Tag: obama

Miss Congeniality

Tom Bartel — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:15:43 -0500

Before anyone calls Sarah Palin a bitch, let me just say she opened the door when she compared her "hockey mom" persona to a pit bull. Hey, if the lipstick fits.

Protest Music for the New Millenium

Max Ross — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:02:58 -0500

(Todd Smith already wrote this article)

Yes We Can!

Andy Sturdevant — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:23:27 -0500

Bad design is all around us, but there's no bad design like bad election year design. Let's take a moment here to catalog some notable atrocities from recent election cycles, and then hang our heads in bipartisan shame. Offender number one is Bush/Cheney's militantly mindless logo from 2004; you can almost hear the designer making phlegmatic war movie sound effects to himself as he drafted it.

Gonzo

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:51:06 -0500

To be honest, I didn't know who Hunter S. Thompson was until after he killed himself. It was a miserable year in college. Bush had slithered his way into the White House for the second time and winter at Carleton seemed even more bitter than usual. Our anger had given way to numb depression as we shuffled about our lives. Not that I was alive then, but I couldn't shake the feeling that we had lost something over the past 40 years. In the '60s and '70s, Hunter S. Thompson embodied the kind of restless anger the country needed during the Bush years. What happened?

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

Cristina Cordova — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:32:48 -0500

We deserve Barack Obama.

That is tonight's message.

And Obama has arrived!

The crowd roars — everyone on their feet, so many of them smiling, laughing, a few even silently crying. Is this the message of change?

He can barely be heard above the din. For three whole minutes the crowd roars, only getting louder before they finally leave their voices in Obama's care.

"Thank you..."

And the crowd roars again.

He dedicates the evening to his grandmother.

Inside the Press Area

J.A. del Rosario — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:24:45 -0500

7:28
Inside the press area

Obamamania takes no prisoners. The bloggers, who never entertained the pretense of objectivity, are the first to fall. One writer for local blog MNpublius is pacing the press area looking for a way out.

"We are quarantined here!" he tells me.

Not with a Bang, But a Whimper

J.A. del Rosario & Cristina Córdova — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:24:13 -0500

This is the way the Democratic Primary season ends, not with a bang but a whimper.

The presidential campaign that started with a listening tour designed to state the obvious — that people wanted Hillary Clinton to run — will end the same way, with people telling her it's time to hang it up.

Earlier in the day, McCain's speech got the attention of the crowd. Two hours later, as Hillary addresses supporters in New York, there is not even a mention of the event inside this venue.

Turn It Down

J.A. del Rosario & Cristina Córdova — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:23:30 -0500

Press access to the general public has now been cut off. The only way out of the press area is through the tunnel.

According to Tim Russert, Obama's people are negotiating Hillary's withdrawal. Hillary insists she should be offered the VP position, so she can turn it down and withdraw with dignity. Obama's people are game, as long as she puts it in writing that she will not accept.

At this point, it's hard to say what speech to expect. How long before the Democratic nominee can gloat a little?

MSNBC — Reporting from the Twin Cities

Cristina Cordova — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:17:45 -0500

The screams continue as the overhead screens show MSNBC reporting from right here, the Xcel Center. Ah... now I understand why news reports always show people cheering in the background. They're just cheering themselves on. How quaint. Somehow, as a viewer, you always assume the cheers are for the politician. (I should have known better.)

Eye of the Storm

Cristina Cordova — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:08:46 -0500

After the press is settled in, the doors open to the general public. It's about 10 past six. The crowds file in, steadily, slowly, filling the arena. Is this an arena? I think it is. And right now, it feels like we're the show — broken gladiators. I don't see anyone turn to the crowd. Photographers line up on the riser before the stage. The rest of us sit at tables behind them, on computers, on phones, jabbering away with fellow reporters, documenters of the times.