Barack Obama came to San Francisco tonight for a fundraiser, probably his last visit here until the election. So I scraped together the price of admission and went to see him. And had a few words with him. Again.
First, let me say that the event raised a record $7.8 million, the most ever raised at a single San Francisco event.
Second, he made it clear in his speech that he knows what he's up against ("The Republicans are meeeeean" was the way he put it), and he is going to be fighting back HARD. He's heard the hand-wringers and the doomsayers (gosh, d'you think he reads dKos?) and in so many words he was telling them not to worry, he knows how to fight. The GOP knows they can't win on the issues, he said, so they have to fight dirty. And he is ready for them.
For the rest of it, come below the fold.
Personal story first: When Obama came to Kenya back in August 2006, my wife and I were serving there in the Peace Corps. The embassy was hosting a get-together for the senator, and agreed that 20 or 30 volunteers could join in. We signed up and got to go.
As it happened, the entire embassy staff (and it's a big post) wanted to meet him, so it was changed from a meet-and-greet to a sit-down in the ampitheater, with the Peace Corps contingent up front, and he was asked to give a speech. Then he took 3 questions, and I got to ask the third. (It was about restoring checks and balances.) And I had a follow-up question after, about electronic voting fraud. (He said they were aware and would be watching.)
Fast forward to tonight. When he came into the room, I was near the rope and he was shaking hands. He looked at me like he should know me, so I said "We met in Nairobi;" he smiled and said "Good to see you again!" After his speech, he worked the whole line, which brought him back to me. This time I said "I have another follow-up question." He stopped and gave me his attention. And I asked him, again, about Congressional oversight, this time putting it in terms of how he would let Congress oversee his executive. He put both hands on my shoulders, looked me in the eye, and said it was too complex to answer then, and he was late for a plane, but he would respond. (The Secret Service does have my address, so it's possible. Even id there's not a personal answer, I got the sense he will talk about it somehow.) He is a mensch.
And that is the point of comparison to John Kerry. I had met Kerry in March 2004 and spoken to him for at least 3 minutes, including a mention that his speech needed work. (To be really truthful, it was lousy, but there is a limit to how much truth to power I could nerve myself to say.) I met him again 3 months later, and while I did not remind him of our previous encounter, it was clear he had forgotten. Obama doesn't quite have Clinton's phenomenal memory for people, but he is pretty good.
He is also a MUCH BETTER speaker. He was natural, he was relaxed, funny, pointed, he got the crowd stirred up. And this when, like Kerry, he had just come back from a vacation.
As for the event itself: Steve Wesley, who had run for governor of California in 2006, worked the crowd, then Jackson Browne and Graham Nash performed. Then John Ruse (sp?) introduced Nancy Pelosi, who gave a great warm-up speech introducing Barack Obama. And the rest you know.
UPDATED to respond to some comments:
About the comparison to Kerry: I wasn't trying to dis Kerry as a person or politician, and I think he's a great senator. But he was, frankly, lousy as a presidential campaigner. My point was not so much that he didn't remember me, but that a politician at that level should be able to seem to do so; it's a way of connecting. More than that, he seemed, even the second time, in August, not sure of himself or what he was doing. Obama seems completely in command of himself.
And Obama, by the way, did not come across last night as overly intellectual, the way Kerry often did, even though he was speaking to a San Francisco crowd (Berkeley across the bay, Stanford down the road, more Nobel laureates per square mile than probably any place outside Boston). He was down to earth, and connecting.
I make the comparison in particular because a number of diaries and comments here have worried themselves sick over whether Obama is like Kerry and making Kerry's mistakes. He is not.
And yes, there was a bit of ego tripping here. How many times has a candidate for president put his hands on your shoulders? In fact, I've never heard of it happening before. I couldn't sleep last night.
As for my question: I had one shot, 10 seconds' worth. I suppose I could have said, Who's your VP pick, or did McCain just lose Colorado, or something like that. This topic has been on my mind since before Obama came to Kenya. Without checks and balances, which specifically includes Congressional oversight, we have no protection from a dictatorial executive. My question was also couched to find out if Obama is willing to let go of the powers that Bush and Cheney have gathered for themselves. He knew exactly what I was asking about. (Which, come to think of it, helps explain the shoulders bit - it was a way of telling me not to worry.)
Finally, to everyone who was in the Peace Corps: Great! And to those who asked about it: You can be any age, and have any skill. You are needed. It was a difficult, often frustrating experience, but usually also a rewarding one. We left early for reasons having to do with the Peace Corps' misplacing us (long story, and we've had several discussions with HQ about it), but I definitely recommend it and even on the train home last night I ended up talking with some people about joining.