I guess we'll know later in the evening.

i'm not saying it's a bad message. it really is the truth that hope moved those things. but what's his point? i feel like a bit of an imbecile at this point that i don't see the extraordinary beauty of an obama candidacy. i do get chills when he says all that shit, so it's not like i have no soul. i just don't see how it has anything to do with what he's capable of doing as a change agent in washington. he really hasn't displayed, in his short time in congress, that he can back up his speeches with much. actual change and action.

and his environmental and healthcare plans are just not as good as his opponents.

"the biggest gamble is playing the same game with the same players over and over again and expecting a different result"

awfully close to the definition of insanity?
Just sayin.

But the fearmongers in the GOP and the Clinton-Bush camp want you to live in fear instead.

Americans are made of sterner stuff than that. We refuse to live in Fear.

(caveat, if you live in Fear, N.H. it's ok to live in Fear)

You're both right - I am sure there was some degree of rosy color to my perception of the political temperature in frigid Manchester. The article @8, applying the same principle to the press corps, is absolutely a must-read.

Nobody mentioned that I may have expereinced sampling bias because I was knocking on doors from a list given to me by the Obama campaign. That's why I was very careful to couch my perceptions in language referring to "the conversations I had" and was especially careful to say "I think" and use the word "seem" rather than "is." I-statements.

Still, I think we'll see my perceptions bear out. I heard similar things from the Clinton and Edwards volunteers who came up on the same bus, and there is the matter of the polling averages I linked to. (More here.)

I also think it's pretty hard not to see Clinton's attacks on Obama as un-hopeful, regardless of the other virtues of her candidacy - and I love her. It sucks that she's going to get slammed for what I believe was a completely earnest, incredibly touching, and noble sentiment in a moment of - heavens no! - emotion yesterday. It will take a little bit of the sweetness out of today for me if Obama wins. But that doesn't change the fact that in New Hampshire, you really can feel something in the air.

But I could be wrong. We'll know in about an hour and a half.

Sorry had to say that. Its a bummer Josh, I really hoped you were going to be right. I don't know if Clinton's crying was real, but I wouldn't put it past her, after the cackle.