I have just come from Indianapolis where something over 20,000 people gathered on the mall next to the Soldiers and Sailors monument to hear Obama (and Stevie Wonder). Press reports on the large rallies for Obama invariably givethe impression that the events are like rock concerts. This one wasn't. It was dead serious. I have no idea how the Indiana primary will turn out. Positive campaigns are harder than negative ones. Obama runs a resolutely positive campaign. Let us hope that voters understand this and respond positively.
I have just come from Indianapolis where something over 20,000 people gathered on the mall next to the Soldiers and Sailors monument to hear Obama (and Stevie Wonder). The gates opened at 7:30, and even though the event wasn't announced until sometime after noon (at least not to me) there were long lines of people waiting to pass through the security check. By the time Stevie Wonder came on stage (at about 9:15 or so), the mall was packed with people. It was just before 10 when Barack arrived. I won't linger on his speech. It was a fine speech with pretty much the same lines that he has spoken across the country in this long, grueling primary season. What amazed and moved me was the crowd: There were so many people, some older, but mostly young people of all races, many with young children, all serious, all hopeful.
Press reports on the large rallies for Obama invariably givethe impression that the events are like rock concerts. Perhaps Indiana is different. This was not like a rock concert. Yes, the crowd did chant "Yes We Can" from time to time. Yes, the crowd did chant "Obama" from time to time. But these were not groupie-like swooners. Most looked as if they were waiting for an appointment with their accountant. The faces were serious. . Hoosiers (the very young excepted) understand how high the stakes are in this primary season. The country has, in a real sense, been highjacked. Obama, possibly, can get American back for itself.
I have no idea how the Indiana primary will turn out. Obama runs a resolutely positive campaign. Not so with his opponent. He has to contend with misleading robocalls, attack ads, and negative mailers. One firsthand story: This morning, in the Obama headquarters in Lafayette, a man walked in to ask about Obama's position on guns. He had received a call that he said was from the Clinton campaign. This, of course, is a ludicrous distortiion of his positions. If anything, Obama is more solicitous of gun rights than HRC. No matter. The ethics of negative campaigning are "ends justify the means ethics." If one wanted to, one could collapse the difference between the Hillary C. and Barack O. campaigns into a simple analysis of ends/menas ethics. Obama seems, quite cleaerly, to believe that it is impossible to sharply separate means from ends: Means, quite easily, become ends. HRC, in contrast, seems just as clearly to believe that means justify ends. To the end of endingthis diary entry, let me say that I agree with Barack,and I hope that Hoosier voters do too.