Obama-Rama Postmortem

For his birthday, Barack Obama collected $5 million and was serenaded by Harry Connick Jr at the State Room in Boston last night. The presumptive Democratic nominee and his guests dined on “cinnamon-and-red-wine-braised short ribs and roasted porcini-crusted sea bass,” washed down with “a perky 2004 Cloudy Bay Sauvingnon Blanc ‘Te Koko’ and an impertinent 2004 Estancia Meritage Paso Robles.”

It’s a birthday celebration most would find satisfactory, but the Illinois Senator still wants more. Colleague John Kerry told the crowd that they still hadn’t gotten Obama what he really wanted for his 47th birthday.

“I asked Barack what he wanted for his birthday, and he said just three things: ‘Indiana, Colorado, and Virginia[.]’ “

The candidate himself said he didn’t like one of the gifts his supporters gave him.

Obama received two gifts. The first was a Hawaiian shirt emblazoned with Red Sox symbols to wear on a vacation that begins later this week in Hawaii, where he was born. “As a White Sox fan, this hurts a little bit,” Obama said.

It’s a little distressing to see a Democratic nominee so averse to a proven winner. But the crowd obliged him and presented him with a Hawaiian shirt that had the White Sox logo on it.

But perhaps the best gift of all was a page from the playbook of his friend Gov. Deval Patrick.

Contributions last night went to the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fund-raising arrangement that allows donors to contribute jointly to Obama’s campaign fund and the Democratic National Committee, which has higher contribution limits.

That sounds a lot like the method Patrick uses to circumvent the state’s contribution limits. Is there anything these two don’t share?

Photo from BarackObama.com