He makes people go to his website and BUY tickets to his campaign rally. No wonder he had over 100,000 donors and so much money. He has peaked too early and will fall from here on out. His Quarter 2 numbers won't be half as good.

This is the kind of "Grass roots" candidate that America has been longing for. The prediction is that now, those crowds, donations and followers will begin to swell exponentially. This is bigger than we realize and can appreciate.

This is a slap in Americas' face. To have a Muslim running for the Leadership of our nation after their mainstream movements have repeatedly shown their hatered towards Americans and what we stand for. How can America allow this after 9/11.

Alan, Please read and learn. He is not a muslim! He is a christian. Thank you.

I think that Barak Obama is just what most Americans want, someone that can think on his own, without having to be backed up by the "party". He is articulate, good looking, and can carry a conversation with just about anyone that he talks to. Thank you for throwing your hat in the ring!

Alan, Your prejudice is disturbing. Besides the fact that Sen. Obama is a practicing Christian, the mere fact that he attended a Muslim school (not a maddrass as has been claimed by some) is in no ways a disqualification to run for office. Even if is was a practicing Muslim, your comment is very narrow minded. 1) Read the constitution. There is no religious test for office 2) Radical extermists attacked us. To condemn all Muslims is a little like saying that because the Knights of Ku Klux Klan considered it to be their Christian duty to prevent intermingling of the races, and they murdered in pursuit of that goal, that all Christians are murderers. NONSENSE! All kinds of evil has been done in the name of all of the major religions - charge thier deeds to them and not the faith tradition they claim to represent. If you don't like Sen. Obama - fine. Don't vote for him. But to stir up hatred against Islam to try and score political points is beneath contempt

Alan, Anyone would beat the idiot we have in office now.

Congratulations to Senator Obama! I believe more money will now flow his way as people see his candidacy is for real and that Hillary is vulnerable.

America will not stand for Barak or Hillary.

Dear Abby, with all due respect, you are mistaken about people having to BUY tickets to Barack's campaign rallies on his website. One can, for free, click on some buttons, enter some information and get an e-mail ticket for a rally. I did this for the Oakland rally, and it worked well. It is just good organization.

Terrorist use our own constition against us. Thats how America will fall. They slowly change our way of life. To me Barak is another nail in our coffin as Americans. I guarantee that everyone praising him is either a Muslim or other-

Kevin must be a Muslim- I say if they dont like America GET OUT. If you come to this Country you learn to be American, talk American "that's English for most of you guys" , And respect what attracted them/you to come to this country. I dont care where Barak came from - but i seriously doubt he would get elected- I dont think America would let that rest~

Kevin, THANKS, I couldn't have said it better myself!

Why not, Johnathon, because they're not white men?

Well the Wisconsin event listed on Obama's website says you must PURCHASE a ticket. $15 for everyone...VIP's pay $100 per seat.

The way these rallies are being run lately, they may as well have tickets sold at the events. Hillary's demand that all campaign funding come from the taxpayers is a laugh. Between Hillary wanting to nationalize health care and chuck schummer wanting to nationalize education, it's a wonder anybody would want to be a liberal these days. We had a bunch of these morons screaming last year when gas was running for $4.00 a gallon. They are a bit quiet this year, could Hillary and Obama and John have been bought off by big oil this year? Makes me wonder

Barack does NOT make you pay for tickets to his rally's. You can go for free. YOu can order a FREE ticket from his website.

Eric..I agree with your following statement "Terrorist use our own constition against us. Thats how America will fall. They slowly change our way of life." You just have it wrong about who are the real terrorists....the Bush cabal and fellow travelers have slowly eaten away at our Constitution : suspending Habeas Corpus, spying on U.S. citizens without cause or warrant, signing statements, torture, secret prisons, ect. You must have mistakenly forgotten about those little items. So if as you say Barak is a nail in the coffin of we Americans, he wouldn't be the first to hammer one in, Bush, Cheney and the rest of the haters of the American Public have been using a high powered nail gun for the past 6+ years.

Dear Abby, thank you for your reply. I think there is a misunderstanding. It is true that for "Kickoff" events, such as those in Wisconsin and Florida on April 16, a donation to the campaign is required -- but these are events for SUPPORTERS. The rallies and "Meet the Candidate" events are free and open to the public, and one just fills the form to get an e-ticket free. You can see this if you click on the "Upcoming Events" buttons on the Barack Obama website. Hope this clarifies.

Eric - not to worry. "Terrorist use our own constition against us. " PRESIDENT Treason ignores the Constitution. Isn't that why the right loves him? BTW - It's "Consitution" and with a capital "C".

Theodore and Eric, Not sure why this matters in terms of my rights as an American to have an opinion and a vote but - I am a born again Christian. Also, I have not decided who I am supporting for President - there's lots of time for that. My point was simply trying to shed a bit of light on the dark corners of hate and ignorance - clearly I'm pushing a rock up a hill.

Nothing like a little paranoid xenophobia, huh Eric?

Theodore, Barak was born in the United States of America same as I was and maybe even you.

you haters are just the reason why hillary and obama blew funding records and other candits funding out the water . Thank god america has finaly transformed and true american are just sick of all your hatred. so to abby , johnathan,eric and theodore thank you because you and people like you are fueling this revolution that grows stronger by every hateful word you spew. P.S aren't you just going to hate the first black president"Barack Hussin Obama "

Dear Bloggers: I think the points raised by Alan, Theodore and Eric are very good, in that they show the need for clear understanding of the truth, which is sometimes very hard to get from public mass media, and certainly from political campaigns, and in any event is often hard to get beyond the stereotypes. The fact is that Barack Hussein Obama has a name that sounds Muslim, but he is not a Muslim. He and his wife, Michelle, are practising Christians and members of a United Church of Christ congregation (often referred to as Congregationalists) at Trinity church on the South Side of Chicago. What I would humbly and sincerely ask of Alan, Theodore and Eric, is that they listen with an open mind to what Barack has to say, and examine his record to see if what he has done matches what he says, and then decide for themselves, based on an accurate understanding of the real Barack Obama.

Thank God America is getting back to her alltime spirit of hope, humanity and freedom with the leadership of Barack Obama. Bush and Cheney and the ziocons have nearly dragged America to complete self-destruction together with the hatemongers and fearmongers that support them!

Good try Karl, But I'd say your wasting your breath. Anyone who would comment "If you come to this Country you learn to be American, talk American, that's English for most of you guys," is probably not open to rational or substantive discussion on the subject of immigration, politics or much else for that matter. You'd be better off just saying "I respect your right to have an opinion," and leave it at that. That worldview presumes a lot that has much more to do with right-wing nationalism then scholarly study of the U.S. Constitution. I would however, be interested if Alan, Theodore and Eric would direct us to the section of the Constitution that entones "We the people of the United States of America...and if you don't like it...you can jus' get out! Cheers

Dear Rob, thanks for your comments. You make valid points, and I cannot disagree with them. However, I want to try to set out very clearly why I said what I said. It relates a lot to how I see Barack campaigning and why I like what I see. When I hear/read comments like those by Alan, Theodore and Eric and some others, I want to always try to give them the benefit of the doubt and respond to the possibilities of the best of their unknown characters. Their statements reflected a clear lack of recognition of the accurate truth of who Barack Obama is. Whether this was intentional or not does not really matter. My note was not addressed just to Alan, Theodore and Eric, but to all those readers who may be against Barack because of misunderstandings or mis-information, or who seek to bring down his candidacy thru use of mis-information or sowing misunderstanding. Rather than attack those people for their statements (that can clearly be interpreted as racist or bigoted), I want to assume the best -- that their lack of accuracy reflects a lack of information, and that there is a possibility that they (or others truly without information, and burdened with unexamined stereotypical views) might be able to reflect differently if they fairly and objectively consider correct information. For those that can, it is good. For those that cannot or will not, that is too bad, but they are called out for the inaccuracies, without attacking them. It seems to me, and I do not see others doing this so much (though I might be wrong), Barack does not attack others or "go negative" but reaches out without condemnation. His positions are well-considered, consistently and strongly held, and sensible. He does not need to attack opponents. This is a big reason why I like him so much. That is why I said what I said. Thanks, again, for your comments.

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