NYT:Race Over or Not, Obama Takes a Victory Lap/AP:Obama's army of small donors"we give him freedom"

Race Over or Not, Obama Takes a Victory Lap


Senator Barack Obama came to the Capitol on Thursday, trying to rally Democrats around him.

By CARL HULSE and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Published: May 9, 2008

WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama began trying to rally the Democratic Party around him on Thursday and struck a tougher tone against Senator John McCain, saying Mr. McCain was “losing his bearings” in his pursuit of the White House.
Even as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton persisted with her campaign for the nomination, Mr. Obama made a celebratory return to the Capitol, where he received an enthusiastic reception on the House floor in an appearance staged to position him as the party’s inevitable nominee.

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Mr. Obama made no public effort to pressure Mrs. Clinton from the race, and in interviews with CNN and NBC News he praised her as a formidable candidate who could not yet be counted out. But he said that he was likely to lock up a majority of the pledged delegates — those awarded by voting in the primary and caucus states — after the Kentucky and Oregon primaries on May 20, and that at that point he could declare victory.

While he was respectful to Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Obama seemed eager to challenge Mr. McCain. Asked on CNN about Mr. McCain’s recent statement that the radical Palestinian party Hamas, considered by the United States to be a terrorist organization, would favor Mr. Obama’s election, Mr. Obama said it was offensive and called it a smear.
“And so for him to toss out comments like that I think is an example of him losing his bearings as he pursues this nomination,” Mr. Obama said.

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Mr. Obama’s very public arrival in the House chamber on Thursday morning underscored the fact that the most important front in the Democratic nominating fight was suddenly Washington, where many of the superdelegates were milling around on the House floor voting on amendments to a housing bill.

And it was in marked contrast to Mrs. Clinton’s private meetings near the Capitol the day before as she sought to convert undecided lawmakers. Aides to Mr. Obama said they saw his visit as an opportunity to create an image of Mr. Obama as the soon-to-be-nominee. Elated members on the floor seemed to share that view.
“I think he is feeling comfortable and confident, and he should,” said Representative Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, an Obama backer. “My colleagues are beginning to really see him as the candidate. The consensus is that he is the nominee.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/us/politics/09obama.html?hp

AP IMPACT: The people in Obama's army of small donors

By NANCY BENAC, Associated Press Writer
Thu May 8, 5:43 PM ET

WASHINGTON -
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Riggs and Schwartz are foot soldiers in Barack Obama's 1.5-million-strong army of campaign contributors. Dozens of Associated Press interviews with donors, and an AP financial analysis show how contributions that make only a soft ka-ching by themselves, arriving in increments of $10, $15 and $50, have collectively swelled into a financial roar that has helped propel Obama toward the Democratic presidential nomination.

Altogether, Obama's campaign has taken in an unprecedented $226 million, most of it contributed online. His donor base is larger than the one the Democratic National Committee had for the 2000 election.

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Riggs and Schwartz are examples of how Obama has become a financial colossus: Neither had given money to a candidate before; both have donated to him more than once; both expect to continue giving. And, just as significantly, they've gone on to help the campaign in other ways, staffing phone banks and canvassing neighborhoods.

In interviews with small donors around the country, the same message comes through: These donors feel they've taken ownership. They believe they're helping to set Obama free from the tug of big-money corporations and special interests.

Says Aaron Alpern, a 46-year-old actor from Chicago: Donors like him "don't have the pull of a gigantic corporation, but we have sort of the reverse — we give him freedom."

An AP analysis helps to fill in the portrait of Obama's small donors.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080508/ap_on_el_pr/obama_s_army;_ylt=Al2Ob9FI2Q9Z61pAz.XX5EmyFz4D