It's Hard to Hold a Political Rally in a Swamp

Barack Obama's speech at the Meadowlands early this afternoon was not terribly thrilling or very new. Reporters wondered why it wasn't happening downtown Newark. This was more an event for the cameras than the people—though one reporter suggested the campaign had become overly fearful of a repeat of the D.C. debacle, where fans and reporters alike had been turned away in droves from seeing Obama speak.

"I have said repeatedly that this campaign is about bringing people together," Obama said. "And for me to be able to bring a Patriots fan to the Meadowlands the day after the Super Bowl, it's like bringing the lion and the lamb together." Behind him, Ted Kennedy wiped his face. (Let's see how he handles this football chitchat in Boston tonight!)

At one point the press corps was sure that Obama had backtracked and started a part of his speech over again—the section where he talks about being a hopemonger. It's a long talk; it'd be easy to get tangled in it, particularly when delivering it for the 1000th time.

After, he spent a long time shaking hands among the very enthusiastic fans.