Obama camp plants hand painted signs in the hands of Oprahpalooza goers:

[MethuenProgressive]

From Time:

Blurring the edges of the occasion, though, were reminders of political realities. Secret Service agents stood every ten feet at the edges of the in-the-round stage, their impassivity glaring, while the cheery, hand-painted signs waved by the crowd ("Obama 4 NH," "HOPE/OBAMA") worked best if one forgot that no audience members were allowed to bring signs in; anything that the crowd waved, no matter how sincerely they brandished it, had been provided for them. The campaign even roped the press into the game, emblazoning their badges not with the usual time/place/date formula ("Midwest Express Tour October 2007," etc) but with the same slogan that staff wore: "Change We Can Believe In."

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1693043,00.html
More from Time:
"Why Oprah Won't Help Obama"
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1687526,00.html

[Pirate Smile]

1. The campaign provided signs? OMG - this is bigger then plantgate.

Those Bastards!










:rofl:

[babylonsister]

2. Hahahaha! Oh, 'bad' Obama staff! Can't you do better than that?

Since when is handing out signs at a political event illegal?
I suppose you would have preferred they handed out Clinto...I mean Richardson signs? :evilgrin:

[MethuenProgressive]

7. As DU's biggest HillHat... er, Impartial Observer, I'm not surprised by your post.

Your oh-so predictable "clever response" has become boring.

[babylonsister]

8. Sticks and stones-you posted something ludicrous, did you think

you'd get sympathy? :nopity:

[MethuenProgressive]

11. Darn.

Did I forget the "sarcasm" smilie?
:boring:
opps, I mean:
:sarcasm:

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

12. You two are so cute.

:loveya: MKJ

[wishlist]

3. All candidates hand out signs. They probably ran out of preprinted ones n/t

[aquart]

4. This is how you know there's not much difference between the candidates.

All they got to pick on is the wee little silly stuff.

[MannyGoldstein]

5. OSAMA IS AN ADMITTED HOMO SAPIEN!!!11!!1

THIS IS HUGH!!!1!111

[jefferson_dem]

6. This is standard practice.

Are you new to politics?

Check out "The War Room" doc and see how Bill's 1992 machine haggled over which types of signs to distribute.

[MethuenProgressive]

9. Standard DU practice:

I took a positive story about a candidate, looked way down at the bottom for a minor 'negative', composed a negative subject line, quoted the text, and added a link.
Are you new to DU?
:rofl:

[jefferson_dem]

13. How is it a "negative" if every single serious campaign has done the same thing for decades?

Try to answer the question, if you can.

[MethuenProgressive]

14. You have a little koolade there on your collar, JD

:rofl:

[jefferson_dem]

15. Ah...so you you pretend you were "just joshing"...

Uh huh.

Good luck.

...

[MethuenProgressive]

17. See post 9, the one you responded to without reading.

Reeding arr gud four yew, JD.
:sarcasm: < see? I'm not really copying ObamaNation's modis operandi, I'm just using sarcasm.

edit: learned how to spell out MO

[sniffa]

10. handing out campaign signs is standard fare

they never let you bring your own signs.

that's why you have to smuggle them in, see:

[MethuenProgressive]

16. Great sign! I can see why it'd have to be smuggled in past the Obama Henchmen.

Opps, I didn't mean "Henchmen", only HRC volunteers can be called Henchmen on DU.
:sarcasm: < See? It's sarcasm!

[zanne]

18. I saw the high school kids making those signs....

In the Manchester HQ. They can't even vote yet, but they care enough about their future and the future of others to give up some of their time, get down on the floor and make signs for hours on end. And there's no giggling; and there's no fooling around. They realize that what they're doing is important. They tried to make enough to provide all the Manchester RSVP'ers with a sign. I tried to get one at the event, but they were all out. EVERY campaign does this. Yes, even St. Hillary's campaign. So do more research and whine less.

[sniffa]

19. are you saying Obama runs a sweat shop to make his signs?

:wow:

[babylonsister]

22. ...

:rofl:

[sniffa]

25. i think this bombshell deserves its own thread

:rofl:

[zanne]

37. LMAO!

I hear the high school volunteers are actually illegal immigrants who are smuggled across the Canadian border, then are forced to make signs for their food.

[madrchsod]

20. so? every canidate does what you posted.

so you are you saying it`s ok to have obama signs at a hillary rally?

[Vickers]

21. Union rules.

:P

[mrreowwr_kittty]

23. That's how it's been at every single major rally I've ever been to, no matther who the candidate

The reason they do it is they want to project a certain message and have control over what signs are out there. If you leave it to people to bring their own signs you take a risk of having all kinds of goofy stuff on them that could reflect poorly on your candidate.

[murielm99]

26. I remember the first time I saw this.

I was twenty years old, and RFK was coming to speak at our campus. I had been politically active for quite awhile. My parents were election judges, and they had me leaflet for local Democrats. I went to events with them and knew quite a bit more about local politics than many of my peers.

The advance people came in and started handing out Kennedy signs. I was impressed by their organization. They were even sensitive to the nuances of the crowd. Remember, this was 1968. There was a pocket of McCarthy supporters in one part of the gym. They started booing the guys handing out signs. They avoided that part of the room. They went to the doorways and did their work from there.

The place was crowded. Kennedy took a question from me. He quoted Camus on hungry children.

Since I was there sitting in a bloc with the campus Democrats, I was one of the last to leave. He looked over at us, and smiled and waved before he left.

He was dead a month later.

[msongs]

24. elitist obama with the corporate master's money making fake homemade signs nt

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MethuenProgressive]

28. Then you're right on time.

:rofl:

[zulchzulu]

30. So you haven't figured out how campaigns do rallies yet?

With your candidate, I could see how they would be worried that people would hold the signs upside down. That's understandable.

:cheers:

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mtnsnake]

36. !

:rofl:

[Renew Deal]

29. This is what campaigns do

Work in any office long enough and they'll even ask you to paint some.

[Adelante]

32. That is one well-organized campaign

:thumbsup:

[LanternWaste]

33. Is the implication here that Obama and only Obama has/does this?

Is the implication here that Obama and only Obama has/does this? If not, what is the relevance of it? :shrug:

[SoxFan]

34. This is standard procedure

Providing pre-made signs has been standard operating procedure at campaign rallies for over a decade. I don't like it, but it's the way things are now. Hillary Clinton's rally at Victory Park in Manchester had the same "no signs, no backpacks" disclaimer on the tickets. So did the John Edwards raly in Manchester in fall of 2004, and John Kerry's rally with Theo Epstein at Manchester City Hall a few weeks later.

[beaconess]

35. Guess you've never been to a "sign painting party" at a campaign headquarters

[Forkboy]

38. Way to aim high MP!

[sniffa]

39. i'm surprised the Obama Sweat Shop isn't all over DU yet

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3816584#3816714

[Forkboy]

40. Give them time, they're trying to figure out the right angle to attack with.

Usually the only one they get is an obtuse angle.

Fucking bustin' out the math jokes!!! :crazy:

[loveangelc]

41. ~scandalous~

[Cronus Protagonist]

42. Kudos to Obama on that one

I'm a little skittish about him, mainly from Oprah's way too enthusiastic endorsement, but hey, you have to admit his campaign people are playing the 21st century game well.

[yardwork]

43. This is one of the sillier criticisms of a candidate I've ever seen.