Obama Raises $55 Million in February. Whew!

This is Not About Politics
When Clinton’s “ringing phone” spot triggered a deluge of commentary and speculation — and in some quarters, outrage — by political operatives, pundits and the talking heads of cable news, I fully expected somebody to point out that if the White House red phone is not answered during six rings, the person in charge is an incompetent nincompoop. Nobody “got it.”

Within hours of the commercial’s introduction, the Obama camp responded with a version that used much of the same graphics and voice-over. But the message was to skewer Clinton for her Iraq War vote, not the fact that nobody seems to answer the emergency phone in the (Hillary) Clinton White House.

Everybody, it seems, missed this obvious (to me) gaffe.

Denny E-Mails the Obama Campaign
For the record, I have not made up my mind about (in alphabetical order) Clinton, McCain or Obama. In 1969, I wrote a political chiller, “The Fingered City,” about the Mafia running a candidate for mayor of New York City. Political process and communication fascinate me.

So to stir the pot — and maybe get a fix on the efficiency of Obama, his campaign crew and possible future administration — I went to www.barackobama.com and looked for a place to leave a comment without being forced to register or make a pledge.

It was clear the campaign was not interested in kibitzers, for I had to search hard in the Web site. It wanted people to sign up, volunteer and give money. Period. I am an Independent. I did not care to register.

Finally I found a place to leave a comment — a rebuttal to the Clinton “ringing phone” ad that basically said, if nobody answers the White House emergency phone, the president is a failure.

And then I waited.