Obituaries

Barack Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, 86, has died of cancer:

Madelyn Dunham died between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Hawaii time, with Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, at her side. Media outlets reported that Obama learned of the death shortly after 8 a.m. today in Jacksonville, Fla., which would be soon after 3 a.m., Hawaii time.

Dunham — whom Obama called "Toot," after the Hawaiian word tutu, or grandparent — turned 86 on Oct. 26. Her birthday occurred just after Obama abruptly changed his campaign plans to make a 22-hour trip to visit Dunham in Honolulu.

Before his visit, Dunham had already voted for her grandson in early absentee voting.

"It's very, very sad, because we all hoped that she would be able to sustain her strength through election day itself," said U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, (D-Hawaii), a family friend. "She passed away confident that he would succeed. ... Maya and Barack want to assure everyone that she died peacefully knowing what the situation was and content that she had given everything to him. His strength, his calm demeanor that characterized him in these last weeks and last days — this quiet strength that come across so clearly — that comes from his grandmother, there's no question about that. It's her great legacy."

There are no immediate plans for a funeral, but it will probably be a private gathering in Honolulu that Obama would attend, Abercrombie said.

Campaign Family Values

Yesterday before taking the plane out of Honolulu to make it to Reno for a rally, Obama spent even more time with his ailing grandmother, who turns 86 tomorrow.

He spent almost an entire two hours with his "dying" grandmother before heading out for a walk, and later on he went to the airport to board his private plane.

Beverly Nelson and Norma Parado were on their way back from lunch when they saw the crowd outside Dunham's apartment, parked, pulled out lawn chairs and joined in.

"I'm so glad he's here doing this," said Nelson, who spends part of the year in Hawai'i, the rest on the Mainland. "What he's doing at a time like this, he's showing such strength of character. He's paused his campaigning for family. That's the kind of person you want leading our country."

Just where Michelle and the girls are is a mystery.

Campaign Notes

Here is the current electoral map, according to this link.

I have a hard time believing Virginia, Indiana, and North Carolina will go blue. I think that's far fetched. I also doubt Florida will go that way, either. However, Nevada and Ohio are tossups.

In any case, it's uphill for McCain.
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Just so people know, Obama arrived in Hawaii for a very brief visit (he originally said he was going to be there over the weekend) to visit his ailing grandmother:

Obama touched down at Honolulu International Airport in his private campaign plane about 7:15 p.m. and went straight to his grandmother's Makiki apartment, where they met privately for about an hour.

His motorcade then took him to the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, where he is staying. Obama is scheduled to leave Honolulu about 5 p.m. today and resume his campaign tomorrow in the battleground state of Nevada.

The Hawai'i-born Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, did not make a statement to reporters about the visit or about his plans in Honolulu.

The detour during the critical last two weeks of the campaign was so Obama could see his beloved grandmother "Toot," who has been in poor health after she fell and broke her hip earlier this month.

Dunham, who turns 86 on Sunday, suffers from osteoporosis that has limited her mobility and largely confined her to her 10th-floor, two-bedroom apartment where she helped raise Obama.

He's supposed to be here in Reno tomorrow.

Campaign Notes

I don't blame Obama for wanting to spend time with his grandmother, who, with his maternal grandfather, raised him for the most part. Some things are more important than politics, after all.

Or maybe it IS politics after all, as a few cynics have alleged:

Payne, who is Obama's great-uncle, said his sister was hospitalized briefly but is back home in her Honolulu apartment, where Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, cares for her. Obama plans to suspend campaigning later this week to visit his grandmother, and Payne is planning to fly there for her 86th birthday, which is Sunday.

Payne, 83, said he spoke to his sister briefly on Monday.

"We had a short and as upbeat as possible conversation," said Payne, a retired university library administrator. "She hated the hospital."

Payne did not know which hip she broke. He said she had previously had a hip replacement, but he could not recall on which side.

Payne said the two talked about family matters, but he declined to elaborate. He said they did not discuss the Illinois senator's campaign.

So does Obama REALLY think he has the election, which is goddamned close and closer than it should be, in the bag and can afford to take a couple of days off?
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And what if Obama loses?
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Conspiracy Corner

Did Barack Obama go to Hawaii to spend some time with his ailing grandmother, or did he decide to suspend campaigning because he was afraid shit would hit the fan regarding his parentage?

Well, I am going to take this parentage story with a huge grain of salt.