ogspot111 wrote on March 20, 2008 04:29 PM: The joke's on the dems. What's happening to Obama is being orchestrated by the Clintons. Duh. I hope Billary gets the nomination because John McCain will crush her. If Obama gets the nomination, I believe he will get elected. Good thing Billary's taking care of things!!

Hotspur wrote on March 06, 2008 02:02 PM: I came back to this article today because I thought at the time you were right.
Obama is way too slow at getting his gloves up.
He says the challenger never wins on points, but his case now boils down to "Hey, I'm ahead on points".
To further the boxing analogy. A losing fighter often throws a few flashy combos to impress the judges. But it's no good just telling the ref it didn't hurt.
By the time he gets out the Clinton Naftagate hypocrisy, the media will have moved on.
And hasn't he just done a Gore on Texas?
If you are clearly the better fighter and you get mugged...then you're a mug.

Patricia Bowler wrote on February 26, 2008 10:45 PM: John,
Your article was great! Having been born and partially raised in Arkansas (family is still there and we own a large cotton, etc. farm down by Pine Bluff) I have heard, learned and read much about the Clintons. I am a Republican activist and member of the Central Committee, delegate to the California Republican Party and much more. As much as I detest Dems and their policies, I do want Obama to beat Hillary. Cannot stand the woman and don't want her that close to the White House ever again! I was not originally a McCain fan but as things stand, it is paramount that he beat whichever one is nominated for the good of our country, the world and our lives as we know it. I pray McCain is successful!

ned davis wrote on February 25, 2008 02:25 PM: As a kid I used to love it when my favorite team (White-sox) would start a rookie pitcher for the very first time. The drama! The excitement! Each and every time I would be anticipating the Second Coming of Sandy Koufax or Bob Gibson. The newness and unknown factor was a drug for my youthful imagination. I must have watched at least 50 first time starts in my younger days. Sadly, only 1 time did a pitcher make a memorable start. (Brit Burns)

I suppose that this is the Fernando Valenzuela phenomenon. Most known players in any game or arena are less than refreshing. In fact, they are down right mediocre. But our imaginations keep running strong and we keep anticipating the day when some new player surprises us and actually meets our unrealistic expectations.

I sense that this is what is happening now in this race. Obama is that unknown rookie. He has had a terrific minor league career and is now moving into the big leagues. Our imaginations run wild as we dream that he just might perhaps be the next Bob Gibson (or J.F.K.)

But in point of fact, the rookies in my youth rarely translated their potential into anything more than becoming just another run of the mill ok'sh pitcher.

Can Obama become that rare rookie exception? I doubt it. In fact, the stats show that known qualities normally perform better than unknowns do.

But I gotta admit, I do understand the euphoric responses that voters have with Obama. After all, Obama has no previous record that causes us to lower our expectations. So in a sense Obama is just a blank page that mirrors our collective hope and dreams for a better America. Who knows? Maybe Obama will be that 1 in a thousand Fernando Valenzuela

jep wrote on February 25, 2008 02:15 PM: I believe Michelle Obama said exactly what she meant to say. Like many of her political persuasion, she doesn't believe that this nation is a great nation and is a force for good in the world.

Zemo wrote on February 25, 2008 11:12 AM: Fact: Obama admits his Christianity is an unceremonious conversion brought on by his accepting an invitation to a southside Chicago church with a black nationalist mission statement headed until very recently by a "pastor" who lauded and "admired" Louis Farrakhan, so much that they gave him an award on behalf of their "church."
2. Indonesia's own Minister of Foreign Relations in a PBS Documentary on Islam stated "there are 3 political groups in Indonesia: extreme, more extreme, and very extreme."
The idea that one could equate the concept of a public school in Indonesia to that of our school's here is naive to say the least. Even private Christian schools there, though already required to exist out of public view, have recently been subjected by state mandate not to practice obvious signs of Christianity under threat of criminal punishment.
Yet Obama expresses nothing but fondness for his time there.

Jefferson Jackson wrote on February 25, 2008 09:52 AM: That McCain and the RNC will attack Obama's patriotism is patently obvious. They will also assail him on grounds of national security. It is their only two lines of attack, and one of them doesn't scan for most Americans.

The Republicans are out of tune with most Americans on health care, tone deaf about the economy, and McCain has his own vulnerabilities on immigration.

That Republicans are better equipped to deal with national security has been dealt a death blow by the Iraq War. So patriotism is the only real card they have left to play. Of course, experience is something else they'll argue, but that's a razor that cuts both ways - the American public wants change.

I tend to think that Obama will respond to this line of attack at some point - but he will refuse to make this counterattack central to his campaign, and not until it is clear he's the nominee - as he should.

He can help defuse this debate with the right vice-presidential selection. To that end, he should select Jim Webb, the senator from Virginia. Webb is an authentic war hero, and would be a powerful antidote to that line of attack.

Webb would be the perfect attack dog VP running mate, and could say all the things Obama should say to refute this RNC line of attack, while Obama himself appears to stay above the fray and not stoop to their level.

Jan wrote on February 25, 2008 02:53 AM: The only political party I know of that questions and punishes its own citizens for any perceived lack of patriotism is Fascists. That kind of crap doesn't exist in a democracy.

I don't think the new voters voting for Obama are too worried about his patriotism.
I think the new voters voting for Obama think Republicans are a bunch of incompetent war-mongers.

Maybe the Republican Fascists should start concerning themselves with the hundreds of thousands of new voters that Obama is bringing into the Democratic Party for the next generation.

(Oh, yeah... That's "Democrat Party" for those of you who appear not to know how to speak proper English.)

Joe Porchnik wrote on February 25, 2008 12:20 AM: This sounds just like the wishful thinking Republicans indulged in before the elections in 2006, when they told themselves that once people realize just how liberal and anti-American the Democrats are, they'll come to their senses and run back into the arms of the GOP. What happened? They got hammered more than expected, which is what will happen again this November. Why? Because the only people this flag label pin crap works on are the people who somehow still think Bush is a good president. What is it now? 30%? Good luck winning over that missing 20% with stories about the national anthem.

Lynne B wrote on February 24, 2008 10:21 PM: Not only is your article poorly written, your bias which you tried to conceal is just a teensy bit too obvious for your article to have any credibility. Obama's wife misspoke, Mc Cain dumped his crippled wife a month after meeting his current one, does that disqualify either of them for the presidency? I doubt it...next time spend another 30 minutes thinking about what you write, I have faith in you, I'm sure you can do better than this....

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