I have a little confession. I've been a member of the Obama campaign for nearly a year. I signed up when the inspiring, energetic junior Senator from Illinois was the long-shot candidate struggling against the Clinton machine and its sense of entitlement. As a member of the campaign I get regular updates, letters from the candidate, and the occasional request for a campaign contribution. But lately I have been stunned by the deluge.
With less than two weeks till the election, almost every day, I receive emails asking me to donate money. Emails from Sen Joe Biden, the would be Vice-President, from Mr Plouffe, the manager of the campaign, from Mrs Obama, the lady who would be first, and from Sen Obama himself. Pleading, cajoling, prodding. Telling me of their desperate need. Urging me to give. I've been scratching my head in bewilderment. Sen Obama has raised more money than any other presidential candidate in history. By recent count he has raised in excess of US$ 600 million (over US$ 150 million in the month of September alone). He has raised more than twice the sum Sen McCain has raised and is out-spending the Arizona senator, several times over, in almost every state and county. How much is enough?
In response to the most severe financial crisis in 70 years, Sen Obama often crows about the economic hardships that hard working, blue collar Americans face. Yet with this gross, bloated, obscene political treasure chest, Sen Obama has the temerity to ask these people who struggle to feed their families, to pay their rent or mortgages, to school their children, for more money. It's simply astonishing. During the Great Depression, men would pull the tongues of their trouser pockets out to show they were penurious. They called them Hoover Flags, as a sock to the then President. I've just reached into the pocket of my neat Saville Row suit and pulled the tongue out. I'm waving it at the Obama campaign. Joe the Plumber, Tito the Builder, and Ed the Dairyman ought to do the same.
