Obamapalooza

An Obama round up.

• Obama almost announces his candidacy. Almost yay!
  

• The Washington Post races to stir up some controversy with Obama's Illinois Legislature record, which reveals - shock! -- he's a Democrat who takes Democratic positions and has a thing for bi-partisanship and clean government.

• The UK takes an interest in Obama, which I wouldn't have bothered to note at all except that the Telegraph ran the headline, "Young, Gifted, and Black," which I recognized immediately as a song written and performed by Nina Simone (actually "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black" but who cares - I just love Nina Simone).
  

• Everyone is all blah blah blah about Obama Vs Clinton. I honestly believe the press corp is hoping for a battle royale just to keep them awake for the next 12 months.

• Shorter Rush Limboob: If Americans really are tired of nasty partisanship then I'm in big trouble. Where's my oxy??? Wahhhhhh!

• Obama, Lieberman, and McCain teamed up to introduce a tri-partisan bill to cap greenhouse emissions in phases. I find it hard to get excited about the ultimate 2050 deadline but who knows, maybe these guys can actually get 'er done.
  

• That bastion of radical wild-eyed liberals, The Daily Kos, did an unscientific reader poll the other day for favorite presidential candidate. With over 22,000 respondents, the winner was Dennis Kucinich. Hah -- just kidding! It was Hillary Clinton. Hah -- got you again! The winner was John Edwards, Obama was second, Wes Clark was third. Hillary got 4% of the vote. Goddamn pinko commie freaks.

• The righty bloggers are beside themselves trying to figure out this whole Obamanon. Personally I think they are writhing with jealousy since their entire 2008 line-up is looking a bit tired. The one bright spot is McCain and the creepy religious right loathes him. Anyway, I have read several popular righty bloggers comment about how the secret to Obama's success is that he's (shhhh!) black. The theory, such as it is, is that the left -- afflicted with some kind of politically correct OCD -- feels compelled to vote for him because he's black. It makes them feel good about themselves to vote for a black man. This amuses me since my Obamamania has as much to do with Obama's color as my dislike of Hillary has to do with her sex (i.e. nothing). If I was really moved by some ultra PC desire, you'd think I'd be all for seeing a fellow woman in the oval office. But ewwwww... really.
  

• Perhaps the most common narrative on Obama's popularity is that he's a blank canvas of centrist charisma. Now in this there may be some truth. I think it shows that people are sick of watching the partisan power grab dominate everything in Washington, dominate the news, dominate the cable networks. 9/11 Created an emotional political climate that is, I think, starting to exhaust the country. Obama has never really been a part of that; I read and listen to him quite a bit and even his rhetoric is generally free of diatribe. But in the end, while he may be a centrist, he's definitely a Democrat. If anyone is looking at him to be something else, they'll likely end up disappointed.