I'm fairly agnostic about the Dem primary at this point, but I'm extremely disappointed with TPM's coverage of Obama thus far.

The focus has been on the horserace-- how many people at events, how much money raised, etc.

No discussion of substance-- his views on policy issues besides Iraq, whether his lack of experience is something that should be an issue or not, etc.

Keep in mind-- Bush crushed everyone in 2000 and 2004 on the elements ($, vocal support at events) that are now being used to praise Obama-- how'd that work out for us?

Finally, the "the last $200K is the hardest" comment-- seems extremely unfounded and a dig at Hillary. Can you please source that comment ASAP or retract? I'm far from a HRC fan (I'm waiting for Gore or someone else), but there is clear bias seeping into TPM's coverage of the Dem primary so far-- I expect more from you guys...

It's spelled Cincinnati.

Wisewon, TPM has had coverage of Obama's healthcare plan and his Iraq plan. Maybe the fact that Bush did well in attracting money and support should say something positive about the candidates who are able to do so this time around. We want someone on our side this time who will win, right?

I think you are making too big of a deal over the "last $200k is the hardest" comment.

wisewon,

I can't speak for the rest of TPM regarding the coverage of the Dem primary, but in terms of the round-up pieces I write, the point is to gather the small bits of news about how the candidates are developing their campaigns and how that is in turn shaping the field. You may notice that many of the items I link to are staff announcements, endorsements, fundraising numbers and other such minor elements of the campaign process. Sometimes the general topic of a speech or a particular quote is mentioned, but usually only when it is something new for that candidate. If you click through and read the Cincinnati Enquirer article, you will notice that the reporter mentions that "Obama's speech was much the same as he has given in other events around the country since officially announcing his candidacy Feb. 10." In other words, the speech wasn't newsworthy in the sense of offering something new, though that's not to say it wasn't substantive. True, the make up of the audience as described by the reporter sounds interesting and illustrative, but not necessarily in a way that translates to the format of these round-up posts.

As for the "the last $200K is the hardest" comment, it is just that, a sarcastic comment added by me. It wasn't meant as a dig at Hillary, at least not consciously, but rather lightly aimed at fundraising in general. I apologize if it came off as an attack on Hillary. I actually think the "One Week, One Million" campaign has been rather impressive thus far and will likely prove effective for Clinton in crafting her campaign narrative and demonstrating her real fundraising clout.

ohiomeister,

Thanks for catching that. Cincinnati is actually one of my more commonly misspelled words along with February and Wednesday.

Oops, must have crossed wires somewhere while typing the day. I'll fix that ASAP.

Regarding coverage of the event, I'd say the best way to cover it in terms of TPM is to to both blog about it here as ohiomeister suggested and to send your account of it to the comments email for the TPM mainpage (talk@talkingpointsmemo.com).

Impressive? At a million a week she'll only raise $52 million this year. That's half of what she supposedly needs by Dec. 31. Just sayin

oh please do post about the event Obama is speaking at on Sunday and any pictures. I went to his presidential announcement and there were so many people I could only get one far away shot of him. I think he would be awesome speaking in a church.