Opinion: Obama campaign volunteer lifts his speech binder, offers it on EBay

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As the 2008 presidential campaign neared its final week, Democrat hopeful Barack Obama breezed through Las Vegas to give a speech at Bonanza High School. (See photo above.)

It was the usual ready-for-change-we-need stump speech, one he’d given dozens of times before and he probably hardly needed the text for reference. And the crowd was enthusiastic and eager, as usual.

At the end of the speech, the candidate, who would go on to be elected the 44th president of the United States, left the podium to greet supporters nearby.

Someone identifying himself or herself as ‘a volunteer staff member’ very thoughtfully ‘retrieved’ the speech binder. And is now kindly offering the packet for sale on EBay.

Starting price: $2,500. Deadline: Nov. 25. Bids: 0.

The unidentified seller calls the item ‘Rare Sen. Obama authored speech,’ which may be what Mark Twain would call ‘a stretcher.’

Obama is said to have written last winter’s seminal speech on race by himself, but most of the others are authored by staff and ‘given’ by the candidate.

And, in fact, the Democratic candidate gave the same speech the same day in Reno, presumably with another binder.

Because of the seller’s professed fear of copying, the text’s individual pages, encased in plastic covers, are not shown up close. (See photo.)

But the seller suggests the plastic covers do contain the now president-elect’s fingerprints, something that might also interest the Secret Service.

Oh, and shipping would be an extra $25.

-- Andrew Malcolm

No cost, however, to have electronically authored alerts of each new Ticket item sent to your cellphone by registering here. (No fingerprints either.)

Hat Tip: Jon Ralston.