OBAMA

I was watching South Carlina primary result, and he made his speech, and he told the story of a woman giving him $3.01 to help to run his campaign for change, and I totally understand everybody around was brainwashed, because they couldn’t understand the gravity of what was said…
I thought about this :

And felt sorry for Obama…

McCain set to deliver a knockout

Dan Nowicki
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 3, 2008 12:00 AM

CHICAGO – One word sums up how John McCain hopes to be regarded when Super Tuesday comes to a close: inevitable.

The senator from Arizona could fall short of capturing enough delegates on Tuesday to lock up the Republican nomination for president. But a powerful showing in the 21 states with GOP contests, including Arizona, California, New York and Illinois, could make him hard to stop.

McCain, who is leading other Republicans in national polls and in many large Super Tuesday states, is on a whirlwind, cross-country tour that took him from Chicago through the South on Saturday, with a plan to head northeast today.

With first-place finishes in the key early states of New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida, McCain’s candidacy is approaching critical mass.

Up for grabs on Tuesday are 1,023 Republican delegates. A candidate needs 1,191 to clinch the nomination.

“We’ve got the momentum, we’re going to win this nomination and we’re going to win the presidency of the United States,” an invigorated McCain told about 500 supporters at a Friday evening rally at the Odeum Sports & Expo Center in suburban Villa Park, Ill. “And I’m going to compete right here in the heartland of America, the state of Illinois. I’m going to compete and win.”

Illinois swung for Democrat John Kerry over President Bush in the 2004 election.

Battle royale expected

McCain’s Republican opponents aren’t giving up in the final days before Tuesday’s vote. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the independently wealthy businessman who beat McCain in Michigan, is campaigning aggressively and targeting key states, knowing he needs a major comeback to turn the race in his favor. Like McCain’s home state of Arizona, Romney’s home state of Massachusetts also is voting on Tuesday. So is Utah, a state where Romney is well-known for his work in restoring fiscal equilibrium to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and his Mormon faith. Romney also is strong in Colorado.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister with strong appeal to Christian conservatives, won the Iowa caucuses but since has faltered. However, he remains in play in Southern states such as Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee and his home state of Arkansas.

Even maverick libertarian Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, continues to push hard.

“I don’t think anybody has to rush to call it game, set and match, but it’s clear that McCain has the advantage,” said Stuart Rothenberg, the national analyst who publishes the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report. “And if Romney does not change the direction of this race in the next few days, it’ll be all over but for the official nomination.”

Recent polls show McCain with leads over second-running Romney in California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey and Connecticut. Forty percent of Tuesday’s GOP delegates are at stake in those states.

“I really, really hope that he wins all over,” said Bonnie Ryan, 23, a Republican student and social worker from Evanston, Ill., who attended McCain’s Friday rally. “He seems like a man of integrity and when he talks, I feel like he’s honest.”

Still, opposition among many conservatives remains fierce. Since his Florida win, McCain has drawn even more intense fire from some radio talk-show hosts, columnists and party activists for his past legislation on immigration and campaign-finance reform and his voting against Bush’s 2001 tax-cut package.

Ann Coulter, for example, the firebrand conservative author and columnist, last week appeared on the Fox News Channel to denounce McCain and vowed to vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton if McCain is the GOP nominee.

“Hillary is absolutely more conservative,” Coulter said. Plus, “she’s smarter than McCain.”

Can McCain win it all?

McCain campaign insiders are optimistic but are hesitant to predict that McCain will knock out Romney and wrap up the nomination.

“I don’t know about wrapping it up, but he’ll have a huge delegate lead coming out of Tuesday,” said Charlie Black, a senior McCain adviser and a veteran political strategist. “Governor Romney can continue on if he wishes. Usually, the reason people drop out of the race is they run out of money. And that won’t happen to him, obviously.”

Gail Gitcho, a Romney campaign spokeswoman, said Romney remains competitive in all 50 states and cited “a surge of support for Governor Romney with conservative voters across the country who understand that he can bring real, conservative change to Washington.

“Governor Romney is in this race to win it,” Gitcho said.

McCain’s strategy

Since triumphing in Florida on Tuesday, McCain has swept across the nation, presiding over rallies and fundraisers in California, Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.

McCain will campaign today and Monday in Boston, the heart of Romney country. Despite the defiant incursion and endorsements of McCain from the Boston Globe and Boston Herald, Romney maintains a healthy lead over McCain in recent Massachusetts polls. But because Massachusetts awards its delegates proportionally, McCain still could inflict some embarrassing damage.

McCain also has bought advertising time on national cable television networks and in select, competitive states.

“We’ll win California and we’re in good shape in the Northeast, with the exception of Massachusetts,” Black said. “Actually, I see two states that Romney wins: Massachusetts and Utah. There’s four or five that Huckabee can win.”

California poses an unusual battlefield. Republicans there have switched from a winner-take-all system to one that awards three delegates to whoever wins each of the state’s 53 congressional districts. The statewide victor will capture another 11 delegates.

“Whoever wins the raw vote in California is going to get some bragging rights, but you can win the raw vote and lose the delegate vote,” noted Ken Khachigian, a California veteran of multiple GOP presidential campaigns.

In California, McCain has won the endorsements of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, San Jose Mercury News and other newspapers.

Arizona votes, too

McCain will continue to stump around the nation through Tuesday afternoon, when he returns to Phoenix to cast his own vote in Arizona’s primary and host an election-night celebration at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa.

McCain appears in little danger of losing his home state. Romney is the only candidate who has put much money and effort into organizing in Arizona. The two most recent Arizona polls reflect McCain leads of 17 and 23 percentage points.

Jaime Molera, one of McCain’s Arizona campaign co-chairmen, forecasts big wins for McCain in Arizona and around the country Tuesday despite the vehement criticism of him from state and national conservative critics.

“The strong conservatives in Arizona understand where McCain comes from,” Molera said. “I don’t think they buy a lot of the attacks on him.”

Yes we can!!

According to will.i.am, founding member and frontman of Black Eyed Peas, the “Yes We Can Song” was inspired by Senator Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and especially the speech Obama gave following the New Hampshire primary. He states, “It made me reflect on the freedoms I have, going to school where I went to school, and the people that came before Obama like Martin Luther King, presidents like Abraham Lincoln that paved the way for me. . . .” Dylan says, “The speech was inspiring about making change in America and I believe what it says and I hope everybody votes.”

The music video includes excerpts from Obama’s speech and appearances from several celebrities: Scarlett Johansson, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Adam Rodriquez, Kelly Hu, Adam Rodriquez, Amber Valetta, and Nick Cannon. “I’m blown away by how many people wanted to come and be a part of it in a short amount of time. It was all out of love and hope for change and really representing America and looking at the world,” will.i.am said.

ALL OF YOU, CALL THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN OFFICE at 1-(866)-675-2008 AND PRESS 6 TO TALK TO A CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER.