The Trail: A Daily Diary of Campaign 2008

Is Senator Barack Obama:

The Physical Incarnation Of the Beloved And Deceased

American Civil Rights Champion -

Dr Martin Luther King Jr.?

April 24, 2008

As Americans discuss and debate how the results of the expected Pennsylvania win by Senator Clinton will impact the course of the surprisingly closely contested and increasingly heated race, to decide who will become the Democratic Party's candidate to campaign against Senator John McCain in the race to serve as the next President of the United States of America, Higher Level Productions would like to bring your attention to a revealing, compelling, shocking, and illuminating tribute that has been written by a spiritual master to the Senator from the state of Illinois.

There is a beautiful, compelling, and illuminating tribute to Senator Obama that has been written by a highly developed spiritual master named Avatar Galextra that Higher Level Productions invite Americans especially, and the rest of the people living on the surface of the blue planet, to take the time to examine closely and consider carefully for themselves. It is a 34 page PDF tribute that is written in a beautiful, simple, and poetic style (which makes it only about 12 typed pages in real length) that the Avatar calls: "A Tribute To Senator Barack Obama - "One Of The Brightest And One Of The Most Compelling Visionaries In American Political History."

Avatar Galextra is here on the blue planet, as she states in her "Message To The Human Race" on her website avatargalextra.com:

"to serve and protect the greater good of all life forms living here through the life changing and planet healing work that I am doing to bring all beings together and bring a new way of being to all races of mortal beings living as temporary tenants of Mother Earth - so that the human race can finally learn to live in a state of lasting peace, true harmony, perfect balance, deep reverence, and permanent abundance with themselves, with each other, and with all other races of beings sharing this blue planet with humankind."

The Avatar identifies the junior senator from the State of Illinois as:

"a very spiritually evolved Cosmic being who is appointed by history, and anointed by destiny, to serve as the 44th President of the United States Of America; and lead his beloved, and deeply divided, nation through the most turbulent economic, social, and political storms that Americans have experienced since the Great Depression of the 1930's - and onto the frontiers of a new way of living and a harmless way of living that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called "The Promise Land."

Not since the days of President John F. Kennedy has an American political figure manage to capture the imagination, and express the hopes and dreams, of his fellow Americans - as the "skinny kid with the funny name" has done since he burst on the national political scene with his electrifying and inspirational speech as the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in late July of 2004.

Today Senator Barack Oboma is just two steps away from becoming the first African American, (of racially mixed origin) to hold the office of the President Of The United States Of America as he campaigns against a formidable, resilient, and determined opponent for the right to serve as the Democratic choice to run for the oval office in the upcoming 2008 American Presidential election.

According to Avatar Galextra, the "fairy tale candidate" with the "funny name" is showing that:

" he is a true visionary who has the conviction of purpose, eloquence of words, depth of insight, clarity of vision, strength of character, and soundness of integrity that can unify that divided and deeply troubled nation; and inspire his fellow Americans to aspire to unite and come together to work honestly, diligently, respectfully, carefully, and truthfully for the greater good of all Americans, of their beloved republic, and for the general welfare and wellbeing of all the nations of people living on the surface of the blue planet today."

In her compelling and illuminating tribute to Barack Obama the Avatar reveals an intriguing supernatural connection between Senator Obama and Dr Martin Luther King Jr. that is stunning, enlightening, and inspirational for his fellow Americans especially, and for the people of Western Civilization in general. As Avatar Galextra discloses:

"The soul who lived and died as Dr Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1968 is the same soul who now lives as Barack Oboma. Martin has returned to this planet as someone that author Ruth Montgomery in two of her best sellers Strangers Among Us and Aliens Among Us - identifies as a "Walk-In" - in order to continue the work he was doing as the Civil Rights champion to show and help his fellow Americans find, and travel, on the road to the "Promise land."

Higher Level Productions hope that this tribute to Senator Obama by an Avatar will provide his fellow Americans, as she puts it: with a body of deep truths, and true insights, that they can each use as they follow 'the historic journey of the fairytale candidate' in his ambitious quest to fulfill his appointed destiny - to become the 44th American President; and unite their deeply divided, and severely afflicted America, with his beautiful and compelling vision of the kind of unified, united, respected, and prosperous nation that he is inspiring his fellow Americans to truly aspire to become as a people, and as a nation."

*The entire tribute to Senator Obama can be viewed at aplanetundersiege.com. It will also be available as an HTML document in the next few days.

________________________________________

Higher Level Productions

Whether the racial thread in the Democratic primary contest was started by Barack Obama or by Bill Clinton, the fact is that America is never going to elect a black man as President. The genius of the Republican election gremlins was to engineer a campaign in which a blond white woman with a tainted past was to run against a half-black "madrassa-educated" man aping Chicago ghetto intonations and "attitude" with a Harvard law degree in his pocket but no corresponding aptitude to run a country of 300 million people. The result is the now tiresome pattern of increasingly ugly recriminations that have marked the Democratic primary, discrediting not only both candidates but the entire party, as well. The split between limousine liberalism and black power belligerency that permanently fractured the Democratic party in the 1960's and 1970's is now back in view for those who may have forgotten or not lived through those ugly days. By hook or by crook (or since a Clinton is in play, probably by both), Hillary might win the election since fear of a woman President (though that might not apply to this one) is far less than fear of a black President since Americans have the likes of Jesse Jackson the shakedown artist, Al Sharpton the professional race-baiter, Oprah Winfrey the Nation of Islam sympathizer, and the other unsavory public representatives of black political and quasi-political power to look at. In any event, the demographics of the United States--which by Republican design despite cries about "illegals" has become increasingly Hispanic in order to dilute any pretensions to political power on the part of blacks, whether of the responsible or the irresponsible kind--will increasingly make black attempts at national political power a futile gesture. Not only is it no longer "our time," but if it ever had been, that time has long since passed. So the Republican Corps of Engineers has indeed done an admirable job of guaranteeing a Democratic loss in November. Whether or not Bill Clinton meant it as it was interpreted by the Obama campaign--which in innuendo was probably accurately interpreted but in literal terms was misrepresented--the likelihood that a black man will be elected President of the United States is about as great as the likelihood that Cinderella will drive up to the White House in a pumpkin Maserati pressing the accelerator with glass slippers. The race question is a red herring gratuitously tossed to the Democrats by the Republican electioneers. And as many have surmised, Obama himself may be an agent of the Republicans to minimize the likelihood that Bill Clinton, the one really vying for the White House, will end up again at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue next January. The real question is whether the Democrats will ever recover their presence of mind to direct the substance of their campaign and their party platform beyond the petty mutual vilifications over race and issues that, however present they may be in the minds of many, are becoming ever less relevant as the United States turns into a Third World country that will soon be at the mercy of China, its growing Muslim population, and a Hispanic population that in large measure refuses to learn English.

Mr Obama is a cheater!! He started his political carrier with the funds of a one Mr Rezco who is an indited businessman!!!!

He tells about running a different campaign!!!!!!! I ask him some questions!!!! He tells he is a very superior decision maker, but he says he was boneheaded to buy a land from Rezco!!! Common Obama, you bought that land for 300 thousand less than the asking price the before one day, when Rezco's wife bought the next land for asking price!! You made whopping 300 thousand profit on one deal!! You are very shrewd cunning cheater, you are a razor sharp knife, with honey touch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just think about it, we are all blaming Clintons for attacking Obama!! Oh!! pooooor Obama!! Didn't he attacked Clinton saying She was on Walmart Payroll, when he was working for poor, and only to retaliate his comment Hillary replied about His involvement with REZCO(Cheater, slum lord)!!!

When one of the channel asked him about REZCO, he just said that he was boneheaded to do that deal, that's it!!!!! he moved on and said that he thinks people don't care about it and all they care is for change!!!! Are we mad and boneheaded like him!!!!!!! to elect an boneheaded leader like him!!! Yes We are!!!!! That is why he is winning like this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wake Up fellow Americans!!! Realize there is no change with Obama, only cheating !!! If we elect Him we are sending people like REZCO into White house!!!!!!!!!!!!

A great man said "If you want to judge a person!! See his friends!!!!! With REZCO is his first Fund Raiser and His initial political contributer and Friend!!!! You Judge Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Oprah!! you are great lady!!!!!!!!!!!! Haven't you asked all these questions before supporting him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hillary is better than Obama!!!!!!!!!

He talks about Change and Hope!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oprah says a quote that he is a guy with an ear of eloquence and a tongue of truth!!!!

Common Oprah!!

What about REZCO deal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! had he asked a few people in Chicago!!!! they would have told about REZCO!!!!!! But he did not do that and dealt with him all these years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This proves he does not have both things you said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He returned whopping 86,000!!!!!!!!!! dollars to REZCO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in this campaign!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oprah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you just gave him!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2300 dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but do you think REZCO is a boneheaded person like Obama to give him whopping 86000 dollars to Obama's campaign with out any profit!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is just known amount!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you don't know how much it is unknowingly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obama!!!!!!!!!! is different!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he keeps changing his positions, but if somebody points it out, they are playing dirty politics!!!

So what we are doing is We are electing a leader!!!!!
1.) Who was drug edict in his young age!!!!

2.) Had a fraud businessman as a friend, fund raiser until now!! and had done real estate deals with him and profited more than millions from that!!!

To andurilaiglos:

You honestly don't believe a post stating:

"But they better remember one thing. WHITES MAKE UP THE MAJORITY OF THIS NATION, AND EVEN THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY"

And bringing up the idea of who would win a race war is racist? That whole spiel doesn't strike you as a supremacist attitude? Wow, you are very naiive and delusional.

i would be the happiest black male in America if Obama were to be the fist black gentleman after November. However, I know for a fact that all the right wingers who are fanning the racial bickerin between Hillary and Obama will desert him and turn against him in November.Hillary-Obama team in November will be unstopable. Therefore, all lovers of the democratic party should help stop these racial attacks which are coming from the right wingers who are propelling Obama on.

"mikel1 writes
"[Obama] has cleverly injected race in to the campaign by misrepresenting clinton's comments."

Citations please.

The only reference I've heard Obama make to HRC's MLK comments was to say that... she had been misrepresented. Now you're trying to claim that it was Obama who did the misrepresenting? Again, I ask you to prove it. "

bsimon: Obama allowed 10 days to pass before correcting his surrogates' allegations about the "racist" nature of the Clintons' comments. He may not have said anything himself, but he did take his sweet time over correcting his surrogates and made the point only after several polls have showed him gaining black support and the tide of opinion is already turning against this despicable example of race-baiting.

So, you're right. It doesn't make Obama less despicable, however.

Also, I would just like to comment that hotnuke did a tremendous job in laying all the facts regarding the "race" issue, successfully proving through arguments based on facts that the blame falls squarely on the Obama camp for the despicable race-baiting. I would also like to comment that the succeeding posts in response to hotnuke were very weakly argued in that there were no facts presented. Only judgment and further race-baiting.

pixie_chic_83's post was particularly egregious in that she accused hotnuke of racism and I invite everyone to read hotnuke's post and see if anything "racist" can be gleaned from it. Obama's campaign has been one that relied so much on the credulity of a lot of people, including the MSM. It is high time that the Clintons inject facts into the discourse of Obama's campaign so that people can decide with their eyes wide open.

Obama's campaign has been the most hypocritical and the most negative of all the other campaigns.

FACT: Obama was the first to attack his opponents.
FACT: Obama was the first to conduct negative ads on the other campaigns.
FACT: Obama has lied more times about his campaign.
FACT: Obama's is the only campaign who has wilfully lied about the others' campaigns.
FACT: Obama is the least experienced person to aspire for the presidency since World War II and has a weaker grasp of the issues compared to the other candidates.
FACT: Obama has allowed race-baiting to be used in this campaign for a number of days before he responded.
FACT: Obama's silence (for 10 days) on the use of race-baiting benefited his campaign.

Wow, Lapukefirmament, we meet again. Are you being paid by Obama to spread your bile.

Fact: The race-card was first played by Donna Brazille on January 11 (the day after New Hampshire) on CNN's The Situation Room w/Wolf Blitzer.

The clip of Bill Clinton's fairy-tale remark was played in its entirety, and just afterward, Brazille stated it offended her "as an African American". I noted it, because I was shocked that she found anything racial in what Clinton had said. Around that same time, Hillary made her awkward MLK/LBJ comment.

The next day, Obama's minions were on every news network calling the Clintons racists.

Now, I've yet to meet one person, white or black that has heard the Clinton's comments in their entirety and found anything racist in them.

Obama is the only one who had anything to gain by polarizing the Clintons to garner the black vote in SC. Hillary had the state to lose, which just wasn't an intelligent campaign move.

Anyhow, it appears to have worked for Obama. I just wonder what happens when we learn how much of the black vote he got? We already know that he got 83% in NV. At what point do we start asking who's racist?
At what point is there a backlash?

This is a great year for the Democrats; this is not a great year for the Democrats.

While I don't agree with the mud-slinging on either side, I do understand why this race is so pivotal.

For the first time in our history we have a woman and an African American who are serious contenders for the presidency. WOW!

Each of these candidates wants to win the nomination to show the disenfranchised that it is possible for a woman or a Black to become president. As such, each of them has strong voices on their behalf. I wouldn't expect anything less. If you have been disenfranchised for hundreds of years, whether you're an African American or a woman, that pent-up anger and frustration runs deep.

The second point I want to make is that politics is not a hands-off "sport." In 2000 and 2004 we witnessed how ugly the Republicans can and will get when they want the White House. And although we deride Bill Clinton for "Clintonian" political tactics, we ought to remember that Republican tactics are "Rovian" and border on psychopathic.

Third, I think that Barack Obama made a mistake to enter the presidential race this year. He is young, gifted, articulate, and smart. He is a rising star within the Democratic Party; nobody can diminish that. However, by placing himself in the race this year he is asking historically disenfranchised voters to choose between race/ethnicity and gender. That is a mistake, one that Senator Obama would have recognized and appreciated had he more political seasoning -- the wisdom and experience that comes only with time.

A movement is happening and its simply called BARACK POWER. www.BARACKPOWER.com!

Talking about race issues is better than acting like they dont exist at all... America is a country that needs healing.. amongst all races.. one to another. However, to use this as a wedge to come between Americans and our opportunity to change the direction of our country, is just plain dumb. "For everything, there is a time and a season"... Who better to stand in the middle and bridge the gap between black and whites than a man who is himself both black and white.... if in his leadership, he denies any one race, including Hispanics who are also minorities, then he is denying his own self. I think we will all agree that a united America is a stronger America, so for now... let us put aside our petty differences... try to see the bigger picture and when we are in a better place, we can all sit down and try to understand what it is to walk in another man's shoes and hopefully gain wisdom, insight and brotherhood amongst each other.... yea, sounds corny but a country without vision shall perish... just ask George Bush, he'll tell you...

Some personal observations. I was talking to a successful local white businessman (allegedly a former "straight A student," and patron of the arts and classical music) a few weeks ago and, for reasons immaterial to this note, the conversation turned to the Civil War. The businessman started reciting "atrocities" the North committed against the South during the War and how those were still "sore issues" in his native Kentucky. That War ended over 140 years ago! Yesterday, I was put on hold during a call to a national company headquartered in Florida. While holding, I was serenaded by "Dixie," a song inextricably linked to, shall we say, less than civil rights for African Americans. In my small New Mexico town with an active "peace coalition" and vibrant community for progressive causes, Confederate flags are still being sold.

Racism is in America's DNA. It fuels the above and a host of inglorious things we have (c)overtly been exposing to the world from "the Middle Passage" through the "Battle" of Wounded Knee to our imperial acquisition of Hawaii; the "Jim Crow" laws that were used as models during the early stages of the Holocaust; our very bloody hands in locales of brown-skinned people (the Philippines, Central and South America, Viet Nam, the Middle East...); "shock and awe" mass murder; ad nauseum. Racism in the "United" States is not going away, ever. However, it might be mitigated at home and abroad by our courage to elect a person of color--albeit one highly qualified intellectually, professionally, politically and, I contend, humanistically--to the highest office of our land.

While I do not ascribe racism to either of the Clinton's, my flesh crawled when I heard Hillary blunt the contributions of Dr. King for no ostensible reason. Maybe there is true subtext here but only one that my antennae for subtlety can pick up. Perhaps, my bad! But, bad is also Bill's self-righteous indignation about Obama's "fairy tale." Wasn't Slick Willie impeached for fairy tales? Racism should not be pivotal in this election; at our feet are precipitous issues that transcend the ingrained hatreds that warp our national soul.

I applaud Obama and Edwards for trying to keep the peace within the party and a lid on the unmentionables that the Repug slim machine is readying for Hillary (e.g. the Clinton's dirty hands in Arkansas, the judicial findings regarding Whitewater, the mysterious death of confidant Vince Foster and the greater importance to Hillary of securing his "papers," TravelGate, Hillary's payola to the victims of her serial philanderer, and the largess Hillary is receiving (more than any other candidate, Dem or Repug) from the medical/pharmaceutical and defense/killing industries.

Neither racism nor Hillary is electable.

Iowatreasures,
I just read today that it is likely Ted Kennedy will endorse Obama. Maybe you don't have the wording or the context quite right.

Mikel1 says: he has cleverly injected race in to the campaign by misrepresenting clinton's comments.
*******************************************Uh, do you really believe this. Try ANY factchecker to find the truth: this one is fine http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/clinton_vs_obama_on_cnn.html

Someone here claimed that Obama was more electable because he is a uniter.

I have heard Obama, in Iowa say that he wants to be president of both the red states and the blue states.

I have heard him say we need to bring Democrats, Independents and Republicans all together.

Why, then, did Obama say directly to Senator Ted Kennedy: "You are old . . you need to get a spine." Doesn't sound very conciatory to me.

Obama reminds me of a big balloon. The balloon floats in the air and everyone gets excited and swoons over it. But once the balloon is deflated, it has to come back down to earth with the rest of us.

This self-serving saint has lost his shine. He is a regular human being like the rest of us, except he still has his superior attitude and his nose in the air. gw.

And if Obama supporters continue to call out the Clintons and their surrogates (Kerry, Cuomo, Shaheen, Johnson, and so on) on their overt and coded racist remarks, maybe the audience will start to see how slimy and desperate the Clintons and their lackeys are.

One problem with anyone "claiming" a comment, phrase, or terminology as vernacular peculiar to one ethnic group, is that many of them are adopted by others & used by others, and applied in circumstances the originator never meant or intended them to be used.
"Shuck & Jive" is a phrase I use at times. I use it to take a shot at someone trying to feed me a line. I also use it to describe a salesperson whose line comes across as pure bull to me.
Just because I use words, phrases, or terminology in my conversation, it does not mean I am being racist.
Words belong to everyone. They are not the exclusive purview of any one particular group, ethnic or otherwise. And while one may use words, phrases, or terminology to express themselves or represent someone or something in a derogatory manner, they may also use them to make light of or to associate themselves with someone or something.
Perhaps we have some who are trying, deliberately or unintentionally, to use words, terms, phrases, or terminology, to "create" a firestorm where one was not intended nor should it be set?

Here's what this race boils down to, as my 9-yr-old, IQ 180, grandson so succintly put it when asked to compare the two (and I think it trumps all else), "Hilary says what she thinks you want to hear and Obama says what he believes."

To Hotnuke2007

And further more...Barack's mother was a white woman who birthed him and shaped him into the man he is today. A man with morals and values who loves his family and his country. Are you suggesting that he is racist against himself? You are really reaching sweetie......

To Hotnuke2007:

I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this but you are a racist my dear. Obama's campaign is geared towards uniting Americans as a people. The entire tone of your post has been one of arrogance, ignorance and seperatism. For you to even insinuate some kind of "who would win whites against blacks" screams of your sepremacist attitude towards minorities in this country. Trust me, blacks and other non-whites in this country are very well aware that they are not the majority rule. It is something that is rammed down their throats in many different ways to keep minorities from the lily white WASP version of the American Dream. You really need to do some self evaluation and determine where all of that seperatism "us versus them" attitude comes from. We are all AMERICANS. When terrorists attacked US on 9/11 they didn't care if whe were white, black or otherwise they wanted us dead because we are AMERICANS. Remember that! Those thousands of AMERICANS that died were of many different races and creeds and they all died together. Our US soldiers are still dying together. Remeber that. We need to Unite as a country and a people which is what we all are, though there are some racist morons who refuse to see it that way. Barack Obama is the only candidate who has built his entire campaign around uniting us as a people. Rebublicans, Democrats, Independents, whites, blacks, latinos, asians, all of US because we are who we are. AMERICANS!

Too much whining, both from the candidates and the bloggers. Let 'em go at it; their comments about each other are very revealing of their true sentiments. Anyone who does not recognize the Clintons by now as pathological liars is deaf, dumb, and blind.

mikel1 writes
"[Obama] has cleverly injected race in to the campaign by misrepresenting clinton's comments."

Citations please.

The only reference I've heard Obama make to HRC's MLK comments was to say that... she had been misrepresented. Now you're trying to claim that it was Obama who did the misrepresenting? Again, I ask you to prove it.

L.N.Rock is reporting that Edwards said "The ONLY thing I would say -- and I think it has nothing to do with race and gender. ... It's amazing now that being the white male...is different...is being able to go everywhere in America and campaign and to compete -- and...I think I can go everywhere and compete head-to-head with John McCain."

Are you kidding me?!? 'this isn't about race or gender, but being the white male I can go everywhere in America and compete'? If its not about race or gender, what is it about? Seems to me like former Senator just nailed himself into his own coffin.

Hey, in politics anything goes: the good, the bad, and the ugly. More often than not its the ugly. Like Truman said, If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Or how about if you want a friend in Washington, buy a dog. That from a man who knew politics!

obama will win SC because of the black-pride vote. he has cleverly injected race in to the campaign by misrepresenting clinton's comments.

that's disgusting but shows obama, blinded by ambition, will stoop very low to get the black vote. pity the african americans who have been drawn to this non-existent racial divide.

HILLARY'S FRIEND IS AN OLD KKK MEMBER, CHECK THIS OUT HERE:

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/11/15/185205.shtml?et=y

Hilarious. Bill Clinton falls asleep at MLK celebration

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/01/clinton_gets_sleepy_at_mlk_day.php

CLINTON SAYS WE HAVE THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT BECAUSE LYNDON JOHNSON SIGNED IT.

GOLDWATER RAN A CAMPAIGN AGAINST JOHNSON...
SO WHY WAS SHE CAMPAIGNING FOR BARRY GOLDWATER WHO WAS AGAINST THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT???

BY THE WAY CHECK OUT BILL CLINTON'S RACIST POSTCARD HE SENT TO HIS GRANDMA IN 1966 DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

http://serr8d.blogspot.com/2007/10/bill-clinton-racist-postcard-buy-it-now.html

Hillary Clinton salivates about fighting with the Republicans. She brags about waiting for them to attack her. That's not opinion, it's fact.

How can anyone recognize the ineffectiveness of our government due to insane partisan bickering and believe that Hillary Clinton will be able to get antyhting done as POTUS with her mentality of demonizing Republicans? How in the world will she be able to carry Democrats in Congressional races across the country in to office with her brand of polarizing politics?

Wake up! Democrats can not win the WH with just Democrats and Hillary's rhetoric proves that we will see a continuation of the same type of "politics as usual" from not only the last 8 years, but the wars and hyper-distrust from the 90's if she is elected. Where's the attraction for Independents and disillusioned Republicans in that?

Obama offers the best hope to lead a unification of our country around healing our many divisions, achieving the big goals needed to move our nation forward domestically and internationally, and he has the proven legislative record and campaign success to show that he can draw Independents and Republicans to join in that goal.

Cynicism is not the answer, nor is hardened loyalty that diminishes if not outright ignores reality. We need that "working coalition" or else we'll sink deeper in to the depressive malaise that has effectively paralyzed our once great American spirit.

To Hotnuke2007:

I got to the part where you said that Hillary was obviously garnering the majority of African-American support, and then you lost me. Hillary actually had a ten point advantage amog black voters in november and lost that by december, when it was a tie. By the time that this controversy over Clinton's comments ensued, Obama was already garnering a vast majority of the black vote. Hillary only had a twenty point advantage among whites while obama had about double that among blacks. Therefore, your comment is backwards, ridiculous, and inaccurate. Obama didn't need to create more controversy to win SC, but clinton does. The old addage: "he who gains the most is responsible" is useful in this situation, because clinton gains more from any controversy than obama does. If obama is seen as playing the race card, he will lose the white vote almost certainly (not mine, but hey, not everyone fits the stereotype, which is great). I.e., obama complaining about clinton being racist makes him look like an extremeist, which is exactly what clinton wants. She accepted defeat in SC before N.H. Now she is looking to the rest of the country, and wants to see how she can use SC to her advantage in the Feb. 5th states.

To kiku:

You may really want to believe that blather you posted, but REALITY is FAR, FAR DIFFERENT. And no matter how many times you, Obama, his surrogates, or his other fanatic supporters try and pretend otherwise, America has seen through this clown.

The ENTIRE controversy over race was engineered and manufactured by the Obama campaign in order to fuel a win in South Carolina. Obama had seen the writing on the wall, namely that if he didn't win in South Carolina, a state whose Democratic Primary voters were composed of nearly 50% African Americans, he would be seen as nothing more than a boutique candidate on the order of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. He understandably realized that Hillary was garnering the majority of black support, despite the fact he himself was black, and felt if he was going to have ANY chance at being nominated, he had to win South Carolina. His staff then decided they were going to play the race card, and did so. They sent their surrogates out immediately following the New Hampshire primary, including Professor Michael Eric Dyson of Georgetown (a major advocate of the Obama campaign who speaks on Obama's half on every major political show on TV), who began questioning whether the win by Hillary in New Hampshire was NOT because she had swayed voters in that state based on their belief that she was a more experienced, more qualified, and more genuine candidate, but rather that they, the voters, had simply voted for her and not Obama because he was black. That same evening, Jesse Jackson, Jr. (a Senior Advisor to Obama's Campaign) went on MSNBC and made the following comment (and I'm paraphrasing here, but it's pretty accurate and you're welcome to google for the YouTube video that shows it) that Hillary's "tears" needed to be examined in light of the "Fact" (and fact is a complete falsehood on his part as he hasn't got a clue as to whether this is factual) that Hillary never cried about Katrina. He made this remark three times, and its clear intent was to say HILLARY CLINTON DOESN'T GIVE A RAT'S A$$ ABOUT BLACKS.

This charge of RACISM, leveled at the New Hampshire voters who supported Hillary was a veiled attempt at painting ALL of Hillary Clinton's supporters (at least the white ones), in fact ALL Democrats who DIDN'T support Obama, as RACISTS. They then manufactured a controversy over Hillary's statement about MLK, which was ONLY made in response to OBAMA'S likening HIMSELF to MLK and JFK, claiming she had "DISSED" the man. Nothing could be further from the truth, but the media, nearly all of whom hate Hillary to the core, picked up on this in a heartbeat, and were defacto Obama surrogates in their effort to paint Hillary Clinton as, AT BEST, someone who wasn't sympathetic to blacks concerns or sensibilities.

The Obama campaign then went on to use Bill Clinton's words, where he OBVIOUSLY criticized Obama for his claim that he had been ADAMANTLY opposed to the Iraq War CONSISTENTLY TO THE SAME DEGREE, since before it started, and tried to paint those remarks as racist as well by misquoting Bill, twisting his words, and taking them completely out of context to suggest Bill Clinton had suggested Obama's ENTIRE campaign (and thereby the entire notion that a Black man could ever be president) was a "Fairy Tale". The TRUTH, though, is that Bill had said, CLEARLY AND CONCISELY, that Obama's claim that he had been consistent on his views about the war was a "Fairly Tale". Now, some could argue this is an unfair criticism of Obama, and that would have been a valid, if incorrect opinion in my view. However, they didn't do this. Instead, they clipped the speech by Bill to include NONE of the context of what he had said, and simply used the words "Give me a break, this whole thing is a Fairy Tale" as their quote from Bill, and then claimed he had said this in the context of saying Obama's entire campaign, his entire dream of becoming president, was a "Fairy Tale". This was done in order to anger blacks, to incite them to believe Bill Clinton was a closet racist. And it worked beautifully. Obama's lame claim that he had nothing to do with it was EASILY refuted by the MEMO that had been released by HIS CAMPAIGN which noted Bill's remarks, and did EXACTLY what I stated above in trying to claim Bill had made the claim Obama's campaign was a "Fairy Tale." Not to mention the remarks by Michelle Obama to that same effect at a mostly black event where she is quoted as having said, "That win in Iowa ain't no Fairy Tale"

Now, if you want to dismiss all this, you're welcome to. But it is completely and utterly factual. If you'd like links to all of the stuff, including the comments by Dyson, Jackson, and Michelle Obama, they're on YouTube. The Memo is at HuffingtonPost.com. Again, you can dismiss it, but you're simply lying to yourself. Obama, and his campaign, in a desperate bid to stay alive in this contest, PLAYED THE RACE CARD. And while it's garnered him a great deal more support among blacks, he's also realized he's lost a great deal of support among women, whites and Hispanics because of it.

It was bad enough that he pulled such a lowlife move. The fact he's lied about it continuously, and is now having his campaign, his surrogates, and his supporters spread these vicious, EVIL, and completely phony stories about voter intimidation on the part of Clinton supporters shows me there is NO depth to which he won't go. People claim Hillary acts as if she's owed this nomination. I say they're blind. Hillary has NEVER acted like that. The Media has painted that narrative for a year and she's thoroughly rejected it. OBAMA IS THE A-HOLE WHO ACTS LIKE HE'S OWED THE PRESIDENCY. He acts, and his campaign acts, like any attack on him is an attack on blacks.

Now, I know that many blacks who are racist (and trust me, there are just as many racist blacks as there are whites proportionally), and many other blacks who aren't, but are no more interested in delving into the details of the campaigns as the majority of Americans, will be swayed by all of this nonsense that has been fueled by the Obama campaign and their defacto surrogates (the entire Hillary-Hating media). But they better remember one thing. WHITES MAKE UP THE MAJORITY OF THIS NATION, AND EVEN THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. Obama may find he's won the battle (South Carolina), and lost the war.

And if his and his surrogate's rhetoric goes much further, he may find himself in political oblivion soon. I don't believe he ever would have won the nomination. I'm a Hillary Clinton supporter and fervently believe she will win. However, I had hoped for, in fact have called for it for over two years, that she would choose Obama as her running mate. However, if he himself, his surrogates, or his advocates hope for even that, he had better REALLY begin to tamp all this down. Because if he doesn't, he's going to find his support among whites even lower than Hillary Clinton's support among blacks in South Carolina following his little round of racial hucksterism. And if he wants to see who would REALLY win a race war between a black and white candidate here in America, all he has to do is look at the campaigns of ANY black man who's ever run for president such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Both of them were seen as the BOUTIQUE Black Candidate, and Obama's heading toward that demise. His only chance at the nomination, or ANY further political viability, is to UNITE people, not divide them.

Furthermore, as I said above, for two years I have been calling for a Hillary Clinton/Barack Obama ticket, which I saw as both a winning ticket, one that would go far in healing our nation, and would provide Democrats with control of the White House for at LEAST the next 16 years. I am a Hillary Clinton supporter, but I have to say that whatever my analysis above, and my belief that Obama can STILL avoid doom if he stops what he's been doing, I personally will NEVER vote for the man. I believe he is a racist, that the majority of his supporters are vicious Hillary-Haters and/or moronic racists themselves, and if Hillary does put him on the ticket in order to heal the party, I will seriously consider voting for an independent candidate or skipping the election altogether. Barack Obama is not fit to be dog-catcher of Podunk, Illinois, let alone President of the United States of America. In truth, if he's elected, I won't just vote against him or not vote, I'll actively work to get others to.

I find it interesting that Karl Rove began by pumping Obama and offering him advice. Then, once Obama gained significant traction, he began rolling out the racist insinuations, calling him "lazy," and more. This is not an accident. Rove has been party to the installation of Bush in the last two "elections." Rove and others on the right have pushed Obama hard. Now Rove has begun to give us a preview of how they'll greet him should he win the nomination. It's a set-up.

A white candidate with the same speaking skills would be an average to below-average candidate. In fact, such a candidate would be out of the race. That speaks volumes. Obama may not directly PLAY the race card, but he IS the race card being played. The question is, who is really being gamed here?

I submit that the right wing is promoting him now, keeping all the criticism under the table for now, but will rip him apart should he win the nomination.

I've been a longtime reader of African American blogs.
I have been active on the usual white blogs as a white democratic female.
I don't go to the feminist ones as they are rather boring of political content.
They try to hard or get too distracted. A few i do read by women are more in the tradition of regular political blogs.
I definitely won't read that clinton tool and racist blog, taylor marsh.
But, I like the black blogs for their wit and non reactionary political insight that the reg. blogs are known for.
Favorites are oliver willis and jack and jill.

Funny, it's always the Hillary people who bring up race. Hillary may benefit from it, but at this point, I think it actually hurts her.

Obama has nothing to gain by playing the race card, I think African Americans get that he's black.

Here's the history:

On Jan 7, Hillary made a comment about Martin Luther King.

This comment offended a number of people, and a media storm started brewing as a number of people started discussing it. Obama's campaign was silent.

On Jan 11, someone obtained a memo from Obama'a SC office that had quotes from different articles discussing race, the last quote was on Jan 11. The memo was posted on Tyra Banks web site the same day.

Nobody knows how the memo was obtained. It's possible that someone called Obama's office and asked if they had a list of articles that had been discussed in the media.

That's it. That's the sum total the Obama campaign involvement. It had little influence over peoples' opinions.

But, Obama couldn't claim his campaign was innocent, so he took responsibility and shut down the discussion.

I wanted to understand what really happened.

For a timeline, go to:

http://backpedals.blogspot.com/2008/01/racist-comments-2.html

I'm surprised that people keep talking about Obama's lack of experience. He started to address that in his debate where he listed lots of his experience.

Here is what I have collected after culling through several of his sites:

Community Organizer, 1985

He sought to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment

* Moved the Chicago Housing Authority to remove asbestos in housing
* Established a job-training center
* Worked in the streets on voter registration to help elect President Clinton
* Registered 150,000 people to vote

Civil Rights Lawyer

Miner, Barnhill & Galland: litigated employment discrimination, housing discrimination, and voting rights cases.

* Protecting voters: seccessfully sued state of Illinois for failing to implement a federal voter-registration law.

* Successfully defended a whistleblower who lost her job, for a $5 million settlement

Constitutional Law professor/lecturer at the University of Chicago

Illinois State Senate 1996 - 2004

* Welfare legislation

* Created the Earned Income Tax Credit program that gave over $100 million in tax cuts for families throughout Illinois over 3 years.

* Expanded early childhood education

* Enlisted the support of law enforcement officials to draft legislation requiring the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.

* He passed a law to monitor racial profiling by requiring police to record the race of drivers they stopped. The law was at first very controversial, but due to Obama's skills as a negotiator and bipartisanships, he won the support of the police. During his 2004 general election campaign for U.S. Senate, he won the endorsement of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police, whose president credited Obama for his active engagement with police organizations in enacting death penalty reforms.

* Pass the toughest campaign finance law in Illinois history. The legislation banned the personal use of campaign money by Illinois legislators and banned most gifts from lobbyists. Worked with U.S. Sen. Paul Simon (D-IL), 1988. Before the law was passed, one organization ranked Illinois worst among 50 states for its campaign finance regulations.

* Created a working, affordable health care plan in Illinois, that covers 70,000 kids and 84,000 adults, where all kids qualify for $40 per child. Obama sponsored and passed this legislation, working with Rod R. Blagojevich(IL Gov.) See All Kids http://www.allkids.com/ . It is a model for a workable, affordable national health care.

Illinois Honors:

* Outstanding Legislator Award
* Campaign for Better Health Care and Illinois Primary Health Care Association, 1998
* Best Freshman Legislator Award
* Independent Voters of Illinois, 1997
* Monarch Award for Outstanding Public Service, 1994
* "40 Under 40" Award, Crain's Chicago Business, 1993.

US Senate, 2004 - present

He is a member of several Senate Committees:

* Committee on Foreign Relations, that plays a vital role in shaping US policy around the world.
* Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that addresses, among other things, issues of immigration and our borders.
* Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions: oversees our nation's health care, schools, employment, and retirement programs
* Committee on Veterans' Affairs: focused on providing our brave veterans with the care and services they deserve.
* 2005-2006: Environment and Public Works Committee, which safeguards our environment and provides funding for our highways

The Numbers

Obama sponsored 152 bills and resolutions brought before the 109th Congress in 2005 and 2006, and cosponsored another 427.

Legislation Passed in US Senate

* Lugar-Obama Act to decrease nuclear and conventional weapons proliferation around the world.

* Coburn-Obama Transparency Act transparency in federal spending, found at httP://www.usaspending.gov

* Cosponsored the Healthy Kids Act of 2007 and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2007 to ensure that more American children have affordable health care coverage.

* Obama worked to pass a number of laws in Illinois and Washington to improve the health of women. His accomplishments include creating a task force on cervical cancer, providing greater access to breast and cervical cancer screenings, and helping improve prenatal and premature birth services.

* As a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Obama passed legislation to improve care and slash red tape for our wounded warriors recovering at places like Walter Reed. He passed laws to help homeless veterans and offered an innovative solution to prevent at-risk veterans from falling into homelessness. Obama passed legislation to stop a VA review of closed PTSD cases that could have led to a reduction in veterans' benefits. He passed an amendment to ensure that all service members returning from Iraq are properly screened for traumatic brain injuries

* Congo: Obama and Leahy successfully passed an amendment to provide $13 million in assistance to the DRC for military reform and election assistance. The bill also provided the the US policy is to oppose and fight against the rape and killings of women that is a particular horror there. Obama has recently sent a letter to Sec. Rice demanding a report of their efforts there.

* Darfur

* Introduced Patriot Employer Act, August 2007, to reward companies for keeping jobs in the US

* As a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee, Obama helped pass legislation in the recent improvements to the Higher Education Act to increase the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,10.

* Obama passed legislation with Senator Jim Talent (R-MO) to give gas stations a tax credit for installing E85 ethanol refueling pumps.

* Obama sponsored an amendment that became law providing $40 million for commercialization of a combined flexible fuel vehicle/hybrid car within five years.

* Congressional ethics legislation, called the Gold Standard of ethics reform, passed by Obama and Feingold that ending subsidized corporate jet travel, mandating disclosure of lobbyists' bundling of contributions, and enacting strong new restrictions of lobbyist-sponsored trips. The Washington Post wrote in an editorial, "The final package is the strongest ethics legislation to emerge from Congress yet."

* Obama has introduced and helped pass bipartisan legislation to limit the abuse of no-bid federal contracts.

JoeCHI,

First of all, Obama well knows that the more racism gets talked about, the more he loses. That is why he is not now, nor ever has played the race card. Unfortunately, the Clinton campaign also knows that talk of racism toward Obama alienates white and latino voters, which is why they unquestionably played the race card in the first place. This is pretty broadly known to anyone following this closely, but I'll just substantiate it by linking to this column by The New York Times Editorial Board, who in all probability will endorse Clinton: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/opinion/09wed1.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=unite&st=nyt&oref=slogin

Second of all, Obama is indeed and by far the most electable Democratic candidate. Hillary has extremely high negatives before the GOP has even started in on her, and is being hurt by this bruising campaign. Secondly, as we know, she will energize the demoralized GOP base. And all of that gets worse when you look at who the Republicans are likely to nominate- John McCain. McCain can tar Senator Clinton as a flip flopper who doesn't pass the commander-in-chief test because of how she's been all over the place on the Iraq War, (and, to a lesser extent, given her public prognostication about the surge that she's since backed off of), which makes her look indecisive and irresponsible. Also, she won't be able to hit him on war mongering toward Iran because, well, she voted for that (it's the judgment stupid!).

Now compare that to Obama (this from arguably the conservative publication of record):

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjU2ZjQ3MGNiZjNmZjYxOGQ3M2Y4NmY2NDVhMDk0Mjg=

And well... you get the point.

In today''s Washington Post, columnist Eugene Robinson speculated about Bill Clinton''s "red faced ... anger."

Here is a plausible explanation from the Post''s own archives:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv
/politics/special/clinton/stories/broadd
rick022599.htm

The real fireworks started last night at the debate when Obama recalled Clinton's time as a "corporate lawyer for WalMart". Clinton's repsponse was to refer to Obama's time working for a "slum lord".

I think the Clintons are starting to get to Obama. After all, it's been two-on-one now since NH.

http://thepoliticalpost.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/do-the-clintons-have-obama-rattled/

I continue to believe and hope that when calmer heads prevail, people will equate the crisis this country confronts as no different than what would happen if any of us discovered we had cancer tomorrow. We would not seek a cancer specialist on the basis of race or gender or to make any kind of social statement about our belief in addressing past grievances. We would select the best medical professional to treat our disease. Why should we as a country use race or gender as a basis for choosing who is best qualified in terms of vision, experience, and credentials to lead us out of this quagmire? Whether it is for cancer or for what ails our country, this is too serious a business to resort to gender or raced-based criteria to make a sound choice. We wouldn't do it for our personal health -- why do it for our country's health? I say focus on the issues, the records of the candidates and their plans for the future. If the person happens to be a minority, a woman or a white male -- we will all be better served when the approach is devoid of personal attacks. All Americans deserve this type of thoughtful, civil approach to our political deliberations.

Face it, other than his race, what is it that recommends Obama? His extensive and impressive NATIONAL political record? His education? There are hundreds of better qualified people, even among blacks. I supported and also campaigned for Jesse Jackson. What is disgusting is the race patronizing that his campaign represents. Obama is an Affirmative Action assist, through and through. And his congressional service record is PALTRY.

His candidacy is white America's weak attempt to expiate its white guilt over a racist past and present. While some naive young white liberals believe this will do it, experienced blacks and others see through it. This is an Affirmative Action candidate and the presidency is too important to be awarded on the basis of Affirmative Action sentimentality. We're talking about the most important job in the world here, not some law school admittance.

According to CNN Election Center 2008, 2,025 delegates will be needed to win the Democratic nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention to be held in Denver August 25-28. Current pledged delegate totals before the South Carolina Democratic primary election Saturday January 26 are: Obama 38, Clinton 36, and Edwards 18.
Florida will be meaningless to Democrats because like Michigan all Democratic delegates have been declared illegal by the national committee because of the state party's non compliance in setting their primary date no sooner than Super Tuesday February 5.

But do many Super Tuesday voters currently know very much about Barack Obama?

In his books Barack Obama has told the story of the family into which he was born, about a father from Kenya whom he barely knew and about his young American mother who along with his father were college students in Hawaii.

By age 6 young Barack was already living in Jakarta with his mother and his Indonesian step father before abruptly moving back to Hawaii at age 10 to be raised by his maternal grandparents when his mother and her second husband divorced.

Over the years Barack Obama had bonding experiences with white and black relatives and with Asian family members amidst an understandable struggle to find his own identity. Through it all he developed a keen ability to understand and to resonate with people of various ethnic backgrounds.

Barack Obama worked his way through the racial complexities into which he was born to graduate Magna Cum Laude from Harvard Law School and become president of the Harvard Law Review. He served in the Illinois State Senate for 8 years and in 2004 won a 70 % landslide election to become a United States Senator.
Barack Obama has had 46 years of personal experience in understanding how perceptions of ethnicity and judgments about race can divide people and he is uniquely qualified to bring a sense of unity and common purpose to all Americans.

In 1963 (when Obama was just 2 years old) on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech that included the familiar phrase of "not being judged by the color of one's skin but by the content of one's character." That speech, of course, helped prompt passage of the 1964 US Civil rights Act and the next year, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. If the people of America elect Barack Obama to be their 44th President in November of this year King's dream will have become much more than just a dream.

Was Barack Obama's reported opposition to America initiating the Iraq war a "fairytale" and has his position on the war been "inconsistent"?

Senator Barack Obama, then an Illinois state senator, delivered these remarks October 2, 2002 at the Federal Plaza in Chicago:
"I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances. The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect this union and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil.

I Don't Oppose All Wars

I don't oppose all wars. My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton's army. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil. I don't oppose all wars. After September 11, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this administration's pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such tragedy from happening again.

Opposed to Dumb, Rash Wars

I don't oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne. What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income, to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression. That's what I'm opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.

On Saddam Hussein

Now let me be clear: I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power.... The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him. But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors...and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.
I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.
I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.
I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars. So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the president.

You Want a Fight, President Bush?

You want a fight, President Bush? Let's finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings. You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to make sure that...we vigorously enforce a nonproliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe. You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells.
You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil through an energy policy that doesn't simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil.
Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair."

Barack Obama delivered his powerful speech at the Federal Plaza in Chicago October 2, 2002 against the US beginning war in Iraq while later that same month Hillary Clinton voted for the authorization to begin US military action in Iraq. Once US troops were actually in Iraq and fighting a war, of course, it would be irresponsible for Obama to be against funding the troops. The key is that Barack Obama had the judgment to see the dumbness of the war in October 2002 and clearly said so. Hillary Clinton did not and voted to start it.

Bill and Hillary Clinton's tactic of trying to paint Obama's war position as "a fairy tale" or as "inconsistent" is merely "Clinton politics" and clearly demonstrates why America badly needs the enormous breath of fresh air Barack Obama provides. At one time Senator Kerry from Nebraska referred to the Clinton's as "clever liars" several years before President Bill Clinton told America: "I did not have sex with that woman!" or as Jay Leno quipped, "He didn't have sex with her, she had it with him!"
Goodbye Bill and Hillary Clinton. Hello Barack Obama.

Should Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton Become the Democratic Party's Nominee for President in 2008?

Which candidate is best able to inspire Americans with a new vision of a better America both domestically and in foreign affairs that will attract sufficient independent voters and disenchanted Republicans so that Democrats can win the general election in November?

Which candidate is least likely to cause a worsening division and polarization of voters and elected officials that maintains the partisan politics that currently paralyzes Washington?

Which candidate refuses campaign contributions from lobbyists and political action committees as a first step in seeking to change the money dominated special interest politics that currently rules Washington?

Which candidate has had the personal background and life experiences and possesses the vision and ability necessary to bring together Americans of all ethnic backgrounds be they white, Latino, Asian, African American, or Native American in a sense of common purpose, and also has the best chance of reintroducing America to the myriad of diverse countries around the world?

Which candidate do Americans most respect and admire given the facts of his or her personal family background, marriage relationship, intelligence and academic achievement, and the particular path by which he or she has become a candidate for president of the United States?

Which candidate does not have a spouse whose past political experience and personal behavior could prove to be a serious distraction that might needlessly complicate the office and duties of the President and potentially interfere with the normal functioning of cabinet officers?

Which candidate will the American people be able to trust when times are tough because he or she consistently values telling the truth, rather than choosing his or her words primarily with regard to the politics of the moment?

The inescapable answer is Barack Obama.

The State
South Carolina's Largest Newspaper

Opinion
Posted on Tue, Jan. 22, 2008

Obama most likely Democrat to unify America
Andrew Haworth / The State
Sen. Barack Obama speaks to members of The State's Editorial Board on Monday.

 The State's Editorial Board endorses Barack Obama

- The State editorial board's Democratic presidential primary endorsement
THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY in South Carolina this year offers voters an unusual choice. Earlier votes have winnowed out the most experienced candidates, leaving a field with fewer accomplishments and differences on policy, but including two candidates who come with the promise to make history just because of who they are.
Looking at the remaining field: Rep. Dennis Kucinich offers a bold plan on health care, but his platform is an odd fit for us and for many in South Carolina. John Edwards has morphed away from the optimist who won South Carolina in 2004. The candidate who stayed mostly above the fray four years ago is angry now, and pushing hard to turn working-class angst into political opportunity. He also has tried to one-up the other top Democrats with the least prudent plan for withdrawing from Iraq.
On positions from Iraq to health care, the policy differences between Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are minute. Much of the debate between them has involved making these molehills look mountainous or clashing over who-shifted-when.
The one most significant difference between them can be found in how they would approach the presidency - and how the nation might respond.
Hillary Clinton has been a policy wonk most of her life, a trait she has carried into the U.S. Senate. As her debate performances have shown, she has intelligence and a deep understanding of many issues. Her efforts in New York focused first on learning her adopted state's issues in detail, and pursuing legislation that would not necessarily grab headlines.
But we also have a good idea what a Clinton presidency would look like. The restoration of the Clintons to the White House would trigger a new wave of all-out political warfare. That is not all Bill and Hillary's fault - but it exists, whomever you blame, and cannot be ignored. Hillary Clinton doesn't pretend that it won't happen; she simply vows to persevere, in the hope that her side can win. Indeed, the Clintons' joint career in public life seems oriented toward securing victory and personal vindication.
Sen. Obama's campaign is an argument for a more unifying style of leadership. In a time of great partisanship, he is careful to talk about winning over independents and even Republicans. He is harsh on the failures of the current administration - and most of that critique well-deserved. But he doesn't use his considerable rhetorical gifts to demonize Republicans. He's not neglecting his core values; he defends his progressive vision with vigorous integrity. But for him, American unity - transcending party - is a core value in itself.
Can such unity be restored, in this poisonous political culture? Not unless that is a nominee's goal from the outset. It will be a difficult challenge for any candidate; but we wait in the hope that someone really will try. There is no other hope for rescuing our republic from the mire.
Sen. Obama would also have the best chance to repair the damage to America's global reputation. A leader with his biography - including his roots in Africa and his years spent growing up overseas - could transform the world's view of America. He would seize that opportunity.
He would close the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, which has damaged America's moral standing, and strive to rebuild many diplomatic relationships.
Despite America's bitter partisan divide, all sides should agree on this: In such an environment, little gets done. Congress has been largely useless under both Republican and Democratic leadership. Setting aside the ideological conflict for conflict's sake to get anything worthwhile done has fallen severely out of fashion.
And America certainly has things to get done.
From terrorism and climate change to runaway federal entitlement spending, there are big challenges to be faced. Sen. Obama is the only Democrat who plausibly can say that he wants to work with Americans across the political spectrum to address such subjects - and he has the integrity and the skills of persuasion that make him the best-qualified among the remaining Democratic hopefuls to address these challenges.
He would be a groundbreaking nominee. More to the point, he makes a solid case that he is ready to lead the whole country. We see Sen. Barack Obama as the best choice in Saturday's Democratic primary. (End of Endorsement)

From the Washington Post, a key read for coherent feminists and others interested in politics ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/broaddrick022599.htm

If Obama supporters continue to cry racism every time he is criticized or challenged, Obama will lose white, Asian, and Latino voters in droves.