Obama Misses Madison, Still Wins SD Hearts

Senator Obama is passing on a final primary night victory speech at his office at Hope Studios right here in Madison in favor of a GOP-tweaking victory/kick-off rally at the XCel Energy Center in St. Paul. Sure, the site of the GOP convention probably holds more people, but Hope Studios -- have you no sense of metaphor, Senator? :-)

The Clintons may be bringing more of their personal star power to South Dakota's small towns, but Obama has still made a good impression in the state. Best press I've seen: SD Watch's coverage of Obama's pancake breakfast with veterans in Sioux Falls yesterday.

This morning after his speech about veterans’ issues at the Vets for Obama gathering in Sioux Falls, he went around to every table and talked to every person and shook every hand and posed for every photograph.

But that isn’t the amazing part.

At the table next to ours was Christine Johnson and her children, Jordan, age 5, and Abbey, age 7.

Barack comes over to meet the Johnsons. He notices that Jordan has some dogtags on.

His dad’s dog tags.

Abbey says, “This is a very sad day.”

Barack asks why. Mrs. Johnson explains that her husband, Tech Sgt. Dan Johnson with the South Dakota Air National Guard, had shipped out just prior to the event for Iraq.

For his third tour in Iraq.

Barack got down to the kids’ level and said. “I will bring your daddy home. I will bring him home safe" [Todd Epp, "You Had Me at Hello: Obama Melts My Wife's Heart, Tells Abbey and Jordan He'll Bring Their Daddy Home Safe," SD Watch, 2008.06.01].

Now sure, the Clintons are also saying we need to end the war in Iraq (and getting applause with that line in small-town South Dakota -- how's that for a gauge of the unpopularity of this war?). But only Senator Obama can make the claim that he was smart enough to see we shouldn't have sent Tech Sgt. Johnson and thousands of other Americans to Iraq in the first place.

Not that you need any reminders, dear Madison readers, but I'll be out knocking on doors around town this morning to remind you to get out and vote tomorrow. And whether you're voting with your heart or your head, the best choice to lead the free world is Senator Barack Obama.