I tracked the tweets out of the PDF2008 meeting and it looked like a great event. Many of the keynotes (Edwards, Lessing, Zittrain, and more) are up at pdf.blip.tv. (Hat tip to techPresident.)

I just looked at a “briefing” by David Plouffe about the state of the Obama campaign, including a plug for more dollars. What caught my eye, though, was the graphic behind Plouffe.

This image includes a light that appears to be rising off the horizon, something like a sunrise. Look closer.

That’s us on the horizon. Its the “little people” who power the campaign. Here figuratively lighting the way. Masterful. The sophistication of the Obama campaign’s manipulation of imagery should scare me, but I find myself just loving it.

We are used to thinking of presidential elections as strategic chess games. We’ve all become used to the electoral vote calculus, so many votes from this state, so many from that. Safe states (like perhaps Minnesota this year) don’t really matter, their electoral votes are in the bag, while others (like perhaps Ohio) are close enough that their electoral votes are up for grabs.

It appears the Obama campaign is trying to tone down the calculus and make every vote matter. They are building a campaign in all 50 states, even those in which an electoral college victory is hopeless or assured. The message is that the popular vote matters, the margin of victory matters. It is not enough to win, Obama wants to win big, to generate a true mandate.

That is nice to see. That could mean coattails to bring along downticket Democrats (though this is not working in Minnesota yet). More importantly, it means that every vote counts, no matter where you are, get to the polls, Obama needs you there.

The continuing rollout of a more conservative Obama… now noting that he opposes the death penalty ruling of the Supreme Court yesterday:

I have said repeatedly that I think that the death penalty should be applied in very narrow circumstances for the most egregious of crimes. I think that the rape of a small child, 6 or 8 years old, is a heinous crime and if a state makes a decision that under narrow, limited, well-defined circumstances the death penalty is at least potentially applicable, that that does not violate our Constitution.

It will be a long march to November, I hope he can hold his coalition together even while spouting this stuff. I, for one, am not happy. (Hat tip to Andrew for the link.)

Congratulations to everyone (that’s you Ben!) who made yesterday’s ruling possible!

I’ve been saying to Mary for most of this year, “I love Obama and hope we can elect him president. But if we do, the peace community will be in for a rude surprise, he is not nearly as progressive as he appears.” I’m not sure why I thought that, but my gut tells me it is true. That’s part of what may make him appealing and electable in a general election. The right paints him as a wild lefty, but he isn’t.

Well, the disillusionment starts today. Obama released a statement on FISA that certainly disappoints me. I want Obama to lead the charge against this hijacking of our rights and awful precedent of retrospective immunity for breaking the law. Instead we get this:

It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as President, I will carefully monitor the program, review the report by the Inspectors General, and work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary to protect the lives – and the liberty – of the American people.

He does say that he will “work in the Senate to remove this provision so that we can seek full accountability for past offenses.” But it is clear he will support the bill even if that attempt to remove immunity fails.

Boo, hiss. But my eyes were open when I started supporting Obama, and I will continue to enthusiastically support him. Even though my heart hurts a little bit right now.

I just saw this cute button today…

We just can’t seem to keep the Democratic caucus in Congress from buckling again and again. The one bright spot in their record was their success blocking telcom immunity in a new FISA bill (PDF). Somehow, though, they think a compromise on this issue is necessary and a compromise that would again provide immunity to telecom companies that wiretap Americans for the government without a court order is now to be voted on. Talk about grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory!

Please call Sen. Obama and ask him to provide some leadership in the Senate opposing this new FISA bill: 202-224-2854. Contact your own representatives in Congress and ask them to stop this madness.

Because…

Regular readers will know that I have high hopes for what Obama may do with the kind of organization he is building once he gets to the White House. The techPresident blog has a great post with some detailed thoughts on the matter. Suffice it to say: pretty breathtaking.

They point to this video from a few months back where Obama spells out some of his vision.

I want to open up transparency in government, so that you guys know what is happening. I want to revamp our White House website. I know it’s nice to take the virtual tour of the China Room, but I want people to be able to know, ‘today, this issue is going on…today’s President Obama talked about his proposal for $4000 student college tuition credits, it’s going to be going into this congressional committee, these are the key leaders in the House and Senate that are going to be deciding on the bill, here are the groups that are involved that are supporting it, you should contact your Congressman. Just creating the situation that if people want to get involved and it’s easy.

Huh. A White House web site with real substance. Who’d'a’thunk?

I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to work on a few campaigns, and I’ve loved them. The tone of this video is so intimate and so authentic that it is easy to recognize as “real,” whatever real is. In Saint Paul we saw the public kickoff of a new campaign, but this is the real kickoff. This team and the work they are doing is in my prayers. Their candidate, our candidate, is extraordinarily gifted, but we win because he is not alone. We win because we have a team like this. We win only if we each play our part on this team. And we have no choice but to win.

(hat tip to Andrew Sullivan)

One further thought… At one point Obama says that he was not sure he could be the best candidate, but he was sure they could build the best organization. That’s the heart of my reason for supporting this campaign. I believe this is not just about building a good campaign, but it is about building good government. After the demoralizing success the Bush administration has had demolishing the federal government, I think we have to have someone like Obama who is focussed on rebuilding it. There is potential to make something great out of the Bush housecleaning.