Political Contradictions

In remembrance of the lost blog tradition of Kitty Picture Fridays, I offer you this image of some kind of illegal political shakedown. I think this cat works for Senator Obama. I imagine him going across the country, forcing people down and demanding they contribute to Obama’s campaign. And from the look on his face, whoever took that picture is next.

I’m trying to figure out how I read/watch/hear so often now that Rev. Wright was the end of Obama and that white Americans will say they’ll vote for a black(ish) man to a pollster, but won’t really do it. Then how did Obama rake in another $40 million (to Clinton’s $20 million) in March? Is it possible that, despite the media orgy, most Americans got past the Wright thing? Not past so much, because it still angers me when I think of it, but maybe they put it in perspective. With 80% of Americans believing this country is in bad shape, is it possible that 5 sound bites from a preacher isn’t what really matters to voters? And if so many people are only lying about voting for him, why are they giving him their money at a time when most don’t have a lot?

While Clinton is getting mostly big singular donations, Obama (in addition to some big donations) is getting double the money in small increments from actual individual people. More than 400,000 people donated to his campaign in March, including more than 218,000 first-time donors. He has had the highest number of donors contributing $200 or less although the analysts have noticed a jump in the $2,000+ individual contributions last month. These are not only minorities and college kids don’t have two dimes to offer. So who exactly are these cat enforcers shaking down for money?

I guess, considering he made $55 million in February, someone somewhere will be crazy enough to spin this $40 million as a bad sign. However, if you add to this the fact that he completely lost the respect of 1/2 the world’s population by bowling a 2 in PA and the emergence of SmokingAgain-Gate, He Cheats With His Human Foibles: Barack Obama Has Smoked Some More Cigarettes!, I predict he’ll only raise $30 million in April. What a loser.

And wouldn’t it be better if all these millions (for all the candidates) were going towards something better than cheesy ads no one believes anyway?
Obama’s fundraising outpaces Clinton’s – Yahoo! News
ABC News: Clinton Backers Growing Nervous About Prospects
NYDailynews.com: Obama raises $40M to Clinton’s $20M
Obama’s $40 Million Haul (And What It Means) – The Fix
Obama boasts wealth of ‘partners’ – - The Washington Times
Clinton Camp Feels Spent, and Outspent – washingtonpost.com
Political Punch: Obama is Smokin’