I am an Obama supporter. I love the way Obama is running his campaign. I just read something on the LA times website that just makes me respect his campaign even more.
More below the fold...
So in this LA Times article they talk about some 'ritual' in Philly:
Fourteen months into a campaign that has the feel of a movement, Sen. Barack Obama has collided with the gritty political traditions of Philadelphia, where ward bosses love their candidates, but also expect them to pay up.
The dispute centers on the dispensing of "street money," a long-standing Philadelphia ritual in which candidates deliver cash to the city's Democratic operatives in return for getting out the vote.
The article goes on to mention that the Obama campaign workers coordinating the Wards have said they will not be paying this street money. That Obama wants an all volunteer organization.
Some seem to be injecting race into this:
A neutral observer, state Rep. Dwight Evans, whose district is in northwest Philadelphia, said there might be a racial subtext to the dispute. Ward leaders, he said, see Obama airing millions of dollars worth of television ads in the city -- money that benefits largely white station owners, feeding resentment. People wonder why Obama isn't sharing the largesse with the largely African American field workers trying to get him elected, Evans said.
My thinking is that i support Obama's methodology of changing the game. Inspiring new people into the fold and being people powered.
This to me is just another example of what makes Obama a true agent of change.
Sorry for the quickie diary, i'm at work and can't really spend much time on writing this.
Thoughts?
UPDATE:
Thanks for the comments on this diary. Just wanted to share the discussion i had with my cousin on this (A Clinton supporter)
He sent to me:
As I have said before, a President Obama will not really rock the boat for all his rhetoric, or if he does, it will be to hurt those most vulnerable so as to stay on the right side of the powers that be, i.e those who will be needed to get him into a second term.
My response:
Well, i'd say not paying these people is actually rocking the boat. Him paying them would be typical and expected. Not paying them is change.
Him not depending on lobbyists and 'ward leaders' will mean the people who get him into office for his first term will be the people he'll need to get him in the second term, and that's the American people - as it should be. Depending on volunteers is a good thing. American's should participate in politics not because they will get paid for it, but because it's in their personal best interest!
Here's what stands out for me:
"We've heard directly from the Obama organizer who organizes our ward, and he told us it's an entirely volunteer organization and that I should not expect to see anything from the Obama campaign other than ads on TV and the support that volunteers are giving us," said Greg Paulmier, a ward leader in the northwest part of the city.
Neither the Clinton nor the Obama campaign would say publicly whether it would comply with Philadelphia's street money customs. But an Obama aide said Thursday that it had never been the campaign's practice to make such payments. Rather, the campaign's focus is to recruit new people drawn to Obama's message, the aide said.
The field operation "hasn't been about tapping long-standing political machinery," the aide said.
While it doesn't seem it's anything official yet, i don't see how this is a bad thing. Obama has always been about bucking typical politics and this just further shows it's just 'not words'. Yes he's going to buy TV Ads because for most Americans, that's how they learn who Obama is and what he stands for. He's not buying it because he wants to give the 'whites' money. He needs to build up name recognition and define himself. You can't not buy TV ads with the way the American political system is set up, and expect to get anywhere. It was one of the reasons why regardless of whatever kind of appeal Huckabee had, he was not going to get anywhere. Sad but it's the reality.
Obama bringing in new people into politics is not a bad thing. People supporting his campaign not because they are paid to but because they want to be involved and are so thirsty for change that they will invest their time in the campaign is not a bad thing. I would rather Obama be responsible to his volunteers, regular Joe's like you or me than some "Ward Leaders".
Flush with payments from well-funded campaigns, the ward leaders and Democratic Party bosses typically spread out the cash in the days before the election, handing $10, $20 and $50 bills to the foot soldiers and loyalists who make up the party's workforce.
What is $10 dollars? $50 even. Is that really how to support the African American community? Honestly. That won't even fill up a tank of gas these days. That is not Obama's promise, to pay people $10 on election day and then what? Anyone can do that. That's the easy road, the typical road. It's much harder to inspire people to follow you. Again, i would rather people volunteer and expect their payment to be the promised change, than $10 at the end of the day.
gObama!!
Looks like there's a diary on this in the rec list now and another that has some interesting discussions going on. Wonder why it made news in Philly but not anywhere else. Guess since there's such a long lull till Penn, things like this actually get attention.