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.

Amanda Cox does some great work at the NYT, and this latest visualization of how people voted during the Democratic primary is a wonderful example. It almost feels like you are watching folks rearrange chairs in a room.

I was feeling a bit tired this evening. Maybe we really didn’t have to go down to the Xcel center. We could watch on tv. But I asked Nathaniel when he got home and he was excited. He’d told his friends he was going to the Obama rally. Alex was even still positive about it. OK, deep breath, here we go, time to join the masses.

I’d been downtown near lunchtime and drove past Xcel just to see what was up. Even then a line was forming, but it was only a block long. The evening news said the line was many blocks long by 5:30. We were aiming for six. By the time Mary dropped us off at about 6:10 I was certain we were getting out of the car near the end of the line. Not. We were only about 1/3 of the way there. By the time we found the real end of the line some estimates put the length at 1.2 miles. Given how far back the line kept forming, I’d say by the end we were no further than 2/3 of the way back. This was one long line.

Luckily we had a cool gray evening without rain to hang out in. The crowd was friendly and we came prepared with Subway sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies. It was another hour before the line started moving in earnest. Then it crept. It was another hour before we could really say we were getting anywhere. Then we were walking, at one point jogging, we dared to imagine we might actually get into the Xcel Center.

It was about 8:50 when we got through security, 9:00 when we found our seats, and by 9:15 Obama was on stage.

I’ve seen these rallies on YouTube, being at one was a bit surreal. 18,000 people is a lot of people. It was a gift, in fact, to see the crowd stretched out through the city streets of Saint Paul, weaving its way back and forth, circling blocks, encouraging each other along the way. That really helped make the crowd of people inside less of a mass and more of a gathering of real folks. It was really really fun.

One thing that helps it be fun for me is the graphics. That’s one of the oddities about me: I really notice design details and am bothered (oh so bothered) if they are off. The Obama campaign is like a soothing bath for me, a chance to appreciate, to luxuriate in a cascade of well thought out images, typography, color. I’ve never seen anything like it, and it transformed the cold interior of the Xcel Center into a warm embrace of us all. The thoughtful choices demonstrated again, for me, the respect this campaign has for everyone involved. We all deserve and get the best there is.

This picture demonstrates one strong impression from the evening. When framed in the media’s glass box, Obama is front and center, he is the focus, he is the only whole person we see. But that is not reality at all, that is just a frame, a construct. The reality is that Obama is one of thousands of people seeking change. He is, in fact, hard to distinguish from the rest of us. He is a voice we can hear, but he can accomplish nothing without all of us. The media construct is helpful at times, inspiring and instructive. But the reality cannot be forgotten, he is nothing without all of us. This is our time and we are all responsible for waking up, taking part, changing the direction of our country and the world.

Obama’s oratory was, I am sure, fantastic. I say “I am sure” because, to tell the truth, I was there more for the moment than for the content. I spent my time looking around. I spent my time appreciating the people who turned out. Two things, though, did strike me about the speech. One was how generous Obama was toward Clinton. He went well beyond the required niceties. He really celebrated her in a way that even began to thaw the ice growing around my own former appreciation of her. By the time he wrapped up his remarks about Clinton I could (just barely) imagine them as running mates without a shiver. The other impression was about the call to action. As always, Obama made this a call to all of us to take part in the renewal of America. The last few moments of this speech were brilliant:

America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.

The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment — this was the time — when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals.

I was so glad that Alex and Nathaniel were able to share this evening with me. Indeed, that their enthusiasm woke me up and got me out the door. It is a far later night than usual for all of us, but well worth the time we gave it.

Make those park permit stickers more removable with Sticker Shields. (We only have one car, so no intent to use one sticker for multiple vehicles, just wanting to make year-to-year changes easier.) I dreamt of a product like this a few months ago. But I didn’t think to go look for it until prompted by lifehacker. Actually, the comments at lifehacker are more useful than the product itself, lots of ideas for making stickers more removable.

I just learned about the nifty Firefox plugin called Stylish that lets you assign alternate styles to web pages and even to the Firefox browser interface. I wonder if Stylish might be used as a web development tool as a way to experiment with new styles for sites?

For a few years I and my family had the privilege of living in a wonderful house in Ohio. Mary and I lived in the carriage house and were married while we were there. A memory of this garden covered in snow brings back the morning we decided to take the leap. The sample chapter from a new book about the house brings back many memories. But one that is missing is shooting hoops with Steve Jobs in the driveway.