So What Did Obama Do in Albuquerque Today?

Despite having a cold, Barack Obama reportedly was seen exercising at the downtown Health & Wellness gym early today. Later in the morning, Obama talked to a group of forty-some women invited to a roundtable discussion about pay equity and the economy at the Main Library in downtown Albuquerque. Click to read about the discussion and see a video clip. And here's some photos and more on the story.

Obama also appeared at a jam-packed townhall meeting at the Rio Grande High School gym in Albuquerque's South Valley this afternoon, and then took questions from the crowd. With audience members urging Obama and pointing to a person in the audience, the very first question was from (the infamous) Dallas Timmons, an Albuquerque Dem Party Ward Chair that many of you know from Meetup and the activism scene. Great job, Dallas, putting in a plug for our hard-working Bernalillo County Party folks, and in confronting Obama about his perceived fades on Iraq and FISA. You can see the exchange in the video above. The clip seems to be all over the internet now. Dallas, can I have your autograph?

As to Obama's answer, it's probably true that BushCo has messed up so badly that at least some of the troops coming out of Iraq will have to be sent to Afghanistan. I do take issue with his "exclusivity" argument about FISA. Many top legal scholars who have studied the bill that passed have determined that the so-called "exclusivity" of the bill in requiring oversight over the use of surveillence is not what it seems, or what Obama claims it is. You can read about the controversy here (if you can deal with some legalese). I think Obama handled the challenge well, however, seeming to take it in stride and complimenting Dallas on her "feistiness."

During his speech, Obama made a point to reassure Dems that he won't take the attacks of the GOP and its third-party groups lying down:

In this clip, Obama talks about the GOP's tradition of negative campaigning. "They don't know how to govern, but they know how to run a negative campaign." Consider the campaigns of McCain, Repub Senate candidate Steve Pearce and the GOP congressional candidate in NM-02, Ed "Cut Your Throats" Tinsley. Could they be categorized as anything but extremely negative, dishonest and full of personal attacks? As Obama says, "That's what they do. That's their politics."

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