Obama: The Shock of the Red

[Guava Jelly]

http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/obama-the-shock-of-the-red/

Take a look at what happened on Tuesday in the nearly all-white counties of Idaho, a place where the Aryan Nations once placed a boot print of hate — “the international headquarters of the white race,” as they called it.

The neo-Nazis are long gone. But in Kootenai County, where the extremists were holed up for several decades, a record number of Democrats trudged through heavy snow on Super Duper Tuesday to help pick the next president. Guess what: Senator Barack Obama took 81 percent of Kootenai County caucus voters, matching his landslide across the state. He won all but a single county.

The runaway victory came after a visit by Obama last Saturday, when 14,169 people filled the Taco Bell Arena in Boise to hear him speak – the largest crowd ever to fill the space, for any event. It was the biggest political rally the state has seen in more than 50 years.
“And they told me there were no Democrats in Idaho,” Obama said.

Okay, so Idaho is the prime rib of Red America. Ditto Utah, where Obama beat Senator Hillary Clinton 56 percent to 39 percent on Tuesday, including a 2-1 win in arguably the most Republican community in America – Provo and suburbs, a holdout of Bush dead-enders. Tom Brady will date a nun before these states vote Democratic in a general election.

But those numbers, and exit polling across the nation, make a case for Obama’s electability and the inroads he has made into places where Democrats are harder to find than a decent bagel. Yes, Hillary-hatred is part of it. But something much bigger is going on among independents and white males, something that can’t all be attributed to fear of a powerful woman in a pantsuit.
-snip
more here http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/obama-the-shock-of-the-red/

[VenusRising]

1. Wow!!

Can you imagine being at a Democratic political rally with that many people? What an exciting moment that must have been for those people.

Thanks for sharing!

:hi:

[Guava Jelly]

2. you are welcome

I would have never believed in a million years that we would have a candidate let alone one of color that could actually rewrite the political play book and turn red to blue..or at least purple.
:hi: :pals:

[jakem]

3. ridiculous.

"places where Democrats are harder to find than a decent bagel"


you can not get a decent bagel where there are no Democrats!

[Guava Jelly]

5. It is ridiculous because of a Bagel?

go away...

[jakem]

8. oh, do i really need to tag everything?!

:iwaspointingoutafunnystatementmadeinthearticlebutiguessyouhavenosenseofhumor:

[Guava Jelly]

9. I do

I apologize for my last remark
I misunderstood your intentions.

[jakem]

11. fair enough!

lets be friends :hug:

[Guava Jelly]

13. I like friends

:pals:
They beat the hell out of enemies :D

[NYCGirl]

4. That is wonderful. Thank you so much for posting it. NT

[Guava Jelly]

6. You are very welcome

:D

[BeyondGeography]

7. Getting pummeled in a winnable GE state like Colorado should be a warning sign for the HRC crowd

But this too shall pass them.

[John Q. Citizen]

12. CO - Not just a winnible state but the site of the 08 Dem convention. Shapes of things to come

[DS1]

10. The Taco Bell Arena? What brave souls!

[Guava Jelly]

15. I hear it was a gas

They were serving beano by the gallons

[pdxmom]

14. I see very little analysis regarding what states Clinton won, versus what

states and by what numbers Obama won. Regardless of which candidate is the nominee, places like New York and Massachusetts are going to be blue. It's those purple and red states that we need to look at, and who has the ability to bring those into the blue. We have to win this GE by a big margin, to keep the shenanigans at bay. And therefore, we need the candidate who will give us the biggest margins.

[thereismore]

16. looks to me like red state dems are afraid of running HC against the rep candidate. nt

[Guava Jelly]

17. That or maybe they are hungry for change

:shrug:

[IDemo]

19. We didn't show up to caucus Tuesday with fear in our hearts

The energy level at our caucus in Boise's Qwest Arena, jammed to capacity and with an overflow crowd of thousands more voting outside in freezing temps, about blew the roof off the place. Idaho Democrats have been ready for this moment since Frank Church was defeated by the first of a parade of Republican idiots to represent us in Congress since. The energy was building long before Obama's rally last week, and that added fuel to the fire. We are excited, not fearful, about making a difference in Idaho and America's future.

[Guava Jelly]

18. Another Kick

:)