Obama's campaign manager lays out the situation

...and asks for money, of course.

Mr. Plouffe, if you're going to use your laptop's webcam, please don't sit with your back to a bright window. The auto-brightness function makes it hard to see your face.

Summary for those who don't want to watch the whole six and a half minutes:

• McCain's going to have trouble taking any of the states Kerry won in 2004
• Obama's got all kinds of possibilities to win states Bush won in 2004, including some unusual places like Georgia, Alaska, Montana, and North Dakota.
  
• Even in places Obama is unlikely to win, the campaign is spending resources to build the party and help Democrats in local races.
  
• But the Republican National Committee has almost $50 million more than the Democratic National Committee.
• So please give Obama some money.

OK, Mr. Plouffe, I'll give Obama some money. But I would have given more if he had taken a strong stance against retroactive immunity for telcos that spied on us illegally. I understand that under our system, the more liberal candidate will tack right during a general election. But I don't think Obama would have lost much politically by standing up for our rights against a bunch of phone companies (does anyone actually like phone companies?) and the Bush administration (even less liked than phone companies). And the netroots left would have loved him. As it is, we're somewhat annoyed.