Thanks to Newsvine, since 2008, I have been able to watch the American elections from close quarters; to see the progress or fall of the leading candidates and to even have my two cents worth from the hustings. For years, there appeared to be no other choices but white males for the public to elect, despite the diverse population. Suddenly we have a mixed race president and now the prospect of a female president is not far off the horizon either!  No wonder the nation seems to be heavily divided and confused, because the presidential election has become unpredictable, with the future looking very promising for genuine competition.

However, from across the Pond, a few things haven't made sense in the selection process and I think they need to change for fairness to be seen to be done when the 2012 election dust has settled.

First, the length of the campaign: It is far too long. It should start much later in the current president's term and last only a year, no more than that, so that everything is conducted in his/her final year and then a hand-over at the end of it. Such a long campaign is debilitating and divisive. It needs to be briskly conducted and no hopers winnowed out quickly to concentrate on the leaders. The campaign length is also damaging to the economy because the uncertainty does not make for secure financial transactions or projections. Curtailing the length of the campaign should dramatically cut down on the next factor.

Second, the money required: It is obscene to need so much money to elect a president of the USA. And now that super PAC's can also spend unlimited sums, the opportunities for manipulating the office of president through PAC support is becoming disturbingly high. The only message that gives is that money makes a president, nothing else. The ones with the most money and loudest shout appear to win the race. That could also be why the 'wrong' people are perceived to be nominated for elections. Yet being president of America is the country's highest office, and regarded by the rest of the world as the most important in the world. It should be treated with the respect it deserves. It shouldn't be a time when the media makes a killing out of the candidates through advertising because all adverts should carry a hefty discount, or even be free, for example, to get the messages to the people as much as possible. Once money goes in place of democracy, who is really in charge? The voters or the corporates?

Third, the location of the first primaries: All early primaries should be rotated around the country so that every state has a chance to benefit from the clear economic gains of being the first primary, and also have a say in who the first winners are. To keep having the same states as front runners every time leads to jealousy, feelings of being sidelined and a desire to get in on the action, which happened to Michigan and Florida during the last presidential election when they were penalised for wanting their primaries earlier. Yet it is very natural to want that kind of media and economic benefit for one's state that Iowa and New Hampshire appear to enjoy each election. In today's media world it clearly does not make sense to have the same two states enjoying that first privilege every time. It really isn't fair to the other states who have to watch from the sidelines with a silent voice wishing they could be part of the action.

Fourth, the elitist presence of super delegates: There should be no super delegates in any fair elections, especially with the anomalous position of favouring someone their states voted against, neither should there be any clear support from governors for candidates until the convention. For example, it seemed unfair to me that Gov. Strickand of Ohio was openly favouring Hillary Clinton and was campaigning for her, hoping she won, when there were two candidates fighting for that state. No governor should indicate their personal choice until after a primary. That makes for a more level playing field to start with, especially in crucial deciding contests.

Fifth, the practice of endorsements: No one publicly endorses someone unless they want something in the process, even if it is simple acknowledgement, association with, or support from, the perceived winner. I think endorsements can come after the person is in the White House, when they have got there on their own steam and their own efforts and owe no one anything. But are all these people coming out of the woodwork to endorse a candidate a good thing for the country? Will they want some kind of payback at some time? And how can one please all those disparate interests and expectations? Endorsements imply that a person is not good on their own merit until someone else says so, that they are inadequate until propped up by some group or person, which is why America is in the mess it is in from too many party and lobbying interests. Endorsements tie presidents to unwritten promises and give undue privilege to certain sections of society which immediately disenfranchise the rest of the population.

I think if these five factors were to be changed, there would be a fairer and clearer election process. This is the Internet age and it has had the biggest influence on the 2008 election, a clear pointer to the future elections. Things cannot run the way they used to run, as Obama's very successful campaign demonstrated .

And to anyone who might be tempted to say that 'this is how things have always been done', a genuine desire for all -round change among the population is why Barack Obama is heading for a second term.

n 2008, Democrats were locked in a protracted primary season between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. While Republicans chortled at the time, it proved to have worked to their disadvantage, and Obama won the White House easily.
Naturally, Republicans are trying to spin their 2012 woes as a positive, akin to the Democrats in 2012.

The differences abound—Obama and Clinton kept it much more civil between each other. Remember the Clinton ad that questioned Obama's ability to pick up the phone at 4 AM? Vicious! And given that Clinton and Obama pretty much agreed with each other ideologically, they weren't forced to tug each other out of the mainstream. I mean, Republicans are debating access to birth control!

Racism is alive and well in the United States of America. Jan Brewer was more than happy to demonstrate this as she greeted the President on his recent visit, a visit which has been captured for immortality by an infamous picture:

Barack Obama probably will have to pull out a familiar card next year: the luck of the draw.

In winning the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, the president defeated political heavyweights, starting with Hillary Clinton. His other triumphs were facilitated by lots of luck.

In his 2004 race for a U.S. Senate seat in Illinois, the candidacies of both his chief primary opponent and initial Republican rival collapsed when divorce papers were disclosed during the campaign; one was accused of violent behavior and the other of kinky sex. In that year’s general election, his Republican opponent, by process of elimination, was Alan Keyes, a fringe figure who wasn’t even a resident of the state.

In March 2007, a fake 'advert' appeared on YouTube (Vote Different) casting Hillary Clinton in the role of Big Brother in an apparent take of the '1984' Apple advert. I saw that advert within two days of its release and noted that, within a week, more than a million people had viewed it. Up until that moment, Hillary was clearly on top in the elections and was going well. he seemed unstoppable, the competition from the virtually unknown Barack Obama seemingly not of any consequence. The smart money said that she was a 'shoe in' for all sorts of reason: pedigree, gender, competence, knowledge of the system and credibility. A done deal.

However, on seeing this advert, I wondered if it would eventually damage her through changing people's perception to regard her in a different light - a more negative one. I remember saying to a friend that it was very powerful in its symbolism and imagery and would affect her in some way. We will never know what role it actually played in her downfall but, to date, nearly six million people have watched it.

Last week, another Apple Iphone fake advert came on the scene (Republicans in Congress), this time lampooning the Republicans in a very slick and cynical way. It is very effective simply because it graphically demonstrates the issues in a catchy and memorable way with the slogan, "There's a Rep for That!" What I found interesting, and dangerous for the Republicans in some way, is the easy way the 'advert' helped understanding of the part their Congress representatives were playing in the more negative issues, illustrated in a way that anyone, even foreigners could understand. So far nearly a quarter of a million people have seen it.

Moreover, history has shown, that if you wish to help something lose its credibility, just poke fun at it. The image is then changed forever: Tina Fey and Sarah Palin, for example. That is because humour is a far more powerful tool in attacking politicians and making them look silly than trying to discredit them otherwise. Having seen this 'advert' it certainly raised my awareness of their actions and who the key players are. But will it also do the same, in a negative way, for American voters?

Put another way, will this fake advert on YouTube for all to see damage the Republicans chances of any kind of success?

Over to you to tell us, with the usual courtesy and maturity.

Many people (white ones mainly) are keen to boast how 'colour-blind' they are. They genuinely believe that the best way to appreciate someone is to ignore a significant aspect of them! But if race and gender are the two key elements which make up our identity, why are they not gender-blind too? Yet, in view of the rush of female support for Hillary Clinton in the 2008 American elections, women who openly admitted rallying behind her because they perceived she had been treated in a 'sexist' manner by the media, were certainly NOT gender-blind too. We tend to acknowledge women first, then worry about how they fit in with our perspectives later. We don't believe they are pseudo-men to make ourselves feel better. And very few men would boast of being a woman! They value their masculine persona and are very proud of it.

With colour, it's quite a different story. Many people deliberately ignore someone's colour in order to be 'fair' to them? But how is that any kind of fairness when we do not acknowledge, accept or celebrate their difference? Being colour-blind is actually treating people as 'honorary' versions of ourselves so that we don't have to address that difference at all, and it reduces our own discomfort in the process. Whenever we lack the skills to deal with anything unfamiliar and perceived to be threatening, we either relegate it to the same level as us, we treat it with contempt as beneath us by acting superior towards it or we ignore it altogether by being superficially 'blind' to it!

The function of any of those approaches is simply to help us to cope with difference. When the recipents insist on being treated according to THEIR expectations, we are likely to object too because, not being able to deal with such difference, we then belittle its relevance and/or negate its presence.

WaltD, a fellow Viner, once said in a comment, in dealing with anyone, the ideal is that:
"We start with the most obvious traits - gender, race, age. We then go through culture, taste, personal history, etc. Eventually we see the person as Human and ultimately as another version of ourselves. To skip any of these stages is wrong....it's like skipping to the last page of a book.

Amen to that! This should be framed and put on every wall!

It is a most apt comment because it is precisely what the familiarisation process with each other is all about - really getting to know people, allowing them to reveal themselves to us and not trying to be blind to what is important about them. Trouble comes when we do the short hand route, skipping out the bits which define that person, because we feel uncomfortable handling them, and then we are left wondering why we are no nearer to understanding that person or feeling at one with them. It seems acceptable for women to rally behind Hillary Clinton and protect her, mainly because she is a woman and they are women, but with Barack Obama, similar support on racial lines was not deemed acceptable. One should see only his talents and not his colour. That's impossible in view of human nature and the emotional need to align with one's species for identity, security and reinforcement.

In every new interaction, acknowledgement of the superficial and external elements should come first, then we move away from them to explore the similarities. Only where there is fear do we allow the differences to become the elephant in the room. By being 'colour-blind', we refuse to acknowledge something significant about that individual, while it gradually becomes an invisible barrier, a taboo subject. That approach merely thwarts greater understanding and empathy of the recipients' perception and practices, denying them their identity, while morphing them into acceptable versions of ourselves to prevent us feeling threatened.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Baghdad on Saturday, a day after suicide bombings killed dozens in the Iraqi capital.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to meet the U.S.'s top commander in Iraq during her Baghdad visit.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to meet the U.S.'s top commander in Iraq during her Baghdad visit.

The one-day visit to Baghdad was not previously announced because of security concerns.

Clinton, who spoke with reporters after she landed in Kuwait on Friday evening, said she planned to meet with the United State's top commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, to get his assessment on the recent bombings in Iraq.

"I want his evaluation of what these kinds of rejectionist efforts mean," Clinton said. "And what can be done to prevent them by both the Iraqi government and the U.S. forces."

Clinton added that she did not see signs of rekindled sectarian violence.

"I think that the suicide bombings, that are lethal and terrible in the loss of life and the injuries they inflict, are in an unfortunately tragic way the signal that the rejectionists fear that Iraq is going in the right direction."

I must start out by saying that I need to give credit where credit is due. I was a dyed-in-the-wool Obama supporter since 2006 when I originally left the Republican Party for the Democratic Party. In a bitter primary contest I argued that Hillary Clinton was not suited for high office, but I was wrong. In reality, I now think that she is very talented and simply had the dumb luck of choosing to run in a year when someone with superior campaigning and oratory skills ran against her. As I have reviewed her first trip as Secretary of State representing the United States as its foremost diplomat, it has become clearer to me that President Obama having a person with her one of a kind skill set to send as his emissary is going to be crucial to his ability to accomplish his foreign policy goals. Clinton was uniquely suited for this job, bringing qualities to the position that are rarely combined in a single person as well as at least one that she alone possesses.

Hillary Clinton's talent and experience that she brings with her to her new post are the best suited to being Secretary of State than those of any other possible candidate that I can think of. Clinton not only has a lifetime of political experience to draw upon while doing her job, but her time as a policy wonk when she was First Lady as well as in the Senate has also aptly prepared her to know the specifics of a given situation that she will be negotiating an agreement on. Furthermore, aside from Obama and her husband, she is the only other person that has the worldwide name recognition and good will towards her from the citizens of other countries to command the respect of a majority of people in our allies' societies. The slow trickle of allied troops from European countries away from the Iraq War was as a result of the personal enmity that these populations felt towards George W. Bush because they commanded their prime ministers with an iron fist and threatened to remove their PM's party from power unless the PM shared their view of Bush and his foreign policy. Clinton can regain these people's trust which she can then parley into strategic victories with European leaders who don't have to fear for their own position by supporting the United States again. Clinton may even be able to pull some European countries out of their rut and get them to contribute more serious numbers of combat troops to Afghanistan rather than just the support troops that they have been sending.

What I feel has been her greatest strength so far, however, is her candor in the public about negotiations with our allies, our enemies and most importantly the countries that lie somewhere in that gray area. Clinton was able to deduce that the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was looked at by the Chinese as their reemergence from the "Century of Shame" onto the world stage once more as a world powerbroker. In the aftermath of the Games, China is not likely to respond favorably to criticism from us on the world stage. Therefore, Clinton dispensed with all the niceties and simply said that at this point in the relationship America's economic, national and environmental security all trump China's record of human rights abuse. It was critical that Clinton address this issue of American priorities because China, if left with the vague and nebulous ideas from the last five years or so of America's priorities when it came to negotiating with China, was not likely to cooperate on a wide range of issues that were important, have become urgent and are inching their way up to critical mass.

What does the United States need from China? In short, a lot. On the economic front, we have the important issue of the value of the yuan and the damage done to America's manufacturing sector when the Chinese banking system pegs the yuan at an arbitrary rate rather than allowing it to fluctuate with the economy like our dollar does. China keeps the yuan exchange rate at a level where the yuan is always exchanged for a fraction of a dollar because keeping their currency artificially weak is a way for China to keep its huge manufacturing sector producing on the verge of economic overheating. China's ruling oligarchy has a relatively simple deal with the majority of the Chinese people: if the Chinese government keeps the economy up and doing well then the people do not protest, riot or overthrow the government because of the rights that they know people in other countries (like America) have but they do not. Onto the most important issue that there is, however, and that is the issue of China continuing to buy American debt. Every other issue of substance is related to this one single question because without our economic prowess we cannot address our other issues, including national security, much less sustain the solutions once they are found. Foreign countries, but chiefly China, must continue to believe that America is a good bet for a reliable and steady return on investment and continue buying accordingly. We cannot claw our way out of the hole we are in without the aid of foreign capital in the form of loans and China provides a significant chunk of that capital.

On the national security front, China has three ways that they are useful to us and now that Clinton has dispelled any ideas the Chinese had that America was going to act contrary to China's best interests because of their human rights record they are much more likely to work with us in these areas. The first problem is the most pressing to both China and the United States and that problem is North Korea. North Korea is a problem for us because they field nuclear weapons that could potentially hit the American west coast, they are hard up for money and would likely sell that technology to anyone they met on the street like a crack addict selling his car for a fix and there appears to be a power vacuum that has been created by the absence of Kim Jong-Il at the top of the pecking order due to a stroke that turned him into a weak, doddering and indecisive leader. There is a real threat that one of any number of generals in the North Korean army could make a power-grab at any time, causing instability in one of the more unstable countries already. That instability could cause confusion and under the veneer of that confusion unscrupulous individuals in the North Korean army could make serious money by selling to one of our terrorist enemies like al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran, etc. China perceives that North Korea could be a potential a security threat to them because a destabilized North Korea would end up sending China its millions of starving refugees all needing basic services to stay alive. They would upset what China has termed their "harmonious" society (the idea mentioned earlier in which the Chinese people tacitly agree not to challenge for more civil rights as long as the government keeps the economy humming). Therefore, since they pose a serious threat of a ruinous change, China will conclude that it must control Pyongyang and that collaborating with the United States is the simplest road to that. The third issue is that Russia has recently emerged from the lucrative oil years with Putin using the current elected leader as his puppet and channeling the profits from the oil boom back into the Russian military after it was on starvation rations for most of the post-Soviet world's lifetime. Russia has made overtures that it wants to push into the same part of the Pacific that China and the United States have been competing over but in a less hostile way. Due to the long history of a rift in Sino-Russian relations, it is clear whom America should be working with. Terrorism is a further issue that we must work with the Chinese on because they too have a problem with Islamists in the Uighur region of their country.

Finally there is the issue of environmental security. Foremost among these issues are China's energy generation policies. Not only does China utilizing oil and coal for burning to generate electricity raise the price of both commodities, but it also creates a more pressing issue for the west coast of the United States: a continuous pollution cloud that blows in from the Pacific which mixes with the already noxious levels of smog in Los Angeles and other urban centers. Furthermore, scientists speculate that the emissions from such energy production are harmful to the environment because of climate change and the Democrats agree with them, regardless of what the objective truth is. To get the Kyoto Protocols to work or some other plan in place is going to require bigger cuts from "developing" economies like those in China and India. Clinton cannily conceded the human rights issue knowing full well that it will go a long way to paying China's asking price for their cooperation in the issues that I have mentioned here.

*In a sermon delivered Sunday at his old stomping ground, Barack Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright referred to one of his harshest critics, Elisabeth Hasselbeck of ABC's "The View," as "that dumb broad." ...

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I think he is. There has been a lot of angst, and disappointment, this past week, especially among Obama supporters, regarding the appointment of Hillary Clinton, but I think it is misplaced. In fact, one supporter even go as far as saying, "McCain chose Palin for political purposes -- and you saw where it got him. Obama has chosen Hillary for political purposes, and I fear it will derail his foreign policy and allow a nest of snakes to seethe next to his office". She felt saying her objections out loud was the only way she could protest.

It did not surprise me at all that she was in the Cabinet. I was only surprised by the post she was offered because I think that is too high a profile for her, given the rivalry between them and their major personalities. Hillary was always going to be in the picture, especially after the support she and her husband gave Obama in the last couple of months, not to mention the huge supporter base she has. The Clintons do not do anything for the sake of it and I did wonder, during the campaign, what was the real cost of their support! :o(

Many people mistakenly believe that CHANGE means everything changing in an instant, expecting too much too quickly. If that happened, and Obama started from base, so to speak, the government would collapse after a short time. Long term change is always gradual, never immediate, to avoid causing intense loss or damage of some sort. Change has to have a foundation too, so one cannot jettison the past to get it. If the past was all that bad, we wouldn't have achieved the incredible things we have done so far. The past is crucial for laying that foundation, for choosing what was right and wholesome in order to achieve the change one seeks.

Real change is building brick by brick, changing past actions gently to make a better future, which is exactly what he is doing just now. It is thus unrealistic to expect the President-elect to start from scratch with everything, just because he is for 'change', when he has to change things gradually to maintain the natural balance and equilibrium of what is there already. It means that as long as he employs experienced and new people, with more new than old, he is on the right path to achieving what he wants and getting the results he desires. Sooner or later, the 'new' staff he employs will be the ones in power. Then things will begin to happen in a more noticeable way.

Barack Obama can look after himself pretty well, that is the reason why he is president. He doesn't need anyone to fret and worry about him. He just needs their trust. They believed he could do the job, that's why they elected him to do it. They are not in his hot seat. They have to stop worrying about every decision he makes, to accept that he won't do everything to their liking, and allow him to get on with his job the way he sees fit. He doesn't have the fears that other people have and so will be much bolder and adept in getting what he wants.  Hillary might be the price he has to pay for unity and bringing more people over to his side, to give him the time and space he needs to become his own man. But I predict great things after the first two years.

The real litmus test will come in a few months time when he has learned the ropes, has a bit of executive experience under his belt and starts shedding people and appointing new ones - the kind of people he genuinely wants to spread his particular message. Then we're likely to see the real Barack Obama and exactly what he had in mind. These early days are just window-dressing, keeping most sides pacified to unify the country. Patience, dear folks, is a most valuable virtue.

Hopefully, it's just a rumor started by the Clintonistas, but is Barack Obama seriously considering appointing Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state? If he pulls the trigger on that appointment, he will deserve what he gets!

Obama would do well to remember the history of Harry Truman and Jimmy Byrnes in 1944. Byrnes, known as the "assistant president" in FDR's third term, was widely thought to be Roosevelt's choice to replace Henry Wallace as his running mate on the 1944 ticket.

At the last minute, FDR re-considered and decided Byrnes, a South Carolinian, was too conservative and went with Truman instead. But the Democratic Party establishment clearly was disappointed.

If Barack Obama wanted to offer Hillary Clinton a job, will he be doing so after her public behaviour regarding his intention? The one thing her reaction, and that of her supporters, showed recently was that there would be two points of focus at the White House, not one, should she join his Cabinet in such a highly visible role as Secretary of State.

Like everyone else, Hillary was called very quietly for a private discussion, whatever the content was. Reporters and observers were quite free to assume what they like regarding that meeting. However, by allowing her staff to leak content from the discussion, and a massive media debate to follow, it deliberately aimed to put the new President-elect in a situation where he would have to give her what she wanted. Her reaction was so stark, compared to the other contenders who were also called for a chat, it would have been troubling to those trying to mend the fences to actually have Hillary on the team. I would hazard a guess that they discussed a number of potential openings for her but she deliberately focused on that one perhaps because that's the main one she wants.

While all the other candidates under consideration have been absolutely mum on their chats with the transition team, remaining entirely stoic and diplomatic about what might have transpired, as it should be, with Hillary Clinton it was entirely different. She was still acting presidential. One could sense an orchestrated effort by sources close to Clinton to already anoint her in the job, most likely with the aim of surreptitiously forcing Barack's hand. But that would not have been a very clever thing to do. Barack Obama is the man in charge, and also likes to do things his way. He will do what he thinks is right. Yet she was still acting as though she was in control. All she had to say was "No comment" and forbade any discussion on the issue until everything was sealed and signed, to allow the President-elect to announce anything himself. The very nature of so many pages being written and said about a job that has not yet been offered would have demonstrated what he fears most: two de facto presidents in the White House instead of one, should she get such a high profile role. She would continue to be a law onto herself, doing what she pleased.

I think what happened after their meeting would have alarmed him somewhat, which is probably why they hastily released the fact that there were four people in contention for the Secretary of State's position, not just one, and that they are also vetting her husband's overseas connections too, in order to regain the initiative. I think she might now be placed somewhere else, if only to show that she would be one of a 'team' and not a sole player, as she seems to be behaving, and to also emphasise who is actually the new president, in case she still has any illusions!

Sen. Hillary Clinton emerged on Thursday as a candidate to be U.S. secretary of state for Barack Obama, months after he defeated her in an intense contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Putting Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton, in the position could help heal whatever lingering divisions remain in the Democratic Party after her bitter battle with Obama....

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THE MORTGAGE PLAN: Early in the debate, John McCain said that Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., proposed the same kind of mortgage buy-up plan that he did. "During the depression era, we had a thing called the Homeownership Loan Corporation, and they went out and bought up these mortgages and people were able to stay in their homes and, eventually, the values of those homes went up and they actually made money. And, by the way, this was a proposal made by Sen. Clinton not too long ago," McCain said.

FALSE. While Clinton has proposed directly helping homeowners by having the government buy and resell mortgages that are in danger of foreclosure, her proposal would force financial institutions to take a loss. The McCain proposal, by contrast, is more generous to financial institutions and more costly for taxpayers. The Arizona senator would have the government pay face value for home mortgages, ensuring that financial institutions avoid a loss. More background here...more...

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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton offered a Democratic rejoinder to the Republican chant of "drill, baby, drill." Said the one-time presidential candidate: "Jobs, baby, jobs."

Campaigning for her once bitter rival Barack Obama in Pennsylvania, the New York senator told about 1,500 people at an historic farm in suburban Horsham, that her husband's administration produced a balanced budget and a surplus.

"Now, eight short years later, we've had to add a digit to the debt clock," she said, referring to the digital sign in New York City that tracks the national debt.

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First lady Laura Bush says Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin lacks sufficient foreign policy experience but is a very quick study.

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U.S. presidential candidate Sen. John McCain may take his running mate Sarah Palin to the United Nations next week, U.N. officials said on Tuesday, to give her the chance to meet a few world leaders

The Wall Street Journal cited an unnamed Republican strategist as saying a visit to the United Nations would boost the Alaska governor's foreign policy credentials.

Palin has traveled very little outside the United States and recently came under fire after the Boston Globe revealed she had not been in Iraq as she had claimed, but only visited a checkpoint on the Kuwait-Iraqi border to meet U.S. troops.

One U.N. diplomat joked that a visit to the United Nations in New York would add one more trip outside the United States to Palin's resume -- a reference to the fact that the U.N. compound is technically not on U.S. territory....

Without being smarmy about it or unfurling gotcha questions, ABC News anchor Charles Gibson demonstrated that he knows volumes more about national security and foreign policy than does Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

In an on-location-in-Alaska interview that consumed 11 or 12 minutes (video) of the Thursday edition of World News Tonight and continues later tonight on Nightline and again tomorrow on World News Tonight and 20/20, Palin recited her answers as if reading from a Teleprompter inside her head. The extensive coaching she has received could not save her from embarrassment in this exchange.

Palin can't blame her muddled responses on Gibson, who treats her fairly and conducts himself professionally. Never mind about her not being ready to be president. She wasn't even ready for this interview..

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Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Friday defended two debunked television ads attacking Democrat Barack Obama and claimed erroneously that running mate Sarah Palin never sought money for lawmakers' pet projects as Alaska governor.

Palin sought $197 million in so-called "earmarks" for 2009. In the previous budget year, she asked for earmarks worth $256 million..../blockquote>

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(Video) Exclusive: Charlie Gibson's Interview with Gov Sarah Palin

Charlie Gibson talks with the Alaskan governor about foreign policy...

Dear Sen. Biden:

You have a problem. In less than a month, you will face off against Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in a vice-presidential debate in St. Louis, and were you anyone but Joe Biden, it would likely be a rout. Last week, Palin proved herself a charming, confident, and gifted reader of speeches. But that doesn't change the fact that two years ago she was the mayor of a town of 6,000, crusading against dirty books at the local library. You are a six-term senator and chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee. World leaders routinely friend you, unbidden, on Facebook ("Wait … Is this the Angela Merkel?"). World leaders had never heard of Gov. Palin until last Friday.

That's your problem, Joe. Everyone expects you to win the debate, and to trounce her on the substance. But the rules for debating Gov. Palin are different. If you lecture her, you'll be seen as a sexist bully. If you act too smart, you'll be seen as a sexist bully. If you condescend to her, you'll be seen as a sexist bully. So this longtime parliamentary debater (and longer-time female) is going to humbly offer you a few tips on how to debate a girl....

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But voters really want to know one thing: How would the presidential candidates' views trickle down to their tax bills? A report released Wednesday by a nonpartisan policy group in Washington, D.C., takes a big first step toward answering that question.

According to the Tax Policy Center's findings...

McCain: The average taxpayer in every income group would see a lower tax bill, but high-income taxpayers would benefit more than everyone else.

Obama: High-income taxpayers would pay more in taxes, while everyone else's tax bill would be reduced. Those who benefit the most - in terms of reducing their taxes as a percentage of after-tax income - are in the lowest income groups.

The Tax Policy Center estimates that over 10 years, McCain's tax proposals could increase the national debt by as much as $4.5 trillion with interest, while Obama's could add as much as $3.3 trillion....

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Sarah Palin's family was ordered by a judge three years ago not to disparage her sister's ex-husband, the Alaska state trooper at the center of an investigation into whether the governor abused her power trying to get him fired.

A custody investigator appointed concluded that Molly McCann, Palin's sister, had disparaged Mike Wooten in front of their children, Judge John Suddock said during an October 2005 hearing. The judge warned her and her relatives not to disparage Wooten in front of the kids.

"Disparaging is not to be tolerated — it's a form of child abuse," Suddock said...

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Alaska Gov., Sarah Palin's church, Wasilla Bible Church (Larry Kroon, senior pastor), where she has been a member for six years, is hosting a conference that says it will convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

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This week's mainstream coverage of the presidential horse-race has been dominated by a series of polls showing the McCain-Palin ticket with its first stable lead over Obama and Biden. Gallup's tracking poll, USA Today and CBS News all show the Republicans with some kind of lead over the Democratic ticket. But, interestingly, all three polls were also conducted using a higher sampling of Republican voters than in July, raising a question of methodology.

In a year in which Democrats have a lead of 11 million registered voters over Republicans, and have been adding to that advantage through a robust field operation, are pollsters over-sampling Republicans?

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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin referred to herself at the Republican National Convention as being a pit bull with lipstick.

Arizona Sen. John McCain in May called Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care proposals "lipstick on a pig."

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama told a gathering in Virginia on Tuesday that McCain's "change" message was "lipstick on a pig."

By late Tuesday, McCain's campaign organized a telephone conference call in response and called on Obama to apologize for calling Palin a pig.

Obama's campaign said he wasn't referring to Palin; he had been talking about McCain immediately before the lipstick comment....

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Senator Barack Obama will increasingly lean on prominent Democratic women to undercut Gov. Sarah Palin and Senator John McCain , dispatching Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to Florida on Monday and creating a rapid-response team to deploy female surrogates to battleground states, Obama advisers said on Thursday.

Mrs. Clinton's campaign event in Florida, her first for Mr. Obama since the Democratic convention last month, will include a forceful response to the searing attacks and fresh burst of energy that Ms. Palin injected into the race with her convention speech on Wednesday night

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Hillary leaves Bill kissing air

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It is very fashionable to desire unity in a party, especially when it begins to look remarkably fractious. It is also the easiest word to say as part of wishful thinking because most of us dislike conflict and simply yearn for a quiet life instead. But unity comes out of two main elements: sincerity - genuinely ditching the past to concentrate on both the present and the potential for the future, and forgiveness - to pave the way for a better understanding and appreciation of all parties working together. With no forgiveness, it is very difficult to move on to get that sought-after bonding.

Two days after her great speech in Denver, the one almost everyone thought was a unifying moment, the one many thought did the job to heal the wounds and support Barack Obama, in the cold light of a new day that speech is found wanting, because the two main elements of getting unity are absent. Hillary said some supportive things, yes, but there were many others she did not say which she could easily have said to show that sincerity and one of them should have related to Barack's potential.

As Christopher Hitchens points out in his thought-provoking little piece for the Mirror, Hillary said quite a few negative things about Obama during the campaign, especially regarding his lack of readiness to take command, which many people would not have forgotten. Yet she "certainly decided not to utter a word - a word - about Obama's readiness to assume the burden of commander-in-chief." It means that there is no sincerity there at all. She still holds to her view, her possible trump card for the future, when she stands against Obama again. Perhaps quietly lying in wait to say "I told you so"?

Yet an emphasis on his potential to do the job, for many people, would have been the most important sign that they are both on the same team now, unified and ready to run together for the benefit of the Democrats. Acknowledging that, for now, at least, he is the man of the moment, as ready as can be to assume command. Her acknowledgement of his suitability would have retracted what she said during the campaign.

Everyone says things about one another when they are rivals, especially when they are playing for such high stakes. But being rivals in the same party carries a different kind of responsibility than being on opposite sides of the political fence. The responsibility to always remember that you and your colleague are on the same side, with the same party values and, most important, that the two of you will have to support each other at the end, regardless of who gets the nomination.

Without that sincerity regarding Barack Obama's true potential, there is obviously no forgiveness, either, on her part. Whatever the Democrats are hoping to have over the next few weeks until the election, unity, sadly won't be part of it, because the deep animosity and anger felt by her supporters for her defeat is really being repressed by superficial gloss hiding the wounds beneath.

As Hitchens concludes:

But the most honest line of the whole speech was her accidentally truthful assertion that "John McCain is my friend".

Yes, indeed he is, and if he should beat Barack Obama for the Presidency he is the even-better friend of the never-ending campaign to keep the Clinton cult alive.

With the opposition nominee affirmed proudly as 'her friend', on a night when she should have been denouncing him as a public enemy, in true unity with Obama, that truly says it all.

Amid a spate of awkward on-air conflicts among MNSBC anchors at this week's Democratic convention, some staff members say there are sharp internal disputes at the cable network over whether its opinion and personality-driven political coverage has crossed the line.

"The situation at our channel is about to blow up," a high-ranking MSNBC journalist told Politico on Wednesday.

Two other MSNBC sources said some of the testy on-air exchanges between Keith Olbermann — whose quick-witted and often caustic commentary has fueled ratings growth — and other network personalities were a public glimpse of much more intense behind-the-scenes turmoil.

As many in the room yelled, "No," Clinton said that, while she was releasing the delegates she had won in the primaries, "I am not telling you what to do. You've come here from so many different places having made this journey and feeling in your heart what is right for you to do."

Suspense still remained over the voting process — and whether and when a planned roll-call vote would be cut off to give Obama the nomination by acclamation.

Obama planned a mid-afternoon arrival in the convention city after campaigning in Montana....

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"We're gathered here in Denver for a very clear and specific purpose," the New York senator said at breakfast meeting of the New York delegation. "And that purpose is to elect Barack Obama president of the United States. ... Now, I ask each and every one of you to work as hard for Barack Obama as you worked for me."

"Make no mistake about it," she declared. "We are united."

Later, at a meeting with members of the Democratic Hispanic Caucus, she repeated the same unity message as the crowd chanted, "Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!"

For a brief moment, as the former first lady waved to supporters and they stood on chairs to catch a glimpse of her, it felt like her convention.

"Sure, I wish this was her convention, absolutely," said Terry McAuliffe, her campaign fundraiser and confidant.

"Why would you not let her have her moment?" he asked. "Let her speak, let her unite the party, and when she finished her speech we'll be united and fired up like a rocket."

One delegate from California, Marisa Yeager, smiled as she glanced at Clinton, making the convention rounds Monday, but has moved on. She wore a button that said Hillary Supporter for Obama and said she was ready to throw her support behind the Illinois senator.

"This is definitely a little bittersweet," Yeager said. "We all wanted the Clinton-Obama dream ticket. But I am completely supportive of Sen. Obama. It's time to bring everyone together."

Curley Clark, a delegate from Mississippi, a Clinton supporter agreed.

"There are some wounds, some deep wounds, and the Obama campaign definitely has their work cut out for them, but let's move on," he said....

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Shocking ...

Racial infighting among Democrats, which marred the presidential primaries, has flared up again at the party's convention in Denver, where a black Hillary Clinton delegate is accusing a black Barack Obama delegate of calling her an "Uncle Tom."

Delmarie Cobb of Chicago told FOX News Monday that Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, whom Obama called his "political godfather," hurled the racially charged insult against her late Saturday for speaking out in support of Clinton. Although Democrats at the convention are trying to project an image of unity, there is lingering bitterness between the Clinton and Obama camps, in part because each side accused the other of playing the race card during the primaries.

On Monday, Illinois' National Organization for Women President Bonnie Grabenhofer reportedly called on Jones to resign immediately from the Illinois state Senate for using the racial slur.

Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama agreed Monday to limit a divisive roll call for president, giving delegates a brief but historic choice between a black man and white woman.

The deal would allow some states to cast votes for both Obama and Clinton before ending the roll call in acclamation for the Illinois senator. Clinton herself may cut off the vote and recommend unanimous nomination of Obama, according to Democratic officials involved in the negotiations. They discussed the deal on condition of anonymity while details were being finalized.

Some Clinton delegates said they were not interested in a compromise, raising the prospect of floor demonstrations that would underscore the split between Obama and Clinton Democrats.

"I don't care what she says," said Mary Boergers, a Maryland delegate who wants to cast a vote for Clinton.

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...people close to him say, because among many grievances he has about the campaign Obama waged against his wife is a belief that the candidate poor-mouthed the political and policy successes of his two terms.

Some senior Democrats close to Obama, meanwhile, made clear in not-for-attribution comments that they were equally irked at the Clinton operation. Nearly three months after Hillary Clinton conceded defeat in the nomination contest, these Obama partisans complained, her team continues to act like she and Bill Clinton hold leverage.

Some senior Obama supporters are irritated at how they perceive the Clintons fanned — or at a minimum failed to douse — stories that she was not even vetted as a possible vice presidential nominee. This is because she told Obama she preferred not to go through the rigorous process of document production unless she was really a serious contender, an Obama associate noted.

One senior Obama supporter said the Clinton associates negotiating on her behalf act like "Japanese soldiers in the South Pacific still fighting after the war is over."

A prominent Obama backer said some of Clinton's lieutentants negotiating with the Obama team are "bitter enders" who presume that, rather than the Clintons reconciling themselves to Obama's victory, it is up to Obama to accommodate them.

In fact, some senior veterans of Clinton's presidential campaign do believe this....

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Now that the not-so-secret courtship of Joe Biden has culminated in a most public union with Senator Barack Obama, many Conservatives are breathing a sigh of relief. For those who have worried lo these many months about a last second surprise "Dream Ticket" with Hillary Clinton or some combination featuring Evan Bayh, Jim Webb, Chuck Hagel, or others who might offer centrist appeal, we instead got a gift from the Obama Campaign.

It would be wrong or foolish to underestimate Joe Biden; he is very smart, caustically funny, a cunning and skilled political operative of the first degree, and a fierce and unrelenting partisan. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to an Obama campaign that was sorely lacking in certain key areas.

However, Joe Biden is ideologically not a balance to the ticket; he is only marginally less Left than Obama on many significant issues, and has a reputation for fiesty stubborness that does not bode well for much bi-partisan cooperation. Tales of his temper flashes rival those of John McCain. And, he is a known one-man gaffe machine who can sometimes be a loose cannon.

He is, in the gracious and understated words of the Los Angeles Times, "famously verbose," who struggles to articulate issues in a succinct manner; unless, of course, he is cutting someone down, in which case he can be razor sharp.

One of my favorite Biden moments, as recounted by the above-mentioned LA Times was when he was still running for President:

Biden's arming cluelessness was on display in a recent ABC news interview. The famously verbose senator was asked to state in 25 words or less why Democrats should nominate him. His response was 45 words. I suppose that, by Biden's standards, coming in at just under twice his allotted length counts as a victory of sorts. Biden then explained why he could win:

If people learn my story, learn my record, I think I can compete. The question is, can I raise the money. This is sort of like me saying that I think I can compete for a starting NFL quarterback job, but the question is, can I avoid injuries. It's a question, but it's certainly not the question.

If Biden can use a sports metaphor, then so can I. My terrible golf skills are redeemed in this one regard: even though I can't hit the ball straight, I can't hit it very far. Biden not only has a propensity to toss out the gaffes, but given his verbosity, when he goes off course, it can be a whopper.

Who can forget Biden's earlier Presidential run (OK, poor choice of words) back in 1988, when he had to drop out due to the discovery of him plagerizing a speech from a UK politician? As the LA Times and others have noted, Biden more recently raised eyebrows with his awkwardly-worded praise of Obama as being the first mainstream Presidential candidate who was black, "clean," and "articulate."

Reverends Jackson and Sharpton were not amused.

In Biden's defense, neither Sharpton nor Jackson were exactly "mainstream" or had a chance to actually win the elections, and when Biden used the unfortunate phrase "clean," he was picking up on an old 1950s complimentary word meaning "really sharp and together." Sharpton, who is not always sharp or together, immediately spun Biden's comment to mean that black politicians had heretofore practiced poor hygiene, and much hysteria ensued. And, Biden didn't help his image as being racially insensitive when he said, "you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent."

Few of Biden's statements may come back to haunt him more than this one, as reported today in the Daily Mail UK:

However, Mr Biden, 65, is known for being talkative and is prone to making statements which get him into trouble.

"Biden has denounced Barack Obama's poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realising - that Barack Obama is not ready to be president"'

On the other hand, Biden has made many warm comments about John McCain, and even suggested that he would consider being McCain's running mate:

I would be honored to run with or against John McCain because I think the country would be better off.

One thing is certain: we will be hearing a lot more about these quotes and gaffes in days ahead. Another thing is certain: we have not heard the last words from Joe Biden about these issues. Not by a long shot.

This "O'Biden" ticket (I want to trademark that) is a bit of an odd couple, and it's pretty obvious which one is Oscar and which one is Felix. Will the cautious and lawyerly Obama be undone by the caustic and careless Biden? Time will tell.

A prominent Philadelphia attorney and Hillary Clinton supporter filed suit this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee. The action seeks an injunction preventing the senator from continuing his candidacy and a court order enjoining the DNC from nominating him next week, all on grounds that Sen. Obama is constitutionally ineligible to run for and hold the office of President of the United States.

Roseanne Barr has followed up her Brangelina tirade with a verbal assault on Barack and Michelle Obama, Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, DNC Chairman Howard Dean, and Democrats overall.

The liberal comedian's latest blog rant also blames Oprah Winfrey's support of Obama for taking away primary votes that would've gone to Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Below is Barr's posting in its entirety:

democrats want to lose...

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It's about time somebody said it ...before NBC continues any further to do to McCain what they did to Hillary Clinton!

McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis asked Sunday for a meeting with Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, to protest what the campaign called signs that the network is "abandoning non-partisan coverage of the Presidential race."

Davis made the request Sunday in a letter that is part of an aggressive effort by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to counter news coverage he considers critical.

Politico has asked NBC for a response and will post that here when it arrives.

In this case, the campaign is objecting to a statement by NBC's Andrea Mitchell on "Meet the Press" questioning whether McCain might have gotten a heads-up on some of the questions that were asked of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who was the first candidate to be interviewed Saturday night by Pastor Rick Warren at a presidential forum on faith.

But behind the united front, says an adviser, "it's not a great relationship, and it's probably not going to become one." In private conversations, associates say, Clinton remains skeptical that Obama can win in the fall. That's a sentiment some other Democrats believe is not just a prediction but a wish, because it would prove her right about his weaknesses as a general-election candidate and possibly pave the way for her to run again in 2012.

"There are things that I wish I'd urged her to do. Things I wish I'd said. Things I wish I hadn't said.

"But I am not a racist," he continued. "I've never made a racist comment and I never attacked him [Obama] personally."

Clinton was referring to an uproar surrounding some of his comments in the South Carolina Democratic primary that prompted anger among some in the African-American community. After Obama, D-Ill., defeated his wife there, Clinton seemed to downplay the significance of the victory by noting Jesse Jackson had won South Carolina in 1984 and 1988, which some observers found offensive.

The controversy later brought an apology from Hillary Clinton, who told reporters, "You know, I am sorry if anyone was offended. It was certainly not meant in any way to be offensive."

Bill Clinton suggested he is still mad at one politician, South Carolina's Rep. Jim Clyburn, who abandoned his neutrality to back Obama after claiming that the former president had injected race into the campaign.

When Clyburn's name was brought up as a supporter who criticized the former president, Clinton interrupted to say Clyburn was never a supporter of the Clintons.

When Clyburn's description was changed to "longtime friend," Clinton replied, "Used to be."

Pressed on whether Clinton "severely damaged" his standing with African-Americans as Clyburn has claimed, Clinton snapped, "Yeah, that may be. By the time he got through working on it, that was probably true."

But Clinton says that he has no hard feelings towards Obama, the man who defeated his wife.

"I'm not and never was mad at Senator Obama," Clinton said.

"You know he hit her hard a couple of times and they hit us a few times a week before she ever responded in kind. The only thing I ever got mad about was people in your line of work pretending that she somehow started the negative stuff. It's a contact sport," Clinton said.

The Obama campaign's only response to Clinton's comments was to say, "We had a hard-fought primary. We head to the fall, a united Democratic Party, and look forward to the general election."

More significant is the likelihood that both Sen. Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton will have prominent speaking roles at the Democratic convention later this month, where Obama will be nominated to be the party's presidential nominee....

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NEW YORK - Going after the women's vote, Democrat Barack Obama chastised Republican John McCain on Thursday over his opposition to an equal-pay Senate bill, his support for conservative-leaning Supreme Court justices and his abortion-rights objections.

"I will never back down in defending a woman's right to choose," the likely Democratic nominee said, drawing a sharp contrast with his GOP rival.

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton held their political bonding ceremony in the middle of a field since the tiny town where they did the deed had no buildings big enough to host such a momentous occasion. The symbolism was obviously supposed to stretch way, way beyond mere unity. Think the signing of the Magna Carta. Or that baseball movie with Kevin Costner. If you concede it, they will come.

No one cared much about Unity - the town or the ideal - back when more than a dozen candidates were competing in the New Hampshire primary.

One very simple answer. I do not like the man that is Senator Barack Obama. He does not share my values. He does not share my principles. He does not get my vote.

Barack Obama and his advisers have begun the process of vetting vice presidential running mates, and Hillary Clinton and several former military leaders have landed on the soon-to-be Democratic nominee's list of 20 potential candidates.

Imagine the scenario: Hillary has been chosen as Barack Obama's VP candidate. They are in a town hall debate with John McCain and his VP. Everything is going well until the question of security comes up. Barack is on the ball with how he can protect the country and work with the generals, etc etc, and Hillary is backing him all the way with everything he is saying, bright smile included.

Then someone innocently asks from the audience: "Mrs Clinton, that is not really true for Mr Obama, is it? You told us not long ago that John McCain was a better commander-in-chief than Barack Obama. Why should we believe you now?"

Why, indeed? Get out of that one, Hillary.

Throughout the nomination campaign, Hillary Clinton was so intent on winning at any cost, she forgot that she and Barack Obama were actually on the same side. While Barack behaved impeccably, in a statesmanlike way, not saying anything derogatory or pointedly about Clinton herself, or her competence, she laid into him whichever way she could, from whatever angle, and then came up with that priceless comment, a boon to Republicans all across America, that John McCain was a better president and protector. That lady did not foresee the consequences of her words for the Democrats, especially them becoming a rod for the Democrats' back.

To say your party rival is worse than your political opponent is truly catastrophic in any sense. She seems to have no respect for Barack Obama, no respect for the Democratic Party and what it stands for, yet would wish to be on the presidential ticket mainly through ambition and little else. If I vilified my rival to such an extent, I certainly would not wish to be his VP. How could I then take back all those inconsiderate things I said? And, if I cannot take them back, then I obviously meant them. And, if I meant them, how does that square with my integrity and desire to run alongside someone I clearly despise?

The problem with behaving badly in such a nomination contest, is that one tends to forget that one's words carry consequences further down the line. Barack Obama needs a vice president who believes in him, who respects his abilities and competence, who will not upstage him and, most important, who will act both publicly and privately in ways that suggest mutual purpose and alignment. In no way, shape or form can that apply to Hillary and Barack together. By denigrating a potential Democratic president in the eyes of the Republicans, purely for her own ends, she conclusively showed what she is like and also derogated herself in the process.

Being a vice president of the most powerful country in the world carries a lot of responsibility, integrity and accountability. It is not a game. Most important, it is about team work, both incumbents striding towards one national aim for the good of the country. Hillary Clinton killed her own chances of joining that team when she placed John McCain above Barack Obama. Anything else which followed in damage limitation would be sheer hypocrisy on her part.

©Elaine Sihera (Ms Cyprah)
Emotional Health Adviser
"Respect and love begin with the self. If we have none, how can we give away any?"

A controversial art exhibit was raided and shut down before it could be viewed in NYC yesterday.

According to the NY Times blog: Cityroom, Boston-born performance artist, Yazmany Arboleda, tried to set up a provocative art exhibition in a vacant storefront on West 40th Street in Midtown Manhattan with the title, "The Assassination of Hillary Clinton/The Assassination of Barack Obama".

The artist thought his racist views were protected under the Constitution because he was expressing himself through his art. Wrong.

Not 30 minutes after Arboleda set up the gallery across the street from the New York Times building, police, feds and secret service swooped in to shut the art exhibit down. While police covered the offensive storefront window with brown paper, Arboleda was led away in handcuffs to be "interrogated"....

Note: May not be suitable for work

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Barack Obama received a standing ovation when he proclaimed his unwavering support for Israel to the influential lobbying group AIPAC last week. In her own AIPAC speech, Hillary Clinton said she was sure "that Senator Obama will be a good friend to Israel." But Clinton's reassuring words didn't soothe the wounded feelings of some prominent Jewish Obama supporters, who charge that Clinton campaign operatives manufactured fear about Obama's ethnic background and doubt about his loyalty to Israel in an effort to turn Jewish primary voters against

I know that I come from way across the Pond and I am also painfully aware that i cannot vote. But the more I see of this man, the more he stands out as a leader and a one-off. I was sent these two videos of Barack in action the day after his presumptive nomination and if anyone needed any convincing of the guy's uniqueness, sheer charisma and ability to lead, these videos say it all.

1. Addressing Staff and Volunteers at HQ
Immediately after his presumptive nomination, he was at HQ thanking the real people behind his success: the team that helped to get him there, and what great words he gave them. Just look at the hero worship on their faces. Look at the diversity, the joy, the commitment. These people are pretty awesome in their own way. With such a leader to inspire them, I am not surprised that they are so successful too.

Says Barack to his team, with obvious sincerity: "I owe thanks to you. I am grateful to you. And you inspire me".

Simply awesome and motivating.

2. Thank You, Hillary
While Hillary was playing tantrums and being mean, Barack Obama was here singing her praises and paying homage to his formidable opponent. And quite rightly too. Excellent address which shows his generosity, even-handedness and sense of purpose.

Regardless of what happens in the future, this man is here because it is his time. I don't think Hillary could have stopped History in the making, no matter what she did. I will certainly be watching this last leg of the journey with much interest.

Enjoy.

Any chance that Barack Obama would choose Hillary Clinton as his running mate has been quashed by what some observers are calling the "deal-breaker" — Bill Clinton's refusal to readily release documents from his White House years

Barack Obama made history in becoming the first African-American to lead a national party ticket. But the coverage is all about Hillary Clinton, what she wants and whether she's being generous enough to Obama in recognizing his victory. Watching campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe hail Clinton as the next president even as Obama crossed the finish line in delegates Tuesday evening was a surreal experience. The best thing to say about the preternaturally optimistic McAuliffe is he can't help himself. There weren't any pesky television monitors mounted on the wall or even adequate cell-phone reception to intrude on the Clinton fantasy in a setting that appeared more like an underground bunker than a hotel ballroom.

A senior Obama campaign official confirmed to NBC News that Obama delayed his departure from Washington Thursday night to meet with Clinton at her home here.

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Barack Obama's victory in the race for the Democratic nomination has been hailed widely as the end of a 220-year opening chapter in American history.

But for now history will have to wait. The excitement in the Obama camp that has attended the triumph of the first black man to win the presidential nomination of a political party gives way immediately to the more familiar and prosaic responsibilities of a newly minted candidate.

Two tasks require Senator Obama's urgent attention. The first is to unite his party and deal graciously and generously with his defeated opponent. The second is to pick a candidate for the vice-presidency, a decision freighted with all kinds of political and governing exigencies.

What did Sen. Clinton say to get Whoopi Goldberg so angry?

(Video)

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One will hear all kinds of reasons as to why Barack Obama achieved a seemingly impossible American dream: the first African American in place for the White House. There will be many people with numerous bits of 'evidence' as to why he is now the nominee over Hillary Clinton, who was the heir apparent up until October last year. There will also be countless words, specially from people who were against him but who will lay claim to have seen this victory all along, spewing all over the Internet and print media in tributes or blame. Get ready for the onslaught as the analysis begins.

However, I am not an American, which is perhaps why I do not view life in an American perspective. It means I am not befuddled by the usual fears and anxieties that might beset the average American voter. I am far enough away from the action, well across the Pond, to see what others who are closer often miss, and not affected by the negativity or euphoria that might have surrounded Obama. In such a position, one might miss some details, but one is then privy to an extraordinary panoramic view that one is often denied when one is too close to events.

i have been mesmerised by Barack Obama since I heard him speak for the first time at a convention, but my four reasons have very little to do with what you might hear from everyone else, especially those who are supposed to be the 'experts' on such matters. I am speaking from the ordinary voters' perspective, one who has watched a powerful force worm his way into our consciousness, and four things stood out about him from the time he began his campaign:

1. His leadership skills. Barack Obama ran a very tight ship in every way: financially, professionally and politically. It is fine to aspire to the greatest office in the land, and to say how you are the best candidate for the job, how you would be ready 'from Day One', but it is not words that demonstrate one's readiness. It is deeds, starting from the smallest acorn which turns into big oak trees. Barack managed his little acorn in a magnificent way which gives a powerful pointer to how he would manage the bigger oak tree. He did not wait to get into the White House to prove himself. As all good leaders do, they prove themselves in everything they do, no matter how small and insignificant, especially in the way they treat every person, whether high or low, and in the way they conduct their own affairs. That is what projected Obama head and shoulders above Clinton: the way he managed himself before he dared to try to manage his country or the world.

2. His brilliant team. David Axelrod needs a medal. What a team he ran for Barack and what a guy he is. By remaining firmly in the background, yet being the obvious powerhouse along the way, he reminds me of the quintessential Englishman, with stiff upper-lip and discrete presence. His new title should really be: David Axelrod, Kingmaker. He can write his own money now, thanks to the majestic way he turned Barack Obama, from a Senator with great potential to a president in waiting. The transformation is so subtle as to be taken for granted. But what a manager to have on your side. No histrionics, no drama, no upstaging. Just plain old loyalty, sincerity and fervent belief in his candidate. His team worked their guts out to keep him there, especially with crises. They say you can really tell a person's character by the way they cope with a crisis and Barack's team knows how to handle crises, how to get their man back on form and with minimum fuss and bother. With such a team in attendance in the White House, one feels a little bit more secure, because it will be in great hands.

3. His unwavering faith. 'Yes, we can' tells far more about Barack Obama and his nomination victory than everything else about him. It is indicative of his belief in himself, his team and his voters. As a newcomer, to be able to galvanise the youth of America, the disaffected older voters, and even women voters to turn out to vote is a feat that can be easily underestimated, but it is an incredible achievement. To inspire in such a way that others begin to believe you too, to be motivated enough to spread the word and play the pied piper to millions more is awesome. It also shows the power of the man himself to inspire, to lead and to give life to the most impossible of dreams: getting to the White House.

4. Finally, his determination and courage. There were times when Barack Obama must have felt at rock bottom, especially with the Jeremiah Wright debacle, but he never flinched from taking action; never shirked what he had to do and never let it overwhelm him. No matter what they threw at him, he parried it with gentlemanly, professional aplomb and statesmanship. He never sunk to the levels of his opponents and kept his head well above the fray. Most important, he never lost sight of his goal: to win the nomination, and he kept that determination in place even when he had not a hope in hell of winning certain States.

Barack Obama, by his amazing historical nomination would have inspired and uplifted an awful lot of people across America today. As one woman puts it: People forget that 50 years ago Black people could not even vote. Now we have one in line for president. That is some achievement which can be easily overlooked by those who have not been involved in the struggle for parity. Obama is a true inspirational leader who deserves that chance to show what he can do. I pray, along with many other Americans yearning for change, that he will be given the opportunity to demonstrate it.

©Elaine Sihera (Ms Cyprah)
Emotional Health Adviser
"Respect and love begin with the self. If we have none, how can we give away any?"

Tonight, I want to talk directly with the women of America.

First, let me repeat what I said in Iowa about my deep respect for Sen. Clinton. She has indeed 'shattered myths and broken barriers and changed the America in which my daughters and yours will come of age.' There is no one in this country who better understands Sen. Clinton's tenacity, resilience and commitment to public service than I.

The best place to learn more about Barack Obama: the Tribune's "Making of a candidate" series. The following quiz, derived from that series, will test your Obama IQ. (Take a Hillary Clinton quiz here. Coming soon: a John McCain quiz.) Comments about this quiz? Contact us.

But her husband, former President Clinton, strongly suggested otherwise. "This may be the last day I'm ever involved in a campaign of this kind," he said as he worked for his wife in South Dakota.

Former president Bill Clinton dropped a hint Monday that the end might be nigh for his wife Hillary's dogged campaign for the Democratic White House nomination, according to reports.

"I want to say also that this may be the last day I'm ever involved in a campaign of this kind," the former president told Clinton supporters....

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Members of Hillary Clinton's advance staff received calls and emails this evening from headquarters summoning them to New York City Tuesday night, and telling them their roles on the campaign are ending, two Clinton staffers tell my colleague Amie Parnes.

...

The move is a sign that the campaign is beginning to shed — at least — some of its staff.

Old friends and longtime aides are wringing their hands over Bill Clinton's post–White House escapades, from the dubious (and secretive) business associations to the media blowups that have bruised his wife's campaign, to the private-jetting around with a skirt-chasing, scandal-tinged posse. Some point to Clinton's medical traumas; others blame sheer selfishness, and the absence of anyone who can say "no." Exploring Clintonworld, the author asks if the former president will be consumed by his own worst self.

WASHINGTON - Democratic Party officials agreed Saturday to seat Michigan and Florida delegates with half-votes, ruling on a long-running dispute that has threatened the party's chances in November and maintaining Barack Obama's front-runner status as he moves closer to the nomination.
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The decision was a blow to Hillary Rodham Clinton as she was on the verge of watching Obama make history as the first black Democratic presidential nominee. It prompted an irate reaction from boisterous Clinton supporters in the audience and her chief delegate counter, Harold Ickes.

Ickes angrily informed the party's Rules Committee that Clinton had instructed him to reserve her right to appeal the matter to the Democrats' credentials committee, which could potentially drag the matter to the party's convention in August.

"There's been a lot of talk about party unity — let's all come together, and put our arms around each other," said Ickes, who is also a member of the Rules Committee that approved the deal. "I submit to you ladies and gentlemen, hijacking four delegates ... is not a good way to start down the path of party unity."

May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Hillary Clinton will emerge from the Democratic presidential nomination fight against Barack Obama with no shortage of attractive career choices. All have considerable obstacles.
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The New York senator has come closer than any woman in history to occupying the Oval Office. That's vaulted her onto the list of possible running mates for Obama; if that doesn't happen, she could run for governor of New York or Senate majority leader, or try to become a legislative power in the mold of Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.

There are hurdles along each path, such as the presence of the current Democratic majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, who has no plans to give up his post. Then there's the issue of which job Clinton, 60, who's still arguing she can win this year's presidential nomination, would want.

``She will pursue whichever course will help her achieve her ultimate goal: becoming president,'' said David Primo, a political science professor at the University of Rochester in New York. ``All of her roles from here on in, just like her job as senator, are steppingstones to the Democratic presidential nomination, whether in 2012 or 2016.''

Clinton's strengths among important Democratic constituencies -- women, seniors and blue-collar workers -- have led party leaders such as Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and former New York Governor Mario Cuomo to call for a joint ticket.

WASHINGTON — The Democratic National Committee's rules and bylaws panel meets Saturday to try to resolve the long-running dispute over convention delegates from Michigan and Florida.

The committee's decision is pivotal to Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton's efforts to cut rival Barack Obama's delegate lead in her uphill bid for their party's nomination.

The meeting, which starts at 9:30 a.m. (ET), will be carried live on C-SPAN.

A look at the key issues:

WASHINGTON - Top Democratic leaders intend to push for a quick end to the battle for the presidential nomination when primaries are over next week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday, adding that he, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and party chairman Howard Dean will urge uncommitted delegates to choose sides.
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"By this time next week, it will all be over give or take a day," Reid said of the marathon race between the front-running Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Obama is within 44 delegates of clinching the nomination, according to The Associated Press tally, and leads Clinton by roughly 200 delegates.

Democratic officials said Pelosi already has begun contacting uncommitted House members urging them to weigh in soon after the primary season ends. Numerous Democrats have expressed concern that a protracted nominating campaign could harm the party's chances of winning the White House in the fall. John McCain effectively wrapped up the Republican nomination in March.

Tantalizingly close to the nomination, Obama stands to gain a minimum of roughly 20 delegates in remaining primaries in Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota under party rules that distribute them proportional to the popular vote — even if he loses all three. He would need to enlist the support of uncommitted superdelegates to amass the rest.

Slightly fewer than 200 superdelegates remain uncommitted, including 64 members of Congress.

WASHINGTON - A Democratic Party rules committee has the authority to seat some delegates from Michigan and Florida but not fully restore the two states as Hillary Rodham Clinton wants, according to party lawyers.
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Democratic National Committee rules require that the two states lose at least half of their convention delegates for holding elections too early, the party's legal experts wrote in a 38-page memo.

The memo was sent late Tuesday to the 30 members of the party's Rules and Bylaws Committee, which plans to meet Saturday at a Washington hotel. The committee is considering ways to include the two important general election battlegrounds at the nominating convention in August, and the staff analysis says seating half the delegates is "as far as it legally can" go.

Saturday's meeting is expected to draw a large crowd, with Clinton supporters among those encouraging a protest outside demanding that all the states' delegates be seated. Proponents of full reseating have mailed committee members Florida oranges and pairs of shoes to get their attention.

DNC officials are concerned about a potentially large turnout at the "Count Every Vote" rally outside the event and have asked the hotel staff to increase security to keep everyone safe. The DNC says the roughly 500 seats available to the public inside were taken within three or four minutes of becoming available online Tuesday.

The DNC analysis does not make recommendations for how the Rules and Bylaws Committee should vote, but gives context from the party's charter and bylaws for the committee to consider.

The analysis said there are two options to include half the delegations — either allow half the number of delegates from each state into the convention or allow the full delegations to attend, but give them each half a vote. "The rule does not actually specify whether the reduction is to be accomplished on the basis of delegate positions or delegate votes," the analysis said, giving committee members some justification for sending the entire delegations with half-votes as some leaders in the states want.

One of the strangest comments coming out of a politician of any ilk was said by Hillary Clinton last weekend in reply to why she was still in the presidential race. One would have expected her to say something like: because she wished to see it through to the end, or because she wanted to start what she had finished or that nothing was over until the fat lady sings. There were just so many choices available to justify her remaining presence in an all but concluded battle. But this lady ignored them all and, instead, subconsciously gave us an insight into how ambition can rob us of a soul when the chips are down.

Her comment to The Argus Leader of Sioux Falls, S.D., was: "You know, my husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California."

To many people, she appeared to be waiting for a tragedy which might involve her opponent, a very good reason for hanging on so that she would then benefit. At least that was how it was perceived by many people and perception rules our lives. She wants Barack out of the race so much, the man who had defied all the odds to wrest her 'certain' victory away from her, she herself appeared to think the unthinkable: that something might befall him at the eleventh hour, which would then make her the automatic choice for the nomination.

What makes me wonder about the suitability of Hillary Clinton for any office, let alone president of the United States, is that what she blithely uttered publicly to the country is the kind of thought one might think but dare not speak, especially as Kennedy's son is still alive and the loss of his father must still be very painful to him, then to be reminded of it in such a cavalier and insensitive way. What kind of leader who cares about her country would even think of such a reason for hanging on regardless? Even if you wish what happened to Kennedy on your worst enemy, you would not voice it aloud, for a variety of ethical and moral reasons. This lady is seeming so disturbed by her continuing losses in a race she believes is justly hers, that the thought of giving in fairly and squarely seems furthest from her mind. Wishing Barack Obama away instead seems to be more suitable so that she does not have to suffer the ignominy of her impending colossal defeat.

Hillary Clinton, the modern version of Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth, who seems prepared to enter the realms of unsavoury politics to achieve her burning ambition, is now giving an entirely different version of the Senator many people know and admire. Even if an assassination was possible, it is not the sort of thing you would immediately think about unless you have a measure of desperation about your situation and secretly hope for equally desperate measures to rescue you.

In view of her open and very surprising statement, one has to ask the question: Would Hillary herself have encouraged such an assassination in any way to fulfil her consuming ambition to be in the White House?

Eager to put her controversial remarks about Robert Kennedy's assassination behind her, Sen. Hillary Clinton took to Puerto Rico this weekend, where she shimmied to Enrique Iglesias, swigged from a bottle of Presidente beer and once again proclaimed her determination to continue her longshot campaign.
Hillary Clinton
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., hoists a Presidente beer at Sabor Latino Restaurant & Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sunday.

But Clinton also acknowledged for the first time that the odds of becoming her party's presidential nominee are stacked against her...

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But she could, at least, have apologized.

Instead, she issued one of those tedious non-apology apologies in which it sounds like the person who is being offended is somehow at fault: "I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation, and particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive."

If?

Is it even possible that Mrs. Clinton thinks someone out there was not offended by her remark, Kennedy relative, Obama relative, or just plain folks?

Mrs. Clinton tried to excuse her inexcusable outburst by saying she was distracted by the shock of the news of Senator Edward Kennedy's malignant brain tumor. But there was something familiar about what she said, and thanks to Ben Smith of Politico, we remembered what it was. Mrs. Clinton said basically the same thing in an interview with Time on March 6:

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Democratic officials say Barack Obama has begun a top-secret search for a running mate.

Democratic officials said Thursday the party's likely nominee has asked former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson to begin vetting potential vice presidential picks. Johnson did the same job for Democratic nominees John Kerry in 2004 and Walter Mondale in 1984....

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Hillary Clinton is smart and forceful, John McCain is proud but has a volatile temper, and Barack Obama is a diplomat who deals well with different people and situations.
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At least, that's what graphologists say their handwriting reveals about them.

"Handwriting is a reflection of the inner personality. It shows a person's ego strength, how good they feel about themselves, their intellectual, communication and working styles," graphologist Sheila Lowe, author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Handwriting Analysis", told AFP.

Graphology -- the study of how we loop our Ls and cross our Ts -- is not taken as seriously in the United States as in Europe.

But every four years, when a US presidential election rolls around, practitioners of the arcane science are much sought after as Americans try everything to analyze contenders for the White House.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama Sunday looked past his soon-to-end nominating battle against Hillary Clinton by savaging Republican John McCain over the election battleground of pensions.
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Obama campaigned in Oregon while the former first lady held a rally in Kentucky ahead of the two states' Democratic primaries on Tuesday, when he looks certain to clinch a majority of elected delegates.

Obama was not planning to spend the election night in either state, heading instead to Iowa -- the scene of his triumph in the year's debut Democratic contest -- before a trip to the retirement and tourist haven of Florida.

According to the Washington Post, fundraisers for Obama and Clinton are tentatively joining forces to adopt a general election footing, in a sign that her own White House dream is drawing to a close.

In the Oregon city of Gresham, Obama pivoted from a simmering row with President George W. Bush over foreign policy to lambasting McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, over retirement benefits.

In a speech to seniors that omitted all mention of Clinton, the Illinois senator said McCain would deprive retirees of financial peace of mind by privatizing Social Security.

I have heard much talk among my conservative friends on this site that Mahmoud Ahmedinjehad would eat Barack Obama for breakfast in the "no preconditions meeting" that Obama has suggested. I would say eat him for lunch, but my conservative friends find Obama such a pushover that I felt comparing him to a bagel was more accurate of their sentiments than, say, a hamburger and french fries which would take more time and effort to consume.

A point that, surprisingly, my conservative friends and the Hillary Clinton supporters all agree on is that Ahmedinjehad would chasten at the notion of meeting with the Woman of Steel, Hillary. Apparently Hillary's warning during campaign season, when feelings (and promises) are overblown, to "obliterate" Iran must have scared Mahmoud right out of his stylish sandals. It couldn't be anything like the "smite Israel" speeches he gives nearly as regular as a clock to distract his people from their worsening economy. Yes, everyone but Obama supporters agrees that Hillary is Ahmedinjehad's worst nightmare (or second to worst nightmare, take your pick, either is bad news).

It occurred to me that Barack Obama, during the course of this campaign, went from being the token black candidate that speaks well, to a dark horse candidate that is a great orator, and landed as the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party that the Kennedys say remind them the most of their vaunted former patriarch: John F. Kennedy... and he did it by going straight through the Woman of Steel herself.

Obama did this all by avoiding the slings and arrows of:
- Republicans switching parties in large numbers to vote for Hillary in a number of important states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas
- Overcoming Hillary Clinton's once-thought insurmountable lead at the beginning of the campaign in which she had more money, more superdelegate support and much better name recognition
- Everything else that Hillary and Bill Clinton had at their disposal to try to knock him off message and offbeat.

I contend that if Hillary Clinton can deal with Mahmoud Ahmedinjehad and since Barack Obama has, clearly, dealt with Hillary Clinton that A + B = C. If he can beat Clinton and Clinton can beat Ahmedinjehad, Obama can most certainly outfox Ahmedinjehad. Because, seriously, does anyone believe Iran could create a tougher, cagier politician than Hillary Rodham Clinton? No way in hell!

"We find ourselves once again in agreement with Senator Edwards, this time with his decision last evening to endorse Senator Barack Obama," the union said in a statement. "And thus today, the United Steelworkers enthusiastically endorses Senator Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States."

The Steelworkers are the second union that endorsed Edwards to now go with Obama. The 200,000-member Transport Workers Union earlier switched and endorsed Obama.

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and the United Mine Workers union — who also endorsed Edwards — have not made new endorsements in the race.

Obama and his presidential rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, have been courting the 600,000 member Steelworkers union since Edwards dropped out of the race. The union's executive board, however, was unanimous in picking Obama for its endorsement....

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Democratic presidential rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton can agree on one thing — they want their party to have more money, no matter who is the nominee.

The Democratic National Committee announced Wednesday that it had signed agreements with both campaigns to begin raising money together...

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Racially motivated voting ran somewhat higher than elsewhere: Two in 10 whites said the race of the candidate was a factor in their vote, second only to Mississippi. Just 32 percent of those voters said they'd support Obama against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, fewer than in other primaries where the question's been asked.

Indeed, as noted, among all West Virginia primary voters, only 51 percent they would support Obama vs. McCain, far fewer than elsewhere and one of many signs of antipathy toward Obama in the state.

Among Clinton's supporters, just 38 percent said they would vote for Obama against McCain; nearly as many said they would back McCain; and the rest said they would sit it out.

Still, there was room for some criticism of Clinton.

Even in her broad victory, 59 percent of voters said she had attacked her opponent unfairly; fewer -- just under half -- said Obama had attacked unfairly...

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The race industry and its elite enablers take it as self-evident that high black incarceration rates result from discrimination. At a presidential primary debate this Martin Luther King Day, for instance, Senator Barack Obama charged that blacks and whites "are arrested at very different rates, are convicted at very different rates, [and] receive very different sentences . . . for the same crime." Not to be outdone, Senator Hillary Clinton promptly denounced the "disgrace of a criminal-justice system that incarcerates so many more African-Americans proportionately than whites."

Hillary Clinton has a problem. It's a big one. The primaries in North Carolina and Indiana were the last nail in her political coffin when it came to becoming the Democratic nominee, making the rest of the states academic. Obama, since winning those two states, has been taking in superdelegates at a much better clip than Clinton. He has even had some of Clinton's superdelegates defect to his campaign. Hillary Clinton's race is effectively over. However, she has a $25 million debt attached to her run against Obama that has yet to be resolved. She is not likely to withdraw from the race until the answer to paying off this $25 million is found (more than $11 million of it her own money that she loaned to her campaign) but she is accruing more debt as we speak because continuing her campaign in West Virginia, Kentucky and Oregon (the next three states to hold contests) costs money as well. There is, however, another wrinkle.

Mark Penn is an odious character, and not just to Obama folks. While we Obama supporters do not like Mark Penn because he is the CEO of the large and influential public relations firm involved with lobbyists Burson-Marstellar, Clinton supporters do not like Mark Penn because he conceived Hillary's failed strategy from the beginning of the campaign all the way up to the point where he ceased to occupy the chief strategist position after it was revealed that he was double-dipping by advising Hillary Clinton who was aggressively speaking out against the Colombia free trade agreement while also being in the employ of the Columbia government to assure that the free trade bill received the sufficient number of Democratic votes in Congress to pass. Not only is Hillary Clinton owed $11 million of the $25 million her campaign owes, but Mark Penn is owed an amount almost equal to that of Hillary's $11 million.

Any deal for Hillary Clinton to withdraw from the race on good terms is going to include Obama using his political clout (sending out a mailing to his donors, holding a joint fundraiser, etc.) to allow Clinton to exit the race without any debts on the behalf of her campaign. This money would go into not only Hillary Clinton's pockets but also into Mark Penn's, unfortunately. On the other hand, Hillary could be left to flounder and deal with her debts on her own while deciding when to leave the race without any suggestions from the Obama camp. Here are how the two options could play out:
- Hillary gets assistance from the Obama campaign. He writes out a fundraising letter to his faithful donors asking them to help Hillary pay off her debts now that she is bowing out gracefully. Obama also holds a joint fundraiser with half the money going to pay off the debts that Hillary incurred and half going to Obama's own campaign to fuel it up for the showdown with John McCain that has already begun. While Clinton and Penn would get most of this money, Obama would get something in return. Hillary would actively urge her supporters to get behind Obama financially as well as asking them to work for him and vote for him in November. The advantage Obama incurs is twofold in that most of Clinton's supporters probably have not given money to Obama so they have a potential of $2,300 they could donate to his campaign and, secondly, Obama would have a major leg up in winning voters that Hillary has dominated such as white voters with high school educations because of Hillary's endorsement.
- Obama could leave Clinton to her own devices to pay her bills. As a result, she stays in the race at least through the June contests and possibly through the convention itself. Clinton is able to resolve her financial problems (most likely through a combination of a last appeal to her dwindling donor base and taking that to pay what her campaign does not owe her directly and then taking a loss on whatever is left as the campaign goes financially belly up if that is possible) but remembers that Obama declined to help her. She respectfully declines to enthusiastically endorse Obama and leaves her former supporters wondering if her lukewarm support is her going through the motions and, if so, whether they should take revenge on Obama and extend their candidate's shelf life by doing their best to elect John McCain so that Obama will be out of the way in four years and Hillary can run for the nomination again.

So, I put the question to my fellow Obama supporters: would you rather have Obama's campaign help Clinton pay off her campaign debts or have her not signed on as a surrogate for Obama against John McCain as the time shortly arrives to unite the Democratic Party to take back the White House?

A warning from a real friend.

Senator Obama you are in danger of losing this nomination. You must return to selling your message to the remaining States and Puerto Rico to keep the margins as tight as possible. Clinton might appear mortally wounded, but that is when the Clintons are at their most menacing.

John McCain should not be in play at this time. He is not your opponent for the nomination. This is a flawed strategy. If you persist he may never become your opponent. In any competition, the objective is to win. You sir, have not yet won the contest. Many possible scenarios still exist. There is no guarantee that you will be the nominee. You cannot assume anything. Ask yourself why John Edwards hasn't endorsed you but still takes all the opportunities he can, as does his wife to talk about issues on national TV.

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama all but erased Hillary Rodham Clinton's once-imposing lead among national convention superdelegates on Friday and won fresh labor backing as elements of the Democratic Party began coalescing around the Illinois senator for the fall campaign.
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Obama picked up the backing of nine superdelegates, including Rep. Donald Payne of New Jersey, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus who had been a Clinton supporter.

In addition, the American Federation of Government Employees announced its support for Obama. The union claims about 600,000 members who work in the federal and Washington, D.C., governments.

Obama, who won a convincing victory in the North Carolina primary and lost Indiana narrowly on Tuesday, has been steadily gaining strength in the days since.

"I'm gratified that we've got some superdelegates who are coming our way. And I think we've got a strong case to make that I will be a nominee that can pull the party together and take on John McCain. Our focus has always been on the pledged delegates and just getting the American people to vote for us. And we think that ultimately that should be the strongest measure of who's the nominee," Obama told reporters in Woodburn, Ore.

With pressure growing on Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., to end her presidential campaign, "intermediaries" have resumed discussing the possibility of an Obama-Clinton "dream team" ticket.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has vowed to continue her fight for the Democratic nomination against Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., but ABC News reports "intermediaries" are discussing a so-called Obama-Clinton 'dream ticket'.

"I think it's very much a possibility and there are others around Sen. Clinton, other top Democrats who think the strongest ticket would be a joint ticket," George Stephanopoulos, ABC News' chief Washington correspondent...

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...For the first time this campaign season, Barack Obama has surpassed Hillary Clinton's support among superdelegates, according to the ABC News delegate estimate.

Sen. Obama, D-Ill., picked up two superdelegates this morning giving him a new metric to tout in addition to his current commanding leads in pledged delegates, popular votes, states won, and money raised.

Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., switched his endorsement from Clinton to Obama and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., endorsed Obama. DeFazio was previously uncommitted.

With these endorsements, Obama has the support of 267 superdelegates and Clinton has 265 superdelegates....

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It's a train wreck waiting to happen, with one candidate claiming to be the nominee while the other vigorously denies it, all predicated on an argument over what exactly constitutes the finish line of the primary race.

The Obama campaign agrees with the Democratic National Committee, which pegs a winning majority at 2,025 pledged delegates and superdelegates--a figure that excludes the penalized Florida and Michigan delegations. The Clinton campaign, on the other hand, insists the winner will need 2,209 to cinch the nomination--a tally that includes Florida and Michigan.

"We don't accept 2,025. It is not the real number because that does not include Florida and Michigan," said Howard Wolfson, one of Clinton's two chief strategists. "It's a phony number."

Wolfson said they intend to contest the DNC's 2,025 number "every day," as well as any declaration of victory made by Obama based upon that number, because it does not include Florida and Michigan....

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Former Sen. George McGovern, who backed Hillary Rodham Clinton, is urging her to drop out of the Democratic presidential race.

McGovern said Wednesday he has decided to endorse Barack Obama....

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