When I look at this simple Google graph of the Dow Jones Industrial from 1970 to the present I wonder if the steady state of the index ought not be down under the 2000 mark.

It looks to me like the market was comfortably under 2000 through the seventies, then started rising sharply during the Reagan administration. Then an even crazier growth occurred during the Clinton administration. The whole thing looks out of place in this picture and I wonder if it should not collapse below 2000 to become really stable.

Does anybody else need a does of the energy from the DNC in Denver (way back) in August? Here’s a nifty behind-the-scenes vid from the Obama campaign that brings back some of that positive energy.

Our presidential campaign is being wound into a tornado of hatred by McCain and Palin. I am afraid and I am feeling powerless about it. How many times have we asked ourselves how the Germans could have gone along with Hitler’s plans? The hatred being spread in McCain’s rallies begin to answer that question. Just a sampling…

Andrew Sullivan at the Daily Dish:

This is a moment of maximal physical danger for the young Democratic nominee. And McCain is playing with fire. If he really wants to put country first, he will attack Obama on his policies - not on these inflammatory, personal, creepy grounds. This is getting close to the atmosphere stoked by the Israeli far right before the assassination of Rabin.

Jonathan Martin at Politico:

“Terrorist!” one man screamed Monday at a New Mexico rally after McCain voiced the campaign’s new rhetorical staple aimed at raising doubts about the Illinois senator: “Who is the real Barack Obama?”

“He’s a damn liar!” yelled a woman Wednesday in Pennsylvania. “Get him. He’s bad for our country.”

Adam Aigner at NBC:

As seen at recent McCain events, this afternoon’s crowd was vocal in their support for McCain and their anger with Senator Obama. At one point one man could be heard yelling, “Off with his head,” when McCain spoke about Obama’s tax plan.

Ta-Nehisi Coates at the Atlantic:

Let me be clear–This is the ghost that McCain Campaign is summoning. This is the Ring Of Power that they want to wield. The Muslim charge, the “Hussein” thing is nothing more than today’s red-baiting, and it is what it was then–a cover for racists. You may say I’m overreacting, and I really hope you’re right. 999,000 out 1 million times we’ll go on like normal and proceed to Election Day. But if some shit pops off, the thug and thug-mongers will not be able to throw up their hands and say “How could I have known?” Ignorance will not save them. Their stupidity is a scourge on us all.

I pray for the safety of Barak and his family. This has got to be a terrifying time to be on the campaign trail. Mary offers a prayer for peace.

Win or lose, this campaign has taught a new generation how to organize.

Inside the Obama campaign, almost without anyone noticing, an insurgent generation of organizers has built the Progressive movement a brand new and potentially durable people’s organization, in a dozen states, rooted at the neighborhood level.

Read the rest of Zack Exley’s article about how this has come to be and how it is working over at the Huffington Post. Bonus: most of the article interviews neighborhood leaders in Ohio.

The field director Jackie Bray was driving around the state doing spot checks on the quality of local team structures when I was in Ohio. So I asked her to describe the field model in an email. I’m struck by two things about her response: first, how detailed and self-analytical it is; second, that it represents exactly the model I saw actually being practiced in the field—because I’m sorry to say it, but I’m just used to anyone with the title “director” being hopelessly out of touch with the reality of the ground. (Including myself in more than a couple past jobs!)

Jackie wrote: “When we identify a volunteer or a potential volunteer we always hold a one on one meeting. Movements aren’t built on individual people—they are built on relationships. Then we ask our volunteers to make deeper commitments. We coach new volunteers and facilitate the process for folks who are old hat at this stuff through an organizing activity. Usually the organizing activity is hosting a house meeting but it can be hosting a community meeting or a faith forum or recruiting seven plus new volunteers to take the first step and come to our office. Once someone has succeeded at an organizing activity we ask them to try their hand at leading a voter contact activity. Mostly we are interested in how well they train fellow volunteers to make phone calls or knock on doors. Training is a huge part of quality control and we need our leaders to be good trainers. If a potential leader is a successful trainer then we meet with them again to ask them to take that next step and become a Team Coordinator or Team Leader. If at any moment in this process a volunteer isn’t successful our organizers are trained to spend time coaching them through getting better. We are an inclusive team here and our goal is always to make people better.”

All the organizers and team leaders I met were similarly reflective and highly aware that they were enacting a special model of electoral organizing. They actually sound like they’re in a continuous state of shock at their own results and the power being unleashed by teams. A chill went down my spine one night—the good kind—when I was listening in on a nightly report-in conference call with 20 FOs at the Hamilton, Ohio, office. It was about 10:00 PM, and a new organizer was reporting in her daily voter contact numbers to Jackie.

Jackie asked her why that week they had been so much higher than the previous week. The young woman on the other end of the line—who I imagined calling from a car pulled over on the side of some far flung rural route—spoke with genuine amazement when she said, “It’s the teams! It’s these awesome team leaders! It’s working! It’s actually working!”

Wow.

Then, at the end of our meeting, my neighborhood team leader, Jennifer Robinson, totally unprompted, told me: “I’m a different person than I was six weeks ago.” I asked her to elaborate later. She said, “Now, I’m really asking: how can I be most effective in my community? I’ve realized that these things I’ve been doing as a volunteer organizer—well, I’m really good at them, I have a passion for this. I want to continue to find ways to actively make this place, my community, a better place. There’s so much more than a regular job in this—and once you’ve had this, it’s hard to go back to a regular job. I’m asking now: Can I look for permanent work as an organizer in service of my community? And that’s a question I had not asked myself before the campaign. It never occurred to me that I could even ask that question.”

OK, now my eyes are wet.

Subscribe to Yes We Can (hold babies) for your own mental well-being.

I’m not quite sure how I’ve become the email destination of a few rabid conservative friends-of-friends, but considering what they put in my mailbox does get me thinking. Here is my response to an “Obama-youth” video making the rounds in conservative circles.

Bill writes to me…

I think [this video is] a frightening example of a militant black view of Obama. I believe there’s a lot of things being hidden about this man and his radical past in Chicago politics. I want to know more before we allow him to be president.

Sadly, when you put black faces on an activity it seems to become scary. What does that say about us?

I notice the web site juxtaposes this video with a Farrakhan video that is totally unrelated to Obama. Just to make sure you don’t forget to be frightened, the site uses “Jungsturm” in its title. That’s a reference to Hitler Youth, for those who missed it. Basically, it’s trying to get you to associate Obama with Farrakhan and Hitler before you get out the gate, so it is hard to even watch the video with a fresh eye.

I am not a fan of the military, though I understand they have a role to play in our world and I honor the sacrifices those who choose a military life make for the rest of us. Still, I cringe whenever I see kids in camouflage. The military is not a game, to me, it is very serious business. So as these kids come marching in I’m prepared to be upset.

They start out saying “alpha, omega” as they march in. Is there a reason that should frighten me? Then each kid steps out and says “because of Obama I’m inspired to be the next…” and then they name a profession: doctor, lawyer, automotive technician, architect, engineer, fireman, chemical engineer, entrepreneur. Then there is a round of “yes we can”. Then there are a few phrases that are hard to make out due to poor audio quality, but none sound troubling. Things like “take more responsibility for our own lives” and “we can accept things that bring division and create conflict or we can get together and say ‘not this time’”.

By the end of the video I realize that I can look past the camouflage and see some proud young black men who are trying to change their lives, inspired by the example Barack Obama has set for them. The discipline of marching and moving in unison hardly seems threatening once I take the time to hear what these kids are saying. They are imagining a better world for themselves and all of us. Isn’t this what we’d want from all kids? Isn’t this actually something to be celebrated in a group of young black men?

The site Bill directs us to juxtaposes this with Farrakahn and Hitler. What a sad and hateful response to something that is actually rather fragile and beautiful. This has much more in common with drum majors and marching bands and US Army drills than it does with Farrakhan events. This has absolutely _nothing_ in common with the Hitler Youth that the site invokes. In fact, there is no reason to think that Obama has any idea this was happening or has done anything to organize it. He’s organizing kids to go register voters, not march around in unison.

Bottom line, I fail to see the “frightening example of a militant black view” that Bill sees in this video. I also see no association with Obama except that these kids are drawing inspiration from a black role model who is doing something other than rapping or dope dealing. Obama is helping a whole generation of black youth realize that America really is a country where they can achieve their dreams. They see what he is accomplishing and are inspired to reach for more. Listen to that list of career aspirations again: doctor, lawyer, automotive technician, architect, engineer, fireman, chemical engineer, entrepreneur. Wow!

Even if he is not elected president, Obama has made a real difference in the lives of these and thousands of other kids. An amazing accomplishment. What a shame that so many are determined to see hidden demons where our best angels are trying to rise.

A friend just asked me “So, what do you think about the current “bail out package”? 400 pages? Tax cuts, earmarks.” I thought I’d share my answer just to go on the record.

The current plan is much better than the three pager. The three pager was downright scary in the amount of power it gave Treasury. Go back and actually read it. It said things like “no court review” and “without regard to prior federal law” and so on. It was a non-starter, actually a step toward dictatorship. And I really don’t think I’m exaggerating about that.

The current plan (minus the pork) is pretty much what we had on Monday. I think it is wrong and will not actually do much to help our current financial situation. I don’t think it addresses the root of the problem and I hate that it rewards those who got us into the mess. I think it is backwards, and I’ve written four letters in the last week to my congressfolk to try to get them to vote “no.” All of them voted “yes.”

Actually, I think the pork in the current plan is the best thing about it. The FDIC raise is not a bad move, the tax incentives seem to be (mostly) for the right thing, fixing the alternative minimum tax was a long time coming, and the Wellstone mental health parity was even longer coming. Most of that last 300 pages is probably decent, in my view, though I’m sure there is quite a bit of silliness in there as well.

It is the core of the plan I think is wrongheaded, will drag down our economy in further debt, and won’t solve the financial mess anyway. Then again, I’m the furthest thing from an expert you can find. I’m just flying by gut. My gut turns at this legislation.

I’ve wished for a while that Google Maps could tell me where I vote. It looks like later in October it will be able to! Meanwhile, try this voter information version of Google Maps for a flavor. I’m glad to see Google doing this, our poor county certainly does a a fairly poor job, plus its hard to find.

No, I don’t mean in the polls (though I hope that stays the case), I mean in the response to the bailout failure. Yesterday, as the bailout failed, here is what Obama said to a rally in Denver:

There are going to be some bumps and trials and tribulations and ups and downs before we get this rescue package done. It’s important for the American public and for the markets to stay calm because things are never smooth in Congress, and to understand that it will get done.

I know a lot of people are nervous. A lot of people in this audience and a lot of people who may be watching today. But now is not the time for fear. Now is not the time for panic.

I’m confident that we are gonna get there, but it’s gong to be a little rocky. It’s sort of like flying into Denver. You know you’re going to land, but it’s not always fun going over those mountains.

Today we hear Bush:

Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted on a financial rescue plan that had been negotiated by Congressional leaders of both parties and my administration. Unfortunately, the measure was defeated by a narrow margin. I’m disappointed by the outcome, but I assure our citizens and citizens around the world that this is not the end of the legislative process.

Producing legislation is complicated, and it can be contentious. It matters little what a path a bill takes to become law. What matters is that we get a law. We’re at a critical moment for our economy, and we need legislation that decisively address the troubled assets now clogging the financial system, helps lenders resume the flow of credit to consumers and businesses, and allows the American economy to get moving again.

At least Bush seems to be taking cues from a real leader now.

For the record, I was opposed to the bailout and I am glad it was defeated. I also think we absolutely should do something at the federal level to respond to the failure of our financial institutions to do their job. But that action should be aimed at the root of problems, not structured as a hand-out to the top.

I hope Obama can help lead us there. But I don’t expect that until after we get him elected. This is our election, the change we bring will be our own selves to the process. Obama may turn out to be the leader we need, but we should all be the kind of participants this country demands.

TechPresident had a nice summary of something that I ran into this afternoon: many congressional sites went down just as voting on the $700B bailout wrapped up. I was trying to find the roll call at the Clerk’s offfice, which eventually did appear. (Gotta love the bailout’s title: “To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide earnings assistance and tax relief to members of the uniformed services, volunteer firefighters, and Peace Corps volunteers, and for other purposes.” I’d certainly have supported $700B for the Peace Corps!) Oddly, many sites, including house.gov are still down.