Proving Sean at fivethirtyeight.com correct, Barack Obama has raised around $8 million since Sarah Palin’s speech last night. Better than the $7 million McCain got after the Palin pick was announced. Democrats I’ve spoken to since the speech have had two reactions, sometimes simultaneously: (1) anger about the fact that their guy got roughed up pretty bad, and (2) fear that the GOP has a new super-effective and super-likeable surrogate. Both emotions lead to the opening of wallets. Maybe Obama doesn’t want people to calm down?
For the record, Obama has responded to the beating he took last night. It’s after the jump.
“You wouldn’t know that this is such a critical election by watching the convention last night. I know we had our week and so, you know, the Republicans deserve theirs. But it’s been amazing to me to watch. Over the last two nights, if you sit there and you watch it, you’re hearing a lot about John McCain – and he’s got a compelling biography as a POW. You’re hearing an awful lot about me, most of which is not true. What you’re not hearing is a lot about you.”
“I mean, you haven’t heard one word about how they’re going to make the health care system work so that if a union’s negotiating with a company, it’s not all just a discussion about higher premiums, and you can actually start talking about higher wages and benefits. You haven’t heard one word about how we’re going to create more apprenticeship programs like the ones that we have here or give other people a chance to train in new trades. You haven’t heard a word about getting serious about green and alternative energy, the kind of work that is resulting in all the expansion and additional hiring here. You haven’t heard a word about how we’re going to strengthen unions so that working people get a decent stake. You haven’t heard a word about how we’re going to improve math and science education so that we can hire more engineers to create more products in green technology. You haven’t heard a word about how we’re going to deal with any aspect of the economy that is affecting you and your pocketbook day-to-day. Haven’t heard a word about it. I’m not exaggerating. Literally, two nights, they have not said a word about it. They’ve had a lot to say about me, but they haven’t had anything to say about you. And the thing that I’m insisting on in this election is that we can’t keep playing the same political games we always play.”
