MSNBC: Chelsea Clinton stopped traffic Friday night as she wandered the streets of Philadelphia on a gay bar crawl, winning rave reviews for both her politics and her appearance. Led around the neighborhood by Gov. Ed Rendell, Chelsea was mobbed by local gays and lesbians, as she walked from one club to the next. They ran up to hug her, posed for pictures and certainly invaded her personal space. “I grabbed her ass,” one young woman exclaimed to her friends after snapping a picture with her arm around the former first daughter.
“Chelsea, the gays love you!” one fan exclaimed, as she took the microphone at Bump, a restaurant and bar that was her first stop. “Oh, gosh, I don’t know if everybody loves me,” she responded. Most of those at the bar seemed to, squeezing past one another in the cramped space to get a photo. Even some patrons, donning Obama stickers — a
rally for the Illinois senator had taken place a few blocks away earlier in the evening — tried to get a snapshot as well.
Standing with actors Rob Reiner and Robert Gant, Chelsea appeared overwhelmed at Bump when the mob started complimenting her hair, which they had also done several weeks ago when she spoke at a Stonewall Democrats event at Woody’s. But she smiled and laughed throughout her very short remarks. While she acknowledged she often is asked who her mother will choose as a running mate, this crowd had other questions, with one man asking what Hillary would wear on inauguration day. “We have to get her there so we can make that choice,” Chelsea said.
At Sisters, a lesbian bar, Rendell reflected on Chelsea’s statement that her mother would be a better president than her father was,
and suggested she may have angered former President Clinton in the process. Rendell appeared to be in his element. As Chelsea posed for more photos inside Bump, the governor held court outside, quizzing onlookers about Pennsylvania history, and grabbing the phone of one voter to talk to his undecided mother. He acknowledged to the caller that there were two good Democratic candidates, but said he thought Hillary would do a better job. “OK, governor, don’t run my minutes up,” the man said, trying to get the phone back from Rendell. [via MSNBC]
THE SWAMP: Barack Obama’s Allentown office was burglarized this week, and multiple laptops and cell phones were stolen, an Obama campaign aide said today. A police spokesman confirmed the incident, but couldn’t provide details today because reports are kept in the
department’s records depository, which is closed weekends. An Obama aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “a couple” field laptops were taken out of the office at 1233 Linden St. The computers have demographic information that the campaign uses to target voters. “A couple” cell phones were also taken, the aide said. Police spokesman Capt. James Stephens confirmed the break-in, but could not confirm details of what was taken because the records office is closed on weekends. When and how the break-in occurred also remained unclear. Stephens would only say that it happened “a couple days ago.” The Obama campaign declined to comment officially on the incident. MORE
[photo by VEGASGIRLNYNY]
OBAMA RESPONDS TO CLINTON SMEAR