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Vol. LXII, No. 27
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Wednesday, July 2, 2008
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Vol. LXII, No. 27
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Wednesday, July 2, 2008
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On the evening before the day that Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton met in Unity, New Hampshire, the Princeton Community Democratic Organization (PCDO) held its own unity party at the Battle Road home of Margaret Griffin and Scott Sillars. The invitation belied the location’s street name by asking members and friends to “join in friendship and common purpose,” that common purpose being to elect Barack Obama as president and raise funds for his campaign.
PCDO President Jenny Crumiller set the tone of reconciliation by introducing herself as a “former Hillary supporter. While Democrats may have gotten a little ‘preoccupied’ in the process of choosing a candidate,” she observed, “there were no big ideological disagreements. The bottom line is, I’m a democrat. I was a Clinton supporter; now I’m an Obama supporter.”
Ms. Crumiller reminded guests of the counter that had been placed on the PCDO website to calculate the number of days remaining in the current administration. It was three-and-a-half years ago when it started; now, she noted as people cheered, it’s at “just 141 days.”
Princeton area headquarters for the Obama campaign will be above Nassau Interiors on Nassau Street, she announced. The space at this “ideal location” will be rented (“no favors”), and is reported to be roomy.
PCDO member Liz Lempert noted that this presidential campaign will be different than the one in 2004. This time, a “50-state strategy” will send paid staff to traditionally “red” states, and the internet-based phone system, SKYPE, will enable campaigners to make free long distance calls. Ms. Lempert said that the “massive amounts of money” raised by the Obama campaign so far and its “grass roots structure” are enabling this widespread effort. “Although Obama is up in the polls,” she cautioned, “it’s still going to be a hard race.”
Ms. Lempert described the 2008 race as an “historic election, not just because Obama is black, and not just because of the overwhelming turnout for the primaries. Its historic nature lies in the fact that Democrats have an opportunity to win back the White House with a landslide.”