You already trust KEXP to stuff you full of new music-why not let them stuff you full of burgers and beer? Their fifth annual summer BBQ concert features 206 hiphop beacons Blue Scholars, ecofriendly indie rockers Cloud Cult, haunted folkies the Cave Singers, Brooklyn’s Pela, and the Blakes. Meanwhile, with all eyes back (or still) on Iowa, The Politico says to pay no attention to the polls: The state is still very much up for grabs. (Obama says he will still attend debates sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee.) It’ll also be interesting to see, in Iowa, whether the national press corps is welcoming the possibility of not having to travel to so many smaller debates in the next few months. It’ll be interesting to see if other Democratic candidates follow suit. “Ultimately, the one group left out of the current schedule is the voters and they are the ones who ask the toughest questions and most deserve to have those questions answered face to face.” “Unfortunately, we simply cannot run the kind of campaign we want and need to, engaging with voters in the early states and February 5, if our schedule is dictated by dozens of forums and debates,” said David Plouffe, the Obama campaign manager. He’s not going to be accepting any more invitations from organizations or interest groups (like the AFL-CIO, YearlyKos, and Logo, all of which hosted Democratic debates in recent weeks). And, reading the latest political news online, I’m becoming even more glad that I’ll be able to see Sunday’s debate in Iowa because it looks like these debates may become a bit rarer.īarack Obama announced today that he’s had enough of this season’s fast-proliferating crop of debates and forums. I’ve successfully answered the question from the ABC gatekeeper and am now on the list to be credentialed for the debate tomorrow.
Which seems appropriate mid-way along a trip that will take me back into the traveling circus of the pre-primary presidential campaign. I’m laid over in the Salt Lake City airport, eating a sandwich on white bread, surrounded by some of the whitest of white-bread Americans, and listening, per a friend’s suggestion, to Jesus and Mary Chain (which I think qualifies as that darned Rock and/or Roll). However, The Note tells me tomorrow may be very interesting. I’m sorry, but I didn’t overhear anything that interesting at Centro. (In Seattle, Bill Sherman gets somewhat close to the kind of silver hair I’m talking about.) There was also a lot of silver hair, the kind of silver hair that makes me think of the northeast-perfectly shampooed, perfectly placed, almost metallic, a mark of a certain type of elegantly-aging intellectual. There was some sherry sipping and much Blackberry tapping. Black slacks, black suits, a sharper, slicker black than people in Des Moines seem to be wearing. At Centro, which is apparently where all the politicos ended up. I waited for a cab in front of this vision of small-city cuteness.Īnd then (can you tell?) I went and got a drink and some food.
But by the time I arrived it was a lot of Drake students doing what resourceful college students do-weaseling their way into a fancy reception for some free booze and finger food. Granted, I was quite late because of when my plane got in. On the way in, I received about four pages of bio on George Stephanopolous, the host of tomorrow’s debate, but there was no sign of him, or anyone remotely D.C. …to pick up my credentials and, once that was done, hit the “media reception,” which I presumed, correctly, would be a cocktail party.īut honestly, that plate of shrimp was the most interesting thing at the party. I dropped my stuff in my room (if you like the elevator, you’ll love the rooms, that’s all I’m saying) and headed to Drake University… But from across the elevator I could hear the Clinton people talking about “She”-”She’s still 10 minutes out,” “She’ll probably want to get dinner.” A brush with Hillaryland in a beautiful retro elevator. The elevator also had a mess of kids in it, so there was no striking up a conversation over the kids’ commotion. Shortly after I arrived, I rode the elevator with Mandy Grunwald and two other Clinton campaign staffers. It’s crawling with Democratic aides in town for the debate. I’m told this place is the “Democratic hotel” in town-owned by a prominent Democrat, patronized by Democratic candidates. I am love with my hotel, the Hotel Fort Des Moines. Who knew? Although I will allow that my hotel may be warping my perception.