Earlier in the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, his people believed that New York was a write-off; they felt that Hilary Rodham-Clinton was a lock to win most if not all the convention delegates coming out of New York. To the shrewd political analyst this observation probably made a lot of sense, but sometimes politics defy common sense, and at other times common sense defies conventional political thinking. What is shaping in Brooklyn is a case in point.
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On Wednesday, 22nd August, 2007, Barack Obama comes to the Brooklyn Marriott for a $25 per person grassroots fundraiser. Tickets are now selling like crack was during the nineteen-eighties. Tickets for this event are the hottest tickets in town right now.
My information is suggesting that there are at least half a dozen Obama groups operating in the NYC area, and it appears that they are vibrant and determined groups of relatively young people of all races and ethnicities. Obama has surely pulled diverse peoples together. Whenever I speak to members on the phone or in person, I get the sense that they are driven. They are passionate about their candidate and genuinely concerned about the political future of this country. The common denominator is that they are relatively new to politics.
http://www.r8ny.com/blog/rock_hackshaw/the_hottest_tickets_in_brooklyn_right_now.html