Yep, that's it.  After everything that has happened the last few weeks, I've decided I can no longer be a volunteer for Barack Obama.

I've heard what he has been saying, I've looked at what he's proposing to do, and I've seen what is happening in the polls.  And it's absolutely clear that my days as a volunteer are over for good.

It's time to make an even bigger commitment.

I like Chuck Todd, but he said something idiotic today in the post-speech coverage.  He said (I'm paraphrasing) "This is just like a speech McCain could have given."  He apparently meant that McCain would agree with the content and project the same vision.   Nice delivery, he seemed to say, but nothing special underneath.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.  This is a speech only Obama could give.  Listen carefully to the speech again and you hear the three signature elements of Obama's political storytelling:  The Story of Self, the Story of Us, the Story of Now.  Obama uses his speeches to move people to action.  And that is what he will do as President.

Today Obama told us about himself, but also about Us - who we are and what we share around the globe.  We're all in this together.  And about Us as Americans, what our challenges are and why we are called to live up to the ideals that founded the nation.  And he told us about Now - this moment in history.  It shows us what our relationship with the world would look like under an Obama presidency.  McCain?  There is no comparison.  

Many commentators are rightly horrified that a current Presidential candidate might equate rape with pleasure.  The account of John McCain's 1986 rape "joke" calls into question his attitudes toward women, especially given his long legislative record of voting against women's rights.

But it gets worse.  A world that treats a brutal act of sexual assault as a joke is not simply a land of the humor-impaired or a place of "insensitivity" to women.  These "jokes" are a reflection of rape culture - a set of norms defining the permissible use of sexual violence in ways that enable further acts of abuse.

Tonight, I hope we can think and talk critically about how cultural attitudes, rape myths, and gender and race stereotypes fuel gender-based violence - and why we need to fight that.

Mine.

And yours.

And ours.

And most of all, my children's.  Not to mention my future grandchildren's.

We built this campaign.  We own it.  It is ours.  People power.  Organizing ourselves, one MyBO account at a time.

Obama for America.

Respect.  Empower.  Include.

That's why.

I've been offline most of the day.  This morning, I got the Obama campaign e-mail announcing that ordinary citizens will have direct input into the Democratic Party platform.  I got back online expecting to see the blogosphere buzzing about this radical proposal.

August 2008 will be the first open-source party convention.  The Convention has always been an insider's game, with credential requirements, rules committees and professionals running the show.  Not anymore.  

Surely the netroots would be excited about this.  Surely we would see front page stories on all the major Democratic blogs, and one, maybe two Recommended diaries on the topic.  Apparently, that isn't what happened.  A few diarists, it appears, posted the news, but generated little discussion.  No front page stories on DKos, MyDD or Open Left.  

Barack Obama just threw open the doors of the Democratic Party Convention and the people who should care the most collectively shrugged their shoulders.  That's too bad, because it tells us something really important about what kind of President he plans to be.

OK, I know it's been a long time.  2004 seems almost lost in the mists of history.  I wasn't posting here then, I wasn't even reading blogs then.  Thank God, because what I've read about the Dean/Kerry/Edwards/Clark wars makes me not sorry I missed them.

So did you have a moment here, when you understood what was at stake?  When you all agreed that primaries are not like general elections?  Because during a primary arguing among ourselves is part of the deal.  At that point we have the luxury of asking candidates to compete for our support.

He's the nominee.  You don't have to like him.  You might have voted for someone else.  But if you are here, I am going to assume it is because you want what I want.  You want Obama in the White House.  You want a frickin' tidal wave of blue washing through the land, picking up lots of new House seats, Senate seats, Governorships, maybe even flipping one or two state legislatures.

You want it?  Pony up.  You should be holding nothing back.

Because he's the nominee, that's why.

Today Barack Obama rolls out a new policy proposal.  It isn't huge.  It isn't about universal health care, Iraq withdrawal or stopping global climate change - his three top policy priorities as President.  But it is important.  It represents a clear pushback against a signature Bush Administration initiative and a restoration of constitutional principles.

At a speech in Ohio, Obama unveiled his proposal for a new Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.   It both expands the federal government's partnership with faith-based organizations and reins it in, by strengthening how the program can meet policy goals and requiring it to abide by stronger church-state separation protections.

Oddly, the early reporting on this program is stupendously wrong- claiming that Obama's proposal guts existing anti-discrimination law that applies to religious organizations.  In fact, Obama's proposal reaffirms the protections of current law and states he intends to apply them.  This error also distracts from the ways this proposal respects both religious organizations and secular values.

On a shelf in my office sits a dusty white baseball cap, which says "Hats Off to Hillary!" in bright red letters.  I have a growing pile of Obama momentos, but for over ten years I have held onto that hat, and what it symbolizes.  I acquired it some time during the second Clinton Administration - I believe it was an event honoring Hillary Clinton's publication of It Takes A Village.  I was thrilled to be there and hear her speak, and to take home the hat.

Hillary Clinton has run an incredible race, and shown that women can and should compete at the highest level of politics.  She likely has much of a long and successful political career still ahead of her.  Although I have supported her primary opponent since the beginning, I have always tried to frame my advocacy in ways that did not come at her expense.

And I always knew she would do the right thing, in the end.  Hats off to Hillary.

This week, Barack Obama lost a big advantage.  No one, ever again, is likely to underestimate him.  For a long time, he could rest secure in the knowledge that most of his opponents - inside and outside the Democratic Party - had no idea what they were up against.  

He could craft a winning strategy right in plain sight.  Forget that - he could share his voter file and major aspects of his entire campaign plan with millions of total strangers, secure in the knowledge that the people who should have been paying attention would dismiss his path to victory as improbable at best.

Most of all, he could enjoy watching his opponents get really excited about his supposed "mistakes" and "weaknesses," knowing all the while they were truly assets.  And knowing as well that he was far more ready than anyone understood to deal with his true mistakes and weaknesses.

Well, it was fun while it lasted.  Surely the McCain campaign won't make that mistake, right?

My mother voted for Hillary Clinton.  Both her kids voted for Barack Obama.  And one of those kids – me – has been volunteering for the Obama campaign since August.  Anyone who has read my diaries over the last year knows how passionately I believe that Barack Obama should be the next President of the United States.

And I have exactly no issues with how my mother voted.  None.  More than that – I understand and respect her choice.  Guess what?  She understands and respects mine.   And my family, chock full of political junkies and campaign activists, has been split on the Democratic primary for over a year without a single nasty word or spilled tear.  No one threw the mashed potatoes across the table at Christmas dinner, despite the potential for high tension over the upcoming Iowa caucus.

So how did we do it?   One simple premise – who you choose to vote for is not a test of your worthiness as a member of the human race.

Today two Presidential campaigns came full circle, each finding in the other a piece of their core message.  Since 2004, both Barack Obama and John Edwards have been talking about One America on the national stage -- in different and complimentary ways.

It seems entirely fitting, then, to see them together on the stage tonight, talking about the goal they share.  One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

In 2004 I voted for Edwards.  In 2008 I voted for Obama.  I am happy to see them campaign together for the change we need this November.  One America just got a little bit closer.    

I came back here on Friday.  I came back to my hometown, to the city where I was born and raised, to team up with my fellow Hoosiers working for Obama.  I've been working almost nonstop since I arrived, and in five hours I have to be up and on my way out for GOTV.  My feet are aching, I haven't had a real meal since 8 this morning, and I'm not sure when I'll have one again.  

But my heart is soaring, because Indianapolis turned out big for Barack tonight.   In spite of rain, in spite of the late hour, in spite of everything that has been thrown at his campaign for the last two months.

21,000 Hoosiers gathered in the heart of the city, in the shadow of the historic War Memorial, to be part of a movement for change - a multiracial, multigenerational coalition determined to take back our government and make it work for us again.  I never thought I would see this -- not here.

If this can happen here, it can happen anywhere.  It can happen everywhere.

Yesterday, I wrote about Changing the Math:

Lots of people think Barack Obama is a lawyer.  Turns out he's a mathematician.

As we know, he can count delegates.  He has deployed his forces strategically to keep the delegate count close even where he's at a large structural disadvantage (OH, PA, CA), while identifying the places he can run up the score (the month of February).  This is the kind of campaign I trust to figure out electoral vote math.

Now we learn Obama wants to harness the power of technology to reshape who wields power in the electorate.  He wants to bring in enough new voters to destabilize all our assumptions about where and how Democrats can win.   Obama's potential to "Change the Map" just got bigger - with an unprecedented 50-state voter registration drive that can change the electoral math for a generation.  

Today Joe Andrew endorsed Barack Obama, saying  

Winners redefine the game.

.  Vote for Change is a signature Obama initiative - it redefines the game.

Lots of people think Barack Obama is a lawyer.  Turns out he's a mathematician.

As we know, he can count delegates.  He has deployed his forces strategically to keep the delegate count close even where he's at a large structural disadvantage (OH, PA, CA), while identifying the places he can run up the score (the month of February).  This is the kind of campaign I trust to figure out electoral vote math.

Now we learn Obama wants to harness the power of technology to reshape who wields power in the electorate.  He wants to bring in enough new voters to destabilize all our assumptions about where and how Democrats can win.   Obama's potential to "Change the Map" just got bigger - with an unprecedented 50-state voter registration drive that can change the electoral math for a generation.  

This program will not only help put Obama in the White House, but also pay dividends for Democrats all the way down the ballot in November, and even bigger dividends for the Democratic Party in years to come.  

There are deep forces at work here, while we're busy talking pastors or whatever the color and model number of this week's kitchen sink is.  Forget the sideshow.  Barack Obama is busy Changing the Math.

Like I've said before, one key reason to support Obama is his clear dedication to the 50-state strategy.  I was with some other Bay Area volunteer leaders last night getting briefed on a brand-new campaign initiative that takes this to a whole new level.

On Saturday, May 10, Obama for America will kick off a 50-state, nationwide voter registration drive on an unprecedented scale.

So while Barack Obama is still facing a primary opponent, he is already thinking way ahead to the General Election.  And he's thinking not just about how he can eke out a swing state victory - he's thinking much, much bigger.  He's thinking about how to build the Democratic Party nationwide by bringing in more new voters than any national candidate ever.  He is doing it the same way he's set record fundraising levels and won more delegates, states and votes than Hillary Clinton.  

Gate, meet your latest crashers.

As we all know, yesterday Barack Obama delivered one for the history books.  Many here and elsewhere have heralded his speech for its eloquence, depth and moral clarity on the racial divisions that Americans continue to struggle with.  Commenters have remarked on its honesty, integrity and call for understanding on all sides.

Yesterday, Barack Obama formally crossed "the Swiftboat Threshold."  The attacks he faced over his personal association with a religious figure are a textbook example of what we now call "swiftboating."  

This is the test that we now demand Democratic nominees be able to withstand.  Obama has passed it with flying colors.  And, as usual, he refused to take the conventional approach.  In the end, swiftboating succeeds by instilling fear in candidates and their supporters.  All too often, even "successful" Democratic responses reflect that fear by avoidance, distance or escalation - strategies which only encourage more attacks.

Instead, Barack Obama showed very clearly he is not afraid.  He will not run from who he is.  It turns out the only thing we have to fear from swiftboating is fear itself.

A truly great speech has both a powerful text and a powerful context.  Barack Obama's speech today in Philadelphia had both.  Coming to the podium this morning, everyone said he needed to respond to and explain his relationship with Rev. Wright.  He did far more.

He took on the much larger and more difficult problem of racism - one of the most painful moral and political divides in America.  He reminded us what we owe to each other across that divide, from both sides.

Almost four decades ago, a Presidential candidate often compared with Barack Obama confronted a similar context.  Facing the charge that you are not "one of us" because of religion, then-Senator John F. Kennedy responded by laying claim to who we are.  

The United States has a unique history, marred both by the gravest intolerance and the most expansive promise of inclusion.  While recognizing the reality of one, these Senators asked us to live up to the other.

Tomorrow voters in four states will participate in selecting our nominee.  Voters in 38 previous primaries and caucuses have had their say.  Turnout is through the roof.  The Democratic Party is excited, engaged, and  very serious about making the right choice from an incredibly deep field.

The media has twice tried - and mercifully failed - to presumptively coronate our nominee and short-circuit the process.  Before anyone voted or caucused, we were informed that Senator Clinton was going to win this thing going away.  The days between Iowa and New Hampshire we were informed that Senator Obama would take it after only a couple of contests.  Shockingly, real people all over the country decided that they would determine their own destiny, and demanded that these two remaining candidates prove their worth.  And they have both fought hard to win the chance to stand as the nominee at this crucial time.

As a supporter of Barack Obama, I see this as the best possible scenario.  He has had a golden opportunity to show what he can offer to the Democratic Party and the nation - not just the politics of inspiration, but of participation.