Despite what I said about the Obama campaign's growing confidence, there was an interesting moment after Obama's speech when he poked briefly into the overflow room to greet and thank throngs of his supporters, who had packed that room because the main ballroom was full. In fact, they were so loud that sound from the second room, which was adjacent to the main hall, could be heard for several moments after Obama's introduction, and he couldn't start his remarks until things calmed down. (And, smartly, he smiled and paused so that the extra boostering would be noticed by the audience and the media.) Anyway, in the overflow room Obama began with the usual thank-you-for-all-you-do rally stuff, and exhorted them to "finish strong." But then he told them during the final 30 days not to "read the newspapers and pay any attention to who is up and who is down in the polls." The comment reminded me of four years ago, when the host of this event, now-DNC Chair Howard Dean, was riding a late-fall surge and perhaps too many Deaniacs were so comforted by the polls they took things for granted. -- Despite what I said about the Obama campaign's growing confidence, there was an interesting moment after Obama's speech when he poked briefly into the overflow room to greet and thank throngs of his supporters, who had packed that room because the main ballroom was full. In fact, they were so loud that sound from the second room, which was adjacent to the main hall, could be heard for several moments after Obama's introduction, and he couldn't start his remarks until things calmed down. (And, smartly, he smiled and paused so that the extra boostering would be noticed by the audience and the media.) Anyway, in the overflow room Obama began with the usual thank-you-for-all-you-do rally stuff, and exhorted them to "finish strong." But then he told them during the final 30 days not to "read the newspapers and pay any attention to who is up and who is down in the polls." The comment reminded me of four years ago, when the host of this event, now-DNC Chair Howard Dean, was riding a late-fall surge and perhaps too many Deaniacs were so comforted by the polls they took things for granted. --Tom Schaller
