I don’t want this to turn into a political blog or anything (and I don’t really have the knowledge or experience to make that happen anyway), but I notice that I just wrote something about Obama about 4 or 5 posts ago, and I didn’t want you to think that’s all I’m going to be thinking about this year.

With that in mind, here is a story about fluorescent pigs.

But on the topic of Obama, I sent him money the other day. It was Monday. I don’t think I alone could have ‘jinxed’ the outcome in NH, but you never know.

Anyway, I’ve never felt compelled to give money to a campaign before. So it was a new thing for me. If you dig on Barack, you probably know that his campaign is not taking money from lobbyists or political action groups. I think that’s part of what makes his strong showing thus far so freakin cool.

Regardless, two weeks ago, I seriously did NOT think the man would have come out on top in either Iowa or New Hampshire. I don’t claim to be any sort of pundit, but here’s what I’ve gleaned from watching television, reading news, and being alive during this season and over the past few election cycles:
– polls are often helpful, but are also often bullshit
– The ‘base’ of each party– the hardcore MF’ers that don’t even need to know a person’s name to know their candidate– they will either be behind a candidate in the general election, or they will stay home (probably the former).
– The “independent” or “swing” vote is what every candidate is always hoping to capture– the people that are looking for good reason to vote for someone.
– Obama won in Iowa because people like me– ‘Independent’ folks who have never felt really excited about the political process or about a candidate before– came out and supported him.
– The same thing happened yesterday in NH, where the majority of independents casting ballots were for Obama. Hillary won because of the support from the Democratic base.
– The biggest challenge for Obama going forward will be keeping these people (again, the ones like me) that are just barely feeling invigorated by the democratic process, active, involved, and excited.

I never finished his book last year, but I started working on it again this morning on my commute. Hope I can finish up quickly and maybe share with other peeps.

I really hope this ride keeps going. I gave some money, and I’m talking about it here, so I guess I’m doing what I can. Involvement and personal initiative of the Everyman seem to be at the core of what Obama talks about. If this works and this man gets elected, it will be proof positive that we, the people, all together, are bigger and more important than any political party, action committee, or lobbyist. To me, that’s really exciting.