Race Baiting

Who Can Beat McCain?

It’s Still Over for Clinton

here's an interesting pennsylvania poll in february which has obama leading in a general election matchup with mccain.
this is just funny. the girl in clinton's 3AM ad is actually 17 now and an obama supporter. her photo as the sleeping child was something she'd done working as an extra.

Pennsylvania Not in the Bag for Clinton

see Obama’s Pennsylvania Strategy.

STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) — For Edwin David, who served with the famed World War II unit of black fighters known as the Tuskegee Airmen, Sen. Barack Obama is an easy choice.

"Just let me live till voting time in November," said David, 83, living in retirement in the Pocono Mountains. "In my lifetime, we just might get to see the first African-American president of the United States!"

Fresh from victories in the big states of Ohio and Texas, and with polls having shown her holding the lead here, even if it has dwindled, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton starts her campaign in Pennsylvania as the favorite to win the April 22 primary.

But in random interviews last week with dozens of voters in swing districts across the state, much of the Democratic voter enthusiasm seemed to tilt toward Obama, not only because he is a fresh face, but because they believe he has the best shot at beating Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain, whom they call old and out-of-touch.

But unlike David, many said it wasn't an easy decision.

Kate Clark, 53, a cafe owner in Nazareth, a small town near Allentown, said she struggled with her choice. Tempted to vote for Clinton because of her gender, she said Obama's energy and vision ultimately won out.

"I think we need to see the United States and see the world through eyes that are younger, through eyes that have dreams, through eyes that see something new for the nation," Clark said.

Clark said she worries about the health of the environment — and the economy. Fewer people are walking through the doors of her quaint eatery now than at any time since it opened 11 years ago.

"People are afraid. The five dollars that they have is being spent on gas, on food," she said. "Everyone's tight with cash."

On the other hand, Clinton supporter Carol Velez, 52, of Norristown, in the Philadelphia suburbs, calls Obama "a glorified preacher."

"His words are not his actions," said Velez, who works in sales. "His plan is not a reality. It's just what people want to hear."

Clinton, she said, "is totally qualified and experienced."

Republicans still hold the edge in voter registration in the Philadelphia suburbs, but steady Democratic gains and voters' willingness to cross party lines in that largely white-collar region have made it crucial to Democrats. The city itself contains the state's largest concentration of Democratic voters, and its large black population is expected to give Obama an advantage there.

Clinton is expected to run stronger in northeastern Pennsylvania, with its mix of blue-collar, culturally conservative voters around Scranton and the growing number of New York commuters who are moving in the Pocono Mountains region; and the Pittsburgh region in southwestern Pennsylvania.

In Nazareth, about 60 miles north of Philadelphia, grocery-store manager Terry LaBar said he's undecided between Clinton and Obama. He wants to see them in the flesh before making up his mind.

"I think it's time that maybe a woman gets in there and expresses her views and has a chance," said Labar, who is married with two teenage children. On the other hand, he said, Obama represents a break with the past. "I'm always looking for new things to happen."

Another undecided Democrat is Tom Ciesielski, 43, who owns a pet food store in the Pittsburgh suburb of McCandless.

He might vote for Clinton because a win would put her husband, the former president, back in the White House too: "I like Bill Clinton. Life was good with Clinton."

But Obama, Ciesielski said, would be a uniter: "Obama seems like he would bring the world back together. We travel a lot and, man, everyone hates us because of the (Iraq) war."

Only Democrats can vote in the state's Democratic primary. The campaigns have until March 24 to sign up new party members from the 984,000 registered voters who are not members of either major party, or from potential defectors among the 3.2 million Republicans or Pennsylvanians who are not registered to vote.

Among black Democrats, there is an undeniable sense of pride that Obama could be the first black president.

Single mother Kenya Howard, 32, lists health care as her biggest day-to-day concern. Unemployed and uninsured, she avoids going to the doctor because it costs $50 for a visit. She likes Obama's health plan, but that is not the primary reason why she is supporting him.read more

Obama: the Un-Beholden President
Bogus Big States Argument
It’s Still Over for Clinton
Clinton’s Deliberate Race Baiting
Who Can Beat McCain?