As everyone here knows, I am a vocal supporter of Barack Obama's Presidential campaign, and have been for a while. My wife, meanwhile, is a supporter, albeit a somewhat less vocal one, of Hilary Clinton's Presidential campaign. That's right- Zorro is in a mixed marriage.

This weekend, Ilana + I had a rather, shall we say, enthusiastic discussion of the campaign. This wasn't a campaign of whether Obama or Clinton is the better candidate- each of us respects the other candidate + agrees that the other would make a fine President- the conversation centered on my fears that what we do this spring is, in the end, irrelevant, since the GOP will steal their third consecutive Presidential election. Ilana challenged me that, if I really feel that way, why do I even bother working to register people to vote, or even to bother to vote myself.

OK, so I took advantage of not having a con-sulting job today to work doing voter registration for the Obama campaign. I picked up a stack of voter registration forms from the office on Germantown Ave. + Pelham St., + headed to the intersection of Germantown + Chelten Aves. I decided to make the trip more productive by stopping along the way and registering voters as I went. I got 5 people to register even before I got to my destination.

When I got to Chelten, I spoke w/the young man who had a registration table there. I asked how he'd been doing, + he said that he'd been so busy that he was running out of forms; I gave him a handful from my stack, + headed up Chelten to try my luck along that route.

Yesterday, I heard my first ad of the Pa presidential campaign. It was an Obama radio spot, aimed at young people, imploring them over and over and over that they have to register Democratic to be able to vote in the primary. I suppose this means that it has begun... (I will write more at some point, but I am about 99% likely to vote for Obama.)

On that note, I am sure most of you have noticed the plethora of "guides to PA" that Newspapers have been publishing. (Ie, "this is what water ice is.")

The City Paper has put out something a little more useful, under the the title "The Pandering Guide." The basic idea is that, like the Iowa Caucuses forcing candidates to announce themselves "Ethanol Queens" and the like, Pennsylvania has just a few needs. As the CP notes, our needs don't generally involve propping up agribusiness, and instead focus on... poverty and infrastructure and all that cheery stuff:

So, Barack and Hillary, forget all that talk about the "right way" to order sandwiches, and behold the true path to Philadelphians' hearts: cold, hard cash, and some serious political promises. And hey, unlike corn ethanol, these panders have the benefit of being worthwhile.

So, they want solutions from the candidate. Maybe we should ask for one, too... What program is our ethanol?

Around 5:45 this morning, I groggily turned on my computer, and realized that insanity was about to rain down on Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and each of us. With Hillary Clinton’s wins in Ohio and Texas, there is little question that the race for President is coming to Pennsylvania. (As noted by just about everybody.) This is the first time we have had a say in the Democratic primary in many of our lifetimes. And, frankly, largely because we didn’t do what Mark Cohen wanted, and move up our primary like everyone else, the focus on PA- the last major state remaining, will be bizarrely intense.

We are the new Iowa. And so, to mark this occasion, and to simply deal with the reality of what is coming, we will be spending some time on YPP looking at the national race. Frankly, the time we spend on it will be directly proportional to how much time everyone out there wants to spend on it.

In the grand scheme of things, Pennsylvania’s delegates will not matter that much, because I suspect they will be fairly close, and Obama will still be ahead in pledges delegates when it is over. In all likelihood, an Obama win ends the race. A Clinton win and who knows what happens.

We will be feeling this out as we go along, but the first thing I think would be useful is for interested people to write posts- not comments, but, everyone their own posts- on why they support Clinton or Obama. What about Obama, for example, made Seth Williams pack up his kids, and drive to Springfield, Illinois, to see Obama start this journey? Or, what made Tony Payton spend his limited time off in cold New Hampshire, volunteering? Conversely, what does it feel like for a veteran of the women’s movement to see a woman with a legitimate chance at being President? I would like to see how many personal stories we can collect from Philadelphia progressives about their thought process going through this choice.

The same basic ground rules will follow for YPP as they always do… the more positive you are, the more persuasive you can be. But, over the next six weeks, the first thing I would like to do is to here from as many people as possible as to who they are supporting, and why. (And, if they are undecided, why, too.)

As always, this is still a local, Philly and PA focused site. So, in that vein, what do you see happening for our City, and its entrenched problems, under your candidate? Are there specific policies or political stands you can point to?

Additionally, I would like to figure out how volunteers from each campaign can have their own ‘space’ within YPP to let others know what they can do to get involved with each campaign. For now, if you are working for a campaign, please put in the topic of your post “Obama Volunteer” or “Clinton Volunteer.” I will put links up on the side of the page, so that those who want to get involved with each campaign can see what is going on. Maybe this will amount to nothing- but I know Seth Williams for example, will have lots of opportunities for Obama supporters to get involved.

I hope this race will be run somewhat positively, and if I see one of those 3AM ads here, I will throw up a little. But, bottom line, national politics here we come, if you all are so inclined. Please, please, please, be decent to each other.

In the end, this is unlike any local race for 99.99% of us, because we don’t know these people, we don’t have loyalties, they are not our neighbors. In a way, this is really a time for everyone to be free and unfettered in who they choose. Idealistic, even.

What do you think? And, would you be willing to reach out to others in our various communities and see if they will share who they are supporting, and why?