This post made my day, maybe even my week!

Thanks so much, thisniss.

great post

thanks for being nice.

I'm still a relative newcomer here, but I'm trying to hang with the cool kids. Even with the relatively broad definition of "cool kid" in operation, I remain a dorkwad by nature. So I appreciate all the help I can get.

I can back up this post 100%. My daughter and I got there at 7:30, and finding a seat was very difficult. I was surprised that so many others brought their kids, and we all stayed late (Obama didn't actually speak until about 10:20), despite school and work looming the next morning.

Definitely don't worry about NC. This is strong Obama country.

Thanks for this post. I think a lot of us are just getting weary of this whole primary thing and want it to be over so that we can turn our attention to beating McCain in the fall. This is a wonderful reminder that Obama's momentum, while slowing down, has not stalled at all. I, too, am confident that at the end of the day he will be our nominee, and I will be proud to work for him this summer, and I will be proud to cast my vote for him in November (wow, when was the last time I said that???) ;)

Your post gave me chills. Thanks for taking the time to do that. I'm feeling much better now!!!!
Please give us a nice big NC win!!!!

Thanks, man. This helps a lot. It's hard seeing Obama on the defensive like this, but he's handling it so well. Your post made me realize that the MSM is only showing him on the defensive because it suits their needs. I knew it wouldn't be "Yes, We Can" youtube videos until November, but it's been a rough week. Again, this really helped.

wonderful post. it really lifted my spirits:)

A thousand times, yes! In the midst of the onslaught it's easy to forget not only what brought us here, but how far we've come. A community of the pragmatically hopeful, millions of us striving for a better, more useful politics -- an American politics that focuses and unites us so that we can face the challenges of the new century.

We still can. We still will.

Thank you for this reminder!

oh gosh thank you so much. i am one of those weary supporters who is taking all of this very personal. i have been coming here for positive refuge and it's working....

i have been energized again...obama is fighting with every fiber of his being and we cannot, should not give up on him now when he needs us most. after all, he is but a man, but this is a movement that we the people helped to mobilize. let's take our country back from the selected few who has failed to really represent our interest and failed to keep up with the new, fresh ideas that can aid us in defeating the new challenges of today....

yes we can...i am with you obama and although it is rough, especially these past few weeks, you will get my vote in november b/c i truly believe you will overcome this pettiness and continue to shine like a beacon of hope...

Yes We Can!!! Let me add my thanks, and also a comment that one thing I love about Obama is that his life and relations of all kinds have been complex and challenging. The fact that he wanted to break barriers is the reason he has been involved with people that might be controversial to other people, and that even his supporters are different from one another. That's what this whole thing is about, and I have never felt such wonderful solidarity with others as when I was in the audience watching him. This post and the replies remind me of that!

Thank you! Wonderful post, and yes, it's time we got focused again on what brought us to this movement in the first place. Yes, we can. I'm feeling better today. If we can stay focused, we are unstoppable!

Yaaay! I'm pumped. We're gunna win this thing dangnabbit! I feel it in my bones!!

to NC State Dem- well that's just, like, your opinion, man

as for the rest of you-
Ok, I'm as glad and happy that there's unwavering support for Obama as the next Obama supporter, but let's not get too overconfident by the overwhelming turnout. the 4th district isn't, how do you say, very representative of the political views of the rest of North Carolina, and maybe not even the rest of NC democrats. If it were, then please explain Jesse Helms, Elizabeth Dole, Richard Burr, or even the Democratic governors.....

As a UNC alum that has since moved away, I would have attended this event with as much, maybe more excitement than a game against Dook. But I got enough of an education at UNC to know that Chapel Hill's a (wonderful) anomaly in the less-than-progressive state that North Carolina is, and will likely remain for the foreseeable future.

Great post. The reason I'm not worried is because:

A). He's already won the nomination
B). Hillary has no path to the nomination

In order for Hillary to pull ahead in pledged delegates, she needs to win all of the remaining states by a margin of 70-30 OR get Michigan and Florida seated and win all of the remaining states with something like 64% of the vote. Neither one of those things is going to happen.

Thanks thisniss. I'm in N.H. and it seems like our primary was years ago - it's good to know he's still firing people up all over the country.

I echo so many of the other sentiments here in saying it is great to hear from folks on the ground attending the rallies leading up to the primaries next week. I have to say though, it is much sweeter to read about well attended rallies in NC when the superdelegates are biting! 3 for the day!

"Right now, the last desperate attempts to quell this movement are being mobilized. The full force of an old style of politics is being brought down upon us. We don't have to play into it. Don't waste time trying to fight stupid fights. Don't worry about who said what about whom. Don't give up on our game to play a game we all hate. Not this time."

Great paragraph!
...especially the part about old style politics, if there was ever a race for a new generation to use to cut itself loose from the sins of the old one, IT IS NOW!

What a relief to read this post and all the reactions. Thank you. Like minds do exist.

The best thing about Obama is that he is a learner. He meets difficulty, doesn't overreact, but then he learns and moves forward. I thought he handled Wright perfectly yesterday.

We need someone who is a learner as president. I believe he is not only going to be president, I believe he will go down in history as one of our all-time great presidents.

I do give some of the electronic media (MSNBC) credit for their rapt coverage of his press conference. Also, there was a great editorial in the New York Times this morning. Plus the placement of the story and the photo on the NYT front page give the story the play that it needs to start the momentum back where we want it. L.A. Times and Wall Street Journal placement were excellent, too.

We're back on track.

Things are looking up. Did anyone else see Whoopie take on Elizabeth on the View? I really liked how Joy Behar was the clean up hitter after Elizabeth insisted that his renouncing Wright was not enough.

Elizabeth gets on my LAST nerve, but I give her respect because she stands her opinion and holds her ground, even when she is in the minority the majority of the time.

Great post. Thank you!

Wellallrighty then.

G'won wit yer bad self, North Carolina!

Vote early, often, and well.

Thanks for the post. I am new here and it was great to read. I need it today. I live in Florida and hope to get to see and hear him when he is the nominee!!!!

Hickory NC - Tues - 4/29 - same as Chapel Hill!!!

I'm a bad a Obama demographic - 55 year old independent Republican and drove to Hickory from Atlanta yesterday for the rally w/ my 6 and 8 year olds and it was amazing.

The High School Gym supposedly handled 3600 people. I'm pretty sure there were more lined up. Not sure all got in tix or not.

Doors were to open at 2 for a 4 PM est. speech. At 1:30 when we got there we were way back in line (my guess was 2000 in front of us. At 2 when the line started to move we had almost as many behind us as in front.The line stretched probably the equivalent of 2-3 city blocks in a town of 45,000.

The crowd was a terrific mix - young, old, kids, black, white...every buddy very psyched and very polite and patient....

The whole thing was well organized and yes we waited for nearly 2 hours before Barack got there but no one cared.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by the last survivor of the original 36 Tuskegee Airmen - a medal of honor winner to boot - that alone was worth the trip!!

A young man from the HS spoke and sounded like RFK...what a poised speaker and future leader who has been working hard and organizing local students to help on the campaign.

I'm no sap but When Barack arrived the reaction was spine tingling. People were so excited, proud, hopeful...together....everything one has seen and heard about..."Yes We Can"....

The stump speech was a lot of what we've heard but that is what you are there for!!!

The new economic message, worker focus was evident a straighter line in his story about his patriotism, a real grasp of the economic issues that had hit that area with major job losses in the last 2 years...people loved it.

I am still digesting all I experienced yesterday. I am the type of person that likes to see things, look at a person and size them up myself. TV and youtube is terrific but I need to experience things myself to digest and absorb them...

What I saw left me KNOWING that he will win.

"The fierce urgency of now" is a line I have loved hearing from him (quoting MLK)....his explanation sets the tone and helps you really see he is who he portrays himself to be...running for America and us not for his blind life long ambition.

I thought about that line the 4 hours all the way home with my kids asleep in the back...Why would a rookie Senator - a black rookie Senator at that ever dream of trying to take on the Clinton Machine? How could he win? How could he think he could get past John Edwards and the others...the odds were so long...certainly not to become Hillary's VP as that job would be taken if not in title by marriage.

On a personal and human level - no one at 46 with 2 small kids and the best family years upon him, recent wealth based on his books and 2 years in the Senate needs to run for President - why anyone would want to tackle the mess we have and take the stress and pressure is hard to fathom. Heck, he has 20 years to season himself, gain stature etc and pick the right time to grab for power. Which is what he would do if he were simply a conniving politician looking to run to satisfy his own blind ambition.

In the end the only logical answer to this is whole discussion is that this young, bright, attractive, humble leader says what he means and means what he says and is willing to make his own personal sacrifices to serve America.

As he tells every crowd he is not perfect - as we have seen a few times ( and none of us are )- but he is truly running because this nation needs a new direction and real leadership to solve the complex problems we face.

NC should be fine, IN may not be but the math (thanks to Barack's terrific organizing skills) is on our side....

"Yes we can"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, thank you; thank you. I truly needed a "picker-upper." I've been feeling very discouraged lately especially fueled by the negative coverage. It's all beginning to sap my energy. And I'm beginning to wonder if Americans forgot what it's like to be respected in the world; And why we don't seem to want to reclaim that--something we sure can't do with the Clintons and the distasteful shenanigans that was part of their tenure.

didn't he have the largest group of people in philli last week and still lost big?

i think people are tired of wright AND starting to tire of OBAMA. as they said on the news the other day OBAMA is starting to become boring. i agree.

Thanks for the lift...

LIFE IS GOOD AND BARACK OBAMA IS THE PRESIDENT!

Very beautiful post indeed.

Thank you so much.

You write beautifully.

good job

Random thought... I lived in San Francisco for 10 years and in that time I only met one Republican. She was a friend of mine, and we tried not to talk too much about politics. A few years ago, she moved to Chapel Hill, NC. I wonder if she is voting, who she is voting for. I am afraid to ask. Not sure if she is still a Republican. Anyway, since she is the only one I know in the entire state of NC.... Thisniss and others, I am relieved to hear your story and know you all have us covered down there!

Nice job with the post! It was clearly needed, a lot of folks have been getting nervous for no reason recently.

And I submit it is caused by a deliberate tactic.

The post turned out pretty long so I made a separate one for it:

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/05/rebuilding-the-positivity.php