Hey Big Spender
I’ve got a piece in today’s New York Post about the incredible amount of money that’s been raised so far in this presidential election. I’ve been following this story for two years and even I was surprised when I dove into the numbers.
Here’s the chart that accompanied the article:
Text the Vote
I’ve spent much of the last couple of weeks interviewing people and thinking about Barack Obama’s online and offline organizing strategy. It’s a very impressive operationóone that is not getting the credit it deserves (which is, I believe, precisely what the Obama campaign wants it to be: off the radar and away from the glare of the campaign spotlight).
My debut op-ed in the New York Times today deals with the Obama campaign’s innovative use of text messaging for offline organizing:
“Sometime between now and the convention, Barack Obama, just like the cool kid in study hall, will surreptitiously send a text message announcing his pick for vice president. The ploy may seem silly— the fad candidate adopts the latest tech fad—but it’s an important part of one of Mr. Obama’s most under-recognized campaign efforts.”
Read the whole thing here. I have to say: It’s pretty cool to be published on the same page as Thomas L. Friedman.
Happy Birthday Macaca!
My latest Capital Commentary today celebrates the 2nd birthday of the “Macaca video” that doomed George Allen with my roundup of the best, most influential, and groundbreaking political videos of the 2008 election.
My favorite is still the Chuck Norris facts ad:
The Ultimate G-Man
I’ve spent much of this spring and summer working on a giant piece for the magazine about the FBI Director Robert Mueller and the Bureau post-9/11. It was a fascinating story to write and researchóI was really surprised at how little institutional attention had been paid to the Bureau by the media.
Here’s the story, “The Ultimate G-Man: Robert Mueller“:
The sun had just come up when Robert Mueller and James Comey walked up to the West Wing of the White House shortly after 7 am on March 12, 2004. Mueller and Comey had been up for much longer. Neither the FBI director nor the deputy attorney general had slept much in the previous week, and that was before al Qaeda terrorists killed 191 people in train bombings around Madrid. It was windy and cool; the thermometer hovered at 40 degrees as the two men prepared to brief the President.
It was, both fully expected, the last time they would enter the White House. In their desks at the FBI and Justice Department were letters of resignation they expected to submit; they would be joined by a dozen other Justice and FBI officials. The only reason the letters hadnít been submitted already was that the men, at the request of the attorney generalís chief of staff, were waiting until John Ashcroft had recuperated from gallbladder surgery to the point where he could resign as well.
To understand that day, you have to go back to the 73-word oath that kicks off every federal career.
If you read it for nothing else, read it for the final story about the hospital incident with John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales.
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