Obama strides past Wisconsin win

Tonight's the night Barack Obama started acting like the Democratic nominee for president.

It's customary for candidates to coordinate their speech times, so they don't step on each other. Tonight, Obama started speaking a few minutes into Hillary Clinton's speech.

He didn't care--and, on cue, FOX News and MSNBC and CNN cut her off--you could actually hear someone on FOX yelling CUT TO HIM NOW.

His crowd in Houston was huge and vocal; it filled the home of the Houston Rockets, which seats 19,000. (The Houston Chronicle's live blog said people posted ads on Craigslist saying they'd pay up to $75; one add offered a ticket for $200). Also from the Chron's blog:

Security tells us that Obama is in the building, but that he might venture outside the greet the supporters who couldn't inside the crowded arena.

Her crowd in Ohio was much smaller and much quieter; she spoke in a high school arena.

The Times live blog mentions his cutting in 'her time' as a possible breach of etiquettte; my thought is if one candidate has 19,000 waiting for them to speak, and another has a few hundred, candidate B had better make sure she gets it right.

Obama mentioned Wisconsin right off the top, which he won by his customary big margin; she plowed ahead as if she was in a time warp.

He was his usual eloquent, authentic self. She tried out another new slogan (Solutions!) and sounded strained.

His crowd was wonderfully diverse. Hers was all white, and mainly women.

He changed up his stump speech, adding a section about how real change requires more than big rallies, rousing speeches, good websites. We don't lack good ideas--"the problem is Washington is a place where good ideas go to die."

It's amazing that he's blowing Clinton out, and most people don't even know he doesn't take any money from lobbyists or PACs, and she does.

Interesting, Obama said as aware as he is that he's not the perfect vessel, he's running because he thinks he can really change things. Haven't heard that line before.

Ah, mentions lobbyists haven't funded his campaign; given that everyone's carried his speech in full so far, this is great publicity you can't buy. Poor Clinton only got a few minutes.

Funny, Houston Chronicle's blog has just discovered that Obama speaks without a teleprompter.

On a side note, I've been watching a lot of Fox News the last few weeks--they're surprisingly good, a bit of a bias but in general totally professional. Curious given how they're by far the biggest cable news network how many republicans are coming over to Obama courtesy of Fox News' extensive coverage of Obama's speeches, and campaign.

All the Clinton supporters complaining about media bias should think long and hard about whether the lack of negative coverage reflects reality. The electorate so far certainly seem to think so.

As he speaks, his lead in Wisconsin is growing, it's now up to 13%. As I wrote after Super Tuesday, Clinton can't recover from a long string of big losses and needed to have a huge lead coming out of California et al. I wrote at the beginning of this month that Obama was going to win at least 9 of the next 10 states (I had no opinion on Maine).

I don't think the Clinton campaign believed it would happen; they've now got two weeks to let the shock settle in, and try to figure out how they can win every one of the remaining states by at least 60%.

Good luck; I think Obama will win easily three states on March 4 (Texas, Rhode Island, Vermont), and has a shot at winning Ohio too.

The election's been over for a few weeks now; I think most Americans are beginning to realize it.

Ah, my favorite lines from his stump speech--he doesn't just want to end the war in Iraq, he wants to end the mindset that got us into it. Followed by he wants to meet not just with our friends, but also our enemies.

I don't agree totally with this--you need someone coherent on the other side to negotiate with, who has the power to deliver--but at least he's thinking differently.

He mentions Darfur, which is smart, given how many people from Africa live in Houston (mainly Nigeria). I also like it when he mentions he's an ex-constitutional law professor; he's going to get a lot of libertarian/Ron Paul-type votes in November, I think.

One of the biggest applause lines of the night: The last thing we need is the same old folks doing the same old things making the same old mistakes. We can only change if we bring new people into the government, if we stop fighting with Republicans and form a working majority.

Ah, brings up John McCain, but briefly; McCain earlier dwelled on Obama. Some new lines of emphasis tonight, all focused around people criticizing him for being naive/inexperienced.

The networks must have numbers that show people watch while Obama's speaking; they've stayed with pretty much his entire speech ever election night since Super Tuesday. Or maybe this is just when everyone's taking their dinner breaks.

Obama is incredibly strategic; he's building these huge volunteer organizations in each state as it comes up, spending a ton of money on grassroots organizing--but not just so he can win the caucuses and primaries. He's doing it so he has a network he can tap into for the general election; and beyond. He wants to build up the Democratic party, but also build up support so after he's elected he can get lawmakers to sign on to his likely fundamental policy shifts. His change is so not just rhetoric; it's concrete and structural and is going to be a mighty force for at least the next decade.

I'm curious if the Clinton campaign will complain about all the coverage Obama gets; not sure how she can compete against this. McCain, too. It's astonishing, actually--it's been all Obama for exactly 45 minutes, for essentially his stump speech.

The highly-intuitive Keith Olbermann mentions how it seems like tonight was the first pitch of the general election game against McCain. CNN's saying the same, as they promise to show some of Clinton's speech on tape delay--they note she didn't even mention Wisconsin or congratulate Obama or thank the voters in her speech.