If the crowds tonight at the Convention Center weren’t as raucous as those who turned out at Concord HS in NH a few weeks back, they brought a different energy that comes from wisdom and experience. While I was surprised that Obama didn’t make a direct reference to MLK — especially given his rousing appearance at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta this morning — looking around the hall I also saw that it wasn’t necessary. This audience knew exactly what he was talking about when he quotes — as he is fond of — King’s “fierce urgency of now.”
Obama looked as tired as you might expect of someone who’d arrived from Nevada by way of Atlanta, but the crowd supported him warmly. Perhaps the strongest cheers from everyone in the room went up in support of ending the Iraq war, followed by education (especially when he described teachers paying for class materials out of their own pockets) and predatory lending. There was no “Fired up!” or “Yes we can!” chant at the end, but the campaign’s here all week, and I suspect there will be time to build up a slow boil.
As for what I’m doing: mostly filling in gaps and occasionally helping the data consolidation. It’s pretty interesting, as we’re essentially laying the foundation for the tactical map on Saturday.
