Are We There Yet Daddy?

Last month there was a lot of hand wringing here on DKos. People wrote diaries threatening to abandon Obama over FISA. 20,000 supporteres joined a group  started by a Stark Raving Loon, who  had joined Obama's webpage just for this purpose. Some even withheld donations to teach Obama a lesson: so that he would behave better. A true blue supporter  wanted his spokesman fired. Arianna Huffington told Obama what he needed to do. Baroness Rothschild,a British Tycoon, called him an elitist. (Yes one of those  Rothschilds). All of this was a reflection of what was going on  in the MSM. He was attacked  for spurning public funds for his campaign. Flip-Flopping on Iraq. For leading McCain only by 5 points.

As Al Giordano noted, the sky did not fall.  Part of leadership is to know when to ignore the nervousness of your followers. You just have to keep driving as the kids in the back ask

Daddy, are we there yet?.  

The poll that matters is in. The grass roots are still with Obama.  Obama just raised $52M. A shade less than his highest total ever. From an ever growing number of contributors. These are people who may not know FISA from Pizza. Or care. They know  their  priorities.

And Obama is about to depart on a historic overseas trip, with all the TV News anchors as though he is already President. Want to bet that McCain will be totally obliterated in TV News coverage for the next two weeks? Here, John, you wanted me to go to Iraq? Watch me go to Iraq. On every channel. For the next two weeks. And try to get your word out.

Even O'Reily didn't follow McCain  to Columbia. By exploiting a loophole that he wrote into the campaign finance law ( McCain always knew he would be running for President), McCain is raising private money even as he has the begging bowl out for money from the public coffers. By directing moneys he is raising under his  own name to the RNC, McCain is skirting funding limits. Wealthy   individuals can contribute large amounts so that McCain now enjoys the usual fund-raising advantage of Republicans.

It won't matter. Just as important as the money is the enthusiasm that the money represents. The fat cats may be able to pay for McCain's TV Ads. But it doesn't make up for the loyalty of the people who form Obama's grass root support. Obama's base is not DKos or other blogs. It is not the Press. It is not even the Democratic Party. It is the 2  million who have forked over a median of $68 dollars to his campaign. These people who contributed $20 or $35 are the ones who will stick with him as the Stark self-promoters fade. It is shrewd of the Obama campaign to focus on recruiting an ever larger number of small contributions, some as small as $5. You cannot buy loyalty. But you can get people to buy into you. That generates loyalty. The Liberal activists here or elsewhere do not own Obama. He is owned by such a large number of people that he is not, in fact, beholden to any one group.He is the first Presidential candidate in several generations to be free of such burden.