Obama '08?

The way the Clintons are treating black leaders is very reminiscent to me of the way they have long treated gay people. When I'm asked by readers about the source of my emotional hostility to the Clintons, a lot of it does indeed go back to how they treated the civil rights issues of the 1990s. In some ways, I preferred the outright hostility of some on the religious right to the condescension and manipulation of the Clintons and their apparatchiks. I've never been able to get that bad taste out of my mouth. Which is why I am not in any way surprised by the racial issues they are now embroiled in. They treated the gays this way first.

This is unfair. I've never claimed that she didn't have years of experience working in the gov't, or that she hasn't been active and involved; the question was, what has her work amounted to?

As in, what exactly has she accomplished? What has she done? What leadership? What has changed because of her work?

What did those years of experience amount to? What came out of them? It isn't clear, the wikipedia article certainly doesn't make it clear. [S]he should have a list of accomplishments to point to. I don't really see such a list.

What has she done that makes her especially ready to lead, whereas Obama hasn't done those things?

I was just watching an Obama rally in Las Vegas on C-Span. One of the parts of his talk that I liked was when he talked about how, after spending too much time in Washington, you begin to forget how to speak English (or even Spanish). You begin to talk "WashingtonSpeak".

That's why, when he was asked to tell one personal weakness during the last televised debate, he shared that he was very disorganized, paperwork-wise. He said that his desk was constantly a mess, and that he had to have a person who was hired specifically to manage that type of thing. His opponents in turn told that their weaknesses were "too much passion to help the poor", and "impatience to bring about the change America needs".

The difference between English and WashingtonSpeak. Beautiful.

The Bee Recommends: Obama
He could bridge political divides
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Published 12:00 am PST Saturday, January 19, 2008
It is beginning to look as if the Democratic Party will break historic barriers this year no matter how the party's contest for the presidential nomination concludes. If the nominee is Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York or Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, as seems likely, either a woman or an African American will be a major party's nominee for the first time.

The two leading candidates give California Democrats and independents voting Feb. 5 an interesting choice. Both have been senators for a relatively short time, but both also have other attributes that give them unique perspectives on the country and on the job they seek.

As first lady for eight years, Clinton served as a serious policy adviser to the president, not only on health care, where she famously failed, but on other matters as well. On free trade and reforming welfare, she and Bill Clinton faced down their friends and allies to do what was right, and Hillary Clinton is still paying the price today with some in the left wing of her party.

The Clinton years were tainted by scandal, and Hillary Clinton took her share of hits for those problems. Some were deserved; some were not. Dealing with the constant accusations no doubt toughened her. That toughness is one thing we admire most about her.

But those battle scars are also evidence of a troubling trend in American politics that would likely only intensify if Clinton were to become president. Since her husband's first term, politics has become increasingly polarized, the partisan fights more brutal. The Clintons have been both aggressors and victims in those wars.

Barack Obama, in contrast, would be a fresh face with a new approach and no old scores to settle. His ascension would represent a clean break with the generation that has fought and re-fought the Vietnam War and the cultural upheavals that wracked the 1960s.

As a former community organizer, civil rights lawyer and state legislator, Obama is familiar with real issues people face, and he has worked to solve them on the ground. As president, he says, he would cross party lines to find solutions to the nation's most vexing problems, from health care to global warming. There is reason to believe he could do that. His inspiring personal story and his communications skills could nudge Americans of all ages, but especially the young, to give more of themselves to aid the less fortunate in their communities.

Unlike Clinton, Obama was an early opponent of the war in Iraq, because he thought it was a strategic blunder that would only hurt the United States. His credibility on that issue would position him well to end the occupation quickly while also giving him the flexibility to extend it if necessary to avoid shedding the blood of more innocent Iraqis.

Obama's lack of experience at the highest levels of government might lead to mistakes. But that risk is smaller, in our view, than the benefit of moving on from the Bushes and the Clintons, who have been in the White House for longer than some young voters have been alive. That is why Obama is the best choice for the Democratic nomination for president.

Below are a few points for those of you who are considering voting for Obama as the Democratic candidate to pursue the Presidency. Please read and consider these points thoroughly before casting your vote:

1. Obama is a Diversion;

2. Over the last two years, the large powerful conservative new agencies owned by influential Republicans have purposely given Obama either neutral or positive news reporting in his run for presidency, amplifying his exposure and ratings amongst Democrats;

3. The neutral/positive news reporting of Obama has split Democrats in choosing between Clinton or Obama as the Canidate to run for President;

4. The conservative news agencies and powerful Republicans politicians are trying to manipulate the Democrats to choose Obama to run for President;

5. When Obama is chosen to run for President, the conservative news agencies will turn on Obama by inciting (through negative reporting) the fears of Americans, and the Presidency will go to a Republican candidate; so

6. Please do not be manipulated and vote for Clinton. Democrats should unite together behind Clinton or else the Republicans will literally steal the presidency.

Obama and Clinton should unite or Obama should step down to ensure a Republican is not elected to teh presidency.

This is in no way anti-Obama. (Bless you Obama for running; however unfortunate the timing, considering the above).

The point of the above is to make us Democrats aware. We dealt with very similar manipulation the last eight years (remember Karl Rove?) and need to wake up.

There is much at stake to let the powerful Republican politicians manipulate our vote. This is no means an attack on Republican citizens or Obama supporters, and much respect to you. Please consider the above points.

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