Stop #2

I arrived in Amsterdam last weekend. It's such a pleasant, quiet little city compared to London (or NY of course). It feels good to be back. My days have been very full: lots of projects to work on, then drinks and dinner with colleagues after work, then more work from the hotel (the New York workday continues to about midnight CET). I haven't had any opportunity for tourist activities this trip.

It's been a good trip, but I'm really missing my wife! Good thing I'll see her tonight!

Stop #1

I flew into London on Thursday and had meetings in the City of London. This was my first time in our London office meeting with this particular group. These folks live on an island in so many ways :)

And I finally got a chance to see the Gherkin up close (see the pic). But the highlight of my stay was getting to spend the evening with a beautiful pregnant Katherine and her husband Alex. They took me to a pub for drinks and then a great Indian dinner. Thanks guys!

He's on a roll (and She's earning her reputation)

Obama is on a roll! He's now won 23 of 34 contests, including the last 8 in a row!

I'm incredibly optimistic that we're going to pull this thing out and I could not be more proud of the manner in which we're winning -- with integrity and a positive, hopeful message.

ON THE OTHER HAND, Hillary has been embarrassing herself since South Carolina. The Clinton campaign has mentioned race at every turn in this campaign. She pledged, along with all of the democratic candidates, not to campaign in Michigan and Florida. But when it came down to it, she was the only candidate not to remove her name from the ballot. When she "won", she actually held a victory celebration! And now her legal team is calling for "every vote to be counted" and for the Michigan and Florida delegates to be assigned to her.

Last Wednesday, the Clinton campaign finally announced their contribution total for January -- $13 million -- and acknowledged that $5 million was on loan from the Clintons themselves. Her problem, according to many articles, was that she had already raised the maximum allowed ($2300) from many of her donors. Her solution to this problem was to ask those donors to give another $2300 to her general election campaign! Apparently this is legal; however, if she does not make it to November, her campaign will have to refund all of that money. How irresponsible can you be? By contrast, Obama's huge number of donors (418,000 so far in 2008) have given only $25-100 each, permitting them to make many more donations before reaching the limit. Speaking of which: please donate to the campaign if you can; we have Texas and Ohio coming up in a couple weeks and we're going to need the money.

And finally, Hillary has refused to even acknowledge that she has lost the last 8 contests. It's customary to congratulate your opponent on their victories, as Obama has done each time. Clinton is in denial now, but I don't think it will be long before she has to face reality.

It was a super Tuesday for me

For the first time in my life, I became a campaigner! Last Saturday, Beth and I paid a visit to our local Obama 08 campaign office, picked up some materials, and attended a rally in East Harlem. Last Sunday, I campaigned in front of markets and churches on the Upper West Side. There were several meeting places to choose from; I went to the Starbucks on 103rd. I couldn't believe that at 9:00am on a Sunday morning that there were FIFTY volunteers assembled and ready to go. It was a cold day, but I spent about four hours standing on the sidewalk, holding an Obama sign, handing out flyers, and asking people to "Vote Obama!" It was one of my best New York days ever! It was amazing to talk and interact with so many people -- the other volunteers, the Obama supporters who were ecstatic to see us, and some folks who were not happy to see us. It was amazing and strange to be proclaiming my politics so publicly. People would just stop and ask 'so why do you support Obama' and I'd have a chance to tell them.

It was such a good experience that Beth and I spent another hour Monday evening handing out flyers and talking to people as they exited the subway. Then, on Super Tuesday, I campaigned from 7 to 9 in the morning and 5 to 9 in the evening. The Obama volunteers were amazing! We had someone on nearly every street corner up and down the UWS. During the evening shift, I campaigned 100 feet from a polling place adjacent to a small group of Hillary supporters (the only Hillary supporters I had seen all weekend). We talked to each other about our candidates, the issues, our predictions for the night, and the (un)likelihood of an Obama/Clinton ticket in November. I campaigned with an old gentleman who is a former NY State Senator and with a lovely woman who campaigned for Bobby Kennedy in 1968. She said that this is the first campaign she has seen since that 1968 campaign that has inspired so much grassroots enthusiasm and participation.

My efforts on that Tuesday may or may not have won many votes for Obama, but I was rewarded to come home exhausted and hear Obama deliver this great speech:

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."

Keep Hope Alive

Went to an Obama rally today with supporters of all ages!

Super Tuesday -- Yes We Can