PROLOGUE
Too often, the Democrats allow the Republicans to dictate the issues and perimeter of public discourse. Look to the absurd excuse-making done in the two weeks prior to Obama’s acceptance speech before 84,000 at the Mile High Stadium in Denver. 84,000 compared to some 18K-30K that McCain et al corralled into a hockey rink in St Paul.
You’d only try to explain a supremely stronger position – cuz 84 is a lot bigger than 18 ... or thirty -- if you lack a whole lot of self-confidence. [see “Dems nervous over Invesco risks” ]

What mind were Beltway Democrats in in order to justify the questions and multi-day headlines in the corporate media’s echo chamber? There was nothing to apologize for when changing event venues to the stadium at the Univ of South Carolina during the January primaries, in order to accommodate 40,000. So, be proud of the fact that you can get 84,000 together on a Thursday night before Labor Day. That is history. For all of Bill Clinton’s defying expectations and charm, I don’t recollect him getting that many out – in the primaries nor what used to be the dry, wonky, elite and insiders lollapalooza known as a political convention.



1 – How COMMUNITY ORGANIZING strikes back!
Sure, Palin and Guiliani ridiculed community organizing Wednesday night at the GOP convention. And, that is a very good thing .

They brought community organizing into the national debate in a way that Obama’s storytelling never could. He touted why his experience mattered and how it instilled morality, accountability, and the potential of collective power in making change. On the other hand, the GOP made it plain how little regard they have for public input.

The GOP has made this instrumental in their talking points by attacking the core of what community and organizing stand for. And for the Obama campaign, this is better than continuously question his experience. The big dedazo of the Bush-Rove school has chosen Palin to serve as the Republican ticket’s conservative ‘pack leader’, then the Palin

Sicking Guiliani and Palin on community organizing, may well have a very similar affect as those pit bull maulings of stroller-bound babies that Sports Illustrated featured with cover stories back in the late ‘80s. Galvanizing broad swaths in defense of the defenseless legions of leaders from churches, nursing homes and after-school activities.

2 – WHERE MY CHURCHES AT?
Now, the onus is on Obama campaign to counter this sloppy low-blow with a solid jab to the right eye by connecting organizing to the community leadership exhibited through small towns and inner cities.
They must draw attention to how Guilliani and Palin were an affront to deacons, evangelicals at the Saddleback Church in Orange County to the shop stewards or advocates for the unemployed in Ohio and across the rust belt.

Let’s be clear, Obama isn’t Kerry. And I am not referring to race, family upbringing and wealth. Obama the candidate is more astute, attuned and aware than Kerry. As the Democrats seem to have forgotten since the 1994 mutiny that wrought the ‘Contract with America’, elections aren’t about who has the best policy proposals. Gore did, but Dem operatives throughout Florida got bullied in 2000. So abused that they were afraid to fight in the courts. Yet, four years later, they returned to the domestic violence of Dem-Rep presidential races and didn’t understand how and why they were beat again.

Fortunately, there’s a community organizer at the top of the ticket. Being a community organizer requires two strong convictions: the ability to love and the ability to fight. And in recognizing a fight, you have to be able to assess who your opponent is, what they are capable of doing, and that there aren’t rules to war. If you bring a Revolutionary War picnic-like mentality to a 21st century political battlefield, you are doomed to lose to guerrilla warfare.

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