From the Associated Press:

Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor says two laptop computers and some campaign literature were taken. A campaign worker discovered the burglary this morning, and a report was filed with Davenport police.

From Bob Novak’s Column:

Obama traveled in an SUV, at first alone and later with his family. No reporter ever entered the SUV, and Obama never visited the bus containing the reporters. One scheduled press availability was trimmed to 10 minutes.

A footnote: Obama’s aloofness contrasted with Bill Clinton, accompanying Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in Iowa the same week. At the Dairy Treat in Nashua, Iowa, the former president whipped out $60 and bought malts for reporters following his wife.

This is one of the things that will be interesting to see. Part of the extended campaign season that will work against Obama and other newcomers is that arduous and prolonged schedule. People like Clinton, Giuliani, McCain & Edwards will be able to sustain themselves. Even though Giuliani hasn’t been at the center of a national campaign he HAS enough experience being in the public spotlight and on the go 24/7. Obama on the other hand doesn’t and in his Senate bid he did not face the kind of challenges in the state campaign (his opponent left because of a sex scandal and his replacement had no shot) that others have had to endure.

With a wife, young children & the potential for racial assaults it will undoubtedly create a strong sense of isolation in him during a storm of constant attention. Meanwhile those who report on campaigns want access and if they don’t get it, well, it tends to skew their reporting.

I’ve actually notice lately a difference in reporting of Sen. Obama while he is out on the trail than when he was sitting in the Senate contemplating a run. Same with Sen. Clinton. Her press relations seem to be going up and his down. Is access playing a role?

I linked earlier to the story about how John McCain now has less cash on hand than long-shot Ron Paul. This has been taken up by some bloggers/campaign watchers as some kind of triumph for Paul. Lets not get ahead of ourselves.

Frankly the fact is this has less to do with Paul as a great campaigner and more to do with John McCain being a horrible one. The McCain camp burned through the money they received and had a series of gaffes and missteps. NOT TO MENTION the fact that he positioned himself as a key supporter of a president with the longest sustained/lowest approval ratings in history, co-authored an immigration bill that was rejected by, well, pretty much everyone and became the public face of a troop surge in Iraq that most people are beginning to see as a failure.

Ron Paul on the other hand has a bunch of people sitting in their parents basements putting his name on Digg.com 24/7. He basically is the Vote for Sanjaya of the 2008 campaign.

The article looks over everything done so far and what might come ahead.

What didn’t they cover? This:

Ultimately the “buzz” idea behind candidates using YouTube etc. is “connecting”. If you look at Hillary Clinton’s videos thus far they actually aren’t “connecting” ready, they are mass media ready. Sure they go viral online but they get covered on TV. Most of the other candidates appear to be “connecting” to and with the online world of bloggers & YouTubers. People who sound like the video above.

Now I am not going to go out of my way to make a judgement call here BUT if you spend a lot of time looking over a lot of this Web 2.0 candidate goodness you see a couple of things. 1) that all those facebook and myspace numbers actually represent a good deal of people who simply hit yes to a friend request and then never interact beyond that point. 2) If you go through a lot of submissions when mainstream media ask for “your questions” or just people conversing with video & twitter etc., you see a lot of very, how should I put this, interesting people with interesting ideas that want to be catered too.

I am all for online democracy and involvement etc. I just wonder how much of it is a giant waste of time and how much of it will actually result in votes.

From CBS News a talk about politics, money, early indicators & unknowns in elections.