why doesn't clyburn have an oppinion on edwards?,..the native son, and the only candidate trumpetting REAL issues that will help his people!..it seems by saying nothing he's actually said something and i think he is showing himself to be somewhat of a fraud!!! hey clyburn- if you really want to remain neutral than do so and stop telling us day after day how nuetral you are11 when it gets right down to it edwards has the platform that most affects his people wether you agree or not!!

I think this article os either confused or intentionally misleading. It give 53/35% on black women support of Hillary/Obama but then goes on to say Obama has 60% of the black vote. So where does he stand now with black women? Lets compare apples to apples.

Barack Obama has about as much right to compare himself to Dr. Martin Luther King as Hillary Clinton has to compare herself to Abe Lincoln.

How are they alike?  MLK and BHO have black skin
HRC and A. Lincoln have white skin.

The comparisons sound pretty stupid and racist when you put it that way doesn't it.

We need a president for all races. Hillary is for all races and of most important to me the working people.
Mrs. Obama ask for the Africian-American vote because her husband is black, not because he will help US all. I have much respect for all people and can only hope they will vote on records. Our country is need of help, W. has hurt the working class and the poor to the point it seems there is no way up. I feel Hillary will stand up and do what it will take. Ask for votes because you care and want to fight for what is right not because of race.

I was a proud black supporter of Barack Obama.

Not anymore.

I will not vote for anyone who plays the race card like Obama is doing.

Shame on him.

OBAMA CAUGHT “BRINGING A KNIFE TO A GUNFIGHT”

A Friendly Note To The Obama Campaign and Fellow Supporters
WAKE UP; GROW UP; AND MAN UP; OR SHUT UP!!!

Or as Sean Connery's character also queried in his death scene in "The Untouchables":

"WHAT ARE YOU PREPARED TO DO?"

I am a transplanted NYer here in L.A., not talking about dirty politics, but posting here to help Mr. Obama get comfortable with the more street-wise, common-sense approach to his campaign that we hope he keeps moving towards. Not that he needs our approval; but Obama supporters should indicate their approval and strongly second the idea that he recognize the external shifts and substitutions that his opponent has made and respond according.

In all fairness to Obama AND HRC, no Presidential candidate has ever been in their position as either having a spouse as the former President or having to run against someone whose spouse is a former President. We had all heard the HRC campaign spin recently how they just wish Bill would be quiet.

Well, let’s just hope that the Clinton Campaign’s new acknowledgement that the former President is here to stay in this intense campaign will eliminate one HRC hypocrisy and make it easier for Mr. Obama and his campaign to begin anew by facing these clear, simple facts:

1. You are beating beaten by Bill Clinton, not Hillary. So ignore her and run against him; even after he takes a lower profile, keep running against him just like the REPS will now that he has given you AND them, the opening.

2. The Clintons are running the fall campaign against you that they argue Republicans would, complete with attack-dog running mate; and that many DEMS believe you should be able to effectively deal with to earn the nomination (And even some DEMS who support you agree. We all want to see how you hold up; and so far so good in my opinion on the defensive side of the ball.).

3. DEMS will never endorse OBAMA until he shows a willingness to run the campaign against the Clintons that the Republicans would as well. (We also want to see if you can score with the ball in your hands. Show us your version of comparative politics, not that Union’s.)

4. Be prepared to openly compare and contrast the complete record of the Bill Clinton White House issue for issue and line it up against what you would like to do for this country.

5. No one has beaten Bill Clinton in 3 national campaigns, so he has reason to be glib and cocky. And if you don't man up and take him on; he'll keep trouncing you while his wife plays the innocent, singing flight attendant.

More importantly, if you don't back up Bill Clinton now before he gets up a head of steam that carries HRC to the nomination; it is a near certainty that the ROVE/BUSH wing of the opposition party will do it for us all in the general election. You know that will mean a double dose of humble pie and despondency for grass roots Democrats, especially younger voters who don’t know or remember and only have FAR RIGHT or Clinton Foundation spin about the Clinton Record. So to borrow from McCain, give our base some “straight talk” about the Clintons’ Greatest Hits and their record of Achievement in office. We need to shed a light on it before the REPS do in the Fall. It was appropriate to apply that test to you; so now their supporters can’t complain if we air it out for The Clintons to get some practice on their stump speeches for this Fall, since they are so experienced, so accomplished and so inevitable, I am sure they and their supporters would welcome the civics and recent history lesson.

Bill Clinton is no more the pink elephant in the room. He has become the 800-pound DEM bully to the ABC wing of the party, a Ghost of DEMS past, that must be frontally addressed, as Obama noted today, if this party and/or this nation is to move forward with any type of cohesion.

That is how Obama must directly frame it from here. And get on with the frontal addressing.

Don’t whine, muse aloud, or share your thought processes with us. While Obama is looking puzzled and leaning over the ropes asking his corner and/or the media for some help because he fears he may seeing double, the Clintons are standing in the center of the ring motioning, “Bring it on, young whippersnapper (‘or something to that effect”).

Well Mr. Obama, there is nothing wrong with your vision.

And not only is the media not going to help you, but like a good referee, they are getting tired of your holding up the action.

I, however, am in your corner; and as such I will help you with the following: a prioritized task list to take back out there as you begin to take on The Comeback Kids:

1. You’re The People’s Champ, particularly of America’s young people; and their hopes go back out there with you, so as we say here in Cali, “Vaya Con Dios”;
2. Your weapon will be “The Truth About The Clinton Record in Arkansas and Washington” recognizing that our young people don’t always get the history lessons they need. The KING speech was a good start, now comes the very practical application to The Clintons on a factual basis; ; and
3. Your 1st topic MUST be The Real Impact of The Clinton Record on the African-American community. (No coincidence this week, but time is no longer on your side. Bill Clinton says he will go door-to-door in SC to remind Black people of what he has done for them; and you must help him out a bit with that.

So starting now, with a week to go; how do you do it?  You must go on a truth offensive of contemporary history lessons. Think about this in terms of risk/reward, with an awareness of what is at stake and an actionable strategy that matches the need:

1. You need to trump Bill Clinton with the substantial truth, not the incremental progress truth; but with the truth about how Clinton policies, strategy, and tactics affected the mass of Black people, not the truth of how it impacted Bob Johnson and his ilk. If you let Bill Clinton get away with subtle or not-so-subtle re-suggestions of his “Blackness” due to general affection or supposed policy gains, you risk losing Black voters forever back to The Clintons whom they were always pre-disposed to support because like most Americans about any administration: they never knew the truth of how the political deals impacted them; and Bob Johnson proves that often spokespeople for a particular constituency can be self-appointed and may have conflicts and/or character flaws so that they can’t be trusted to accurately interpret that record.
2. Translation: Now or never means open your wallet with honest, truthful TV commercials about that record which will also be seen by Blacks and Latinos in Super Tuesday states due to intense coverage of everything which ends this week in SC.
3. You need at least 2, preferably 3 spots, even framed like Black History minutes so they can be brief, yet informative and truthful about How The Clinton Record has impacted African Americans. Actually I would suggest 5-7 different 15 second spots that you narrate personally. The first could be on The Clinton Record on Equal Opportunity entitled “It Takes A President” and opening with a clip of Hillary’s unedited MLK/LBJ comment culminating with that tagline. Then you could start your voiceover by agreeing that it takes a president and then giving us a few bullet points on how the 1st President Clinton oversaw the growth of Affirmative Action and an expansion of equal opportunity for those who had been discriminated against (NOT!!!); then close by wondering aloud “Can we reasonably expect anything more from the 2nd Coming of President Clinton?”.

Hey, don’t make me quote Sean Connery on you again. Face it; The Clintons have interjected race, but moreover, they interjected Bill Clinton himself, combined with the illusion of her experience which equals they interjected The Clinton White House and consequently, campaigning against that record and what this team produced is not only fair game, it is expected by your constituents and theirs. When HRC’s female supporters complain those were not her positions, your campaign should respond that her campaign is appealing to voters, particularly African-American voters on the basis of what her husband did for them which is the biggest fairy tale….no don’t say that; but you get my point.

In fact this entire First Black President series of spots this week focusing on The Truth About The Clinton Record with African Americans could be entitled, “It Takes A President…”. You could then follow-up going into Super Tuesday and beyond with fewer 30 second spots on the following:
1. The Truth About The Clinton Record on the Economy
2. The Truth About The Clinton Record on the Environment
3. The Truth About The Clinton Record on Healthcare
4. The Truth About The Clinton Record on Defense & Military Preparedness
5. The Truth About The Clinton Record with Women

Oh yeah, that last one will be fun; just to show people the truth about The Clintons which paraphrased is just that they never presented themselves as interested in any way in progressive politics then or now; and their record of accomplishments shows that. They introduced themselves to the nation in 1992 as Conservative Southern Democrats and told us that was what was needed to win back then and they were right. REPs put the scarlet “L” on The Clintons for political reasons, not because they have ever put their political capital on the line for a progressive cause to the benefit of Blacks, Latinos, Gays, or women. They took risks for their Center-Right issues and causes like the Budget Deficit Showdown and Bosnia; but on issues affecting Black people back then like Affirmative Action and Darfur, they were MIA. On the political occasion that they did seek to mollify their base, what happened, in an almost frightening consistent pattern: They caved, aborted the mission, cut and ran on their core DEM constituents due to a “Character-deficit”, Barack; and delivered some breech-birth policy that they still tried to sell to that constituency as the best that anyone could have accomplished given the opposition.

One of the most notable was their first initiative which was to get Gays fully integrated into the Armed Forces like they are in the UK and occurred when DEMs still controlled the Congress. (Please note that Democrats enjoyed majorities in both Houses when the Clintons entered The White House  and two years later the Republicans took over in response to their performance.)

Gay activists regarded the resulting “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy as worse than the product of an abortion; yet The Clintons claimed victory like they always do regardless of results on the ground. Now most women will tell you that if you have the determination and persistence, the pain tolerance and the time, along with a good anesthesiologist that together you can turn almost any breech situation around. However, The Clintons displayed a pattern of behavior to pull out prematurely on certain issues for political reasons while on other issues they hung in there long enough to show what they could accomplish when they were willing to risk their political capital. Some of their other breech-birth policies that came out bass ackwards include notably Somalia and Universal Care; while the successes are highlighted by Bosnia and the Budget Deficit Showdown. I suggest the Obama campaign just give the facts and let the DEM voters wonder what drove the uneven application of commitment and to decide if they can or should expect anything different or better for their particular constituency going forward.

You can ignore their Record on Latinos for now, because a) that record is thin and superficial, and b) we will get the message here in LA and elsewhere just by learning more about how Black people have been impacted by The Truth About The Clinton Record and how that compares with their claims and if it justifies continued support from African-Americans.

So step it up Obama; it's now or never for you and all your young voters, including the young women who also are unaware of the real world implications for us when you compare and contrast your vision and life’s work toward transformational change with the incremental-progress type of results consistently delivered by The Clintons and anyone one practices that style of brokered, bartered politics. And if anyone here reading this thinks that is the only style of politics, that it is always requires compromise, then ask George Bush and his partners in the Military Industrial Complex and the Prison Industrial Complex and the Iraqi govt how much of their agenda did they compromise away or have to “settle” with this past year with the Democratic Congress.

I am a global capital markets banker who started my career on financial trading floors around the world in the 90s listening to mostly Republican colleagues argue back then, pre-Monica, that the only good thing Mr. Clinton did for America was to appoint Robert Rubin, Treasury Secretary, and then stay out of Rubin’s way. I always defended Clinton, arguing they couldn’t minimize the value of that ability and his type of leadership. Most were puzzled at how an Arkansas governor could even know the Chairman of Goldman Sachs so well. We all knew that they met briefly at Oxford as Rhode Scholars and Clinton, the uber networker, stayed in touch. So it is well documented that The Clintons did not actively manage anything in terms of the economic expansion. They were cheerleaders for Secy Rubin and Fed Chairman Greenspan like everyone else. And, I understand that you have quite a few influential bankers on your team as well, Mr. Obama….

But lest I digress, The Truth About The Clinton Record on the Economy will have to wait. There is little time this week and much work for your campaign to do producing a full airing of what The Clintons did with, for, and to Black people in their public life. You should announce a newfound sense of responsibility that black people go to the polls armed with the truth about their self-proclaimed benefactors in S.C. Differentiate yourself by delivering this empowering information yourself; and just use surrogates for corroboration, following you with confirming facts, and responding to the spin. Most importantly, address Bill directly, and feel free to go back to Arkansas which also has a lot of African-Americans who where impacted by The Clinton Record long before he went on to help the rest of Black America so much.

I know you have a great research team with media savvy types and don’t need a freelancer like me to supply you with information; but here are just a few items to consider featuring in the series of spots you air in S.C. this week:

1. “It Takes A President-The Death Penalty”
You can introduce Roy Rector here in an application more powerful than that of Willie Horton by telling his story to show how the death penalty is unevenly applied to Black people AND the mentally challenged; unfortunately for Mr. Rector, he qualified on both counts when executed by The Clintons in Arkansas in the middle of the ’92 campaign. Do Black people in S.C. know that The Clintons used this execution of a cop killer, who immediately turned the gun on himself blowing away much of his own brain and mental capacity with it, as a campaign tactic? The NY Times thinks so when they reported then that “GOV Clinton appeared to be playing the politics of death which undeniably existed in the South, so as to not be perceived as soft on crime”. Of course the politics of death in The South was also the politics of race, so we see even then the NY Times was busy euphemizing for The Clintons. If we only knew that they would never stop playing politics with the lives of Black people in America for their own political gain, so why should Barack Obama be any different. Sorry, I digress again. (It is important that you refer to The Clintons as a team because the media and the HRC campaign acknowledge again that they are, in fact, a team, like he offered the twofer in ’92; so it is fair. Besides, HRC was there every step of the way in Arkansas and Washington. Just ignore her in the spots other than the initial clip of her saying “It took a President to get the Civil Rights Bill passed”; and let the media fact check your spot and engage HRC. Eventually they will get around to asking her where she was then and what was her personal view of this specific Clinton policy at that time.

And here’s a bonus: A Core Value, which is a term the Republicans and FOX will bring from their primaries to the General about The Clintons And The Death Penalty:
IF YOU WILL FLIP ON THE DEATH PENALTY; YOU WILL SELL OUT ANYTHING OR ANYONE TO CLING TO POWER; BECAUSE THERE IS NO MORE CORE VALUE THAN YOUR POSITION ON LIFE….MURDER BY INDIVIDUAL OR INSTITUTION.  

2. “It Takes A President-Welfare Reform”
Black voters in S.C. and across the country should know who wrote that legislation and how it’s turned out for them. In fact, all working class people would be served by knowing the truth about what benefits to working class people did The Clintons feel compelled to trade away to the Gingrich Congress in order to get that bill passed and what concessions were gained in that bargaining process. Some argue that several layers of social safety net created by The New Deal and reinforced by The New Frontier and The Great Society were rolled away by The Clintons and have never been replaced by the public or private sector. Some items we are suggesting go back into the budget may in fact have been eliminated then. Just like the way Reagan cuts led to elimination of many state hospitals for the care of the mentally ill and resulted in the late 80s spike in homelessness, then drug use, crime, and eventual incarceration courtesy of The Clinton Crime Law (more on that later); the Gingrich-Clinton Welfare Reform law is said to have permanently orphaned more working poor (overwhelmingly non-Black including Latinos in America) than they transitioned to sustainable jobs (Workfare) and was probably naively optimistic in not taking the cyclical nature of the economy into consideration. Now we have a recession without much of the traditional support mechanisms that our parents and grandparents had, further exacerbating lower middle class America angst about being a paycheck from poverty. These were programs GW didn’t even have to cut because they had already been permanently eliminated by The Clintons. Like Dr. Phil, maybe you could ask how having that safety net cut is working for them now in S.C.

3. “It Takes A President-Equal Opportunity”
Only a DEM President could provide the cover for states to whittle Affirmative Action away to nothing. So while President Clinton did make an official apology for slavery on behalf of America, to Black Americans; voters might want to balance that in SC with information about how the Clintons’ policy toward equal opportunity was applied on their behalf given their long suffering the economic consequences of slavery, another 100+ years of the most violent, unabashed domestic terrorism, and persistent discrimination in their full-scale attempts to integrate the workplace and schools since the 70’s. In our country, it could ONLY have taken a DEM president to allow the end of Affirmative Action, as it had come to be known, to come so quietly, without debate, or by voice-vote so-to-speak. As I recall, it couldn’t have happened without the willing consent of the following coalition in this guilt-weary nation, looking forward into an expanding economy: there was the Gingrich Congress, an already conservative Supreme Court and federal judicial system packed with 12 years of anti-affirmative action Reagan/Bush judges, and the new centrist Democratic President from the South, who, already damaged by decisions to initially focus on Gays-In-The-Military and his wife’s failed healthcare attempt, was eager to find points of agreement with the opposition.

Now we have 8 years of more conservative re-trenchment, judges and pullbacks than even Reagan/Bush were able to pack into 12. So what can we reasonably expect from these two Southern Conservative Democrats given The Clinton Record by way of restoring real “Equal Opportunity” as intended by Johnson, Nixon, and Carter. They may in fact honestly believe that the staggered lead or “white privilege” as Chris Rock puts it, had been completely made up; and that all that was left to close that chapter was that apology for slavery The Clintons issued in their 2nd term. Though the apology is probably a big reason for their storied support from Black voters, I know you will include it in your informational spots for Black voters in S.C.; and I’ll leave it to you to let them know if that apology rings hollow now or if it was even more of a political stunt then compared to what their policies toward programs aimed to help African Americans make up the their economic losses and lack of advantage.
For example, what is in its place now: the same, though heavily diluted Black Capitalism programs that were started by Nixon with the Defense Dept’s 5% Set Aside Program for giving contracts to small businesses owned by racial minorities and women.

Now here is an opening to slip in a strong statement about The Economic Clinton Record with the “Black History” campaign spots this week. There are a lot of Latino- and women-business owners pursuing these types of contracts in the public and private sectors complaining that they are being blocked while Halliburton gets the no-bid contracts for billions. They would all appreciate a clear re-telling of how the Clinton’s passive, defensive stance toward Affirmative Action was applied by the Clinton Justice Department and how they allowed the Courts and the Gingrich Congress to roll back those small business set-aside programs even further.

4. “It Takes A President-Global Preparedness-Africa Policy”
No more tutorials, besides I am running out of material; and Obama himself is an expert on Darfur and the lack of Clinton response there. Still I am sure that Black voters in S.C., who may not have gotten access to as much news coverage of it as do Black people on the coasts, would appreciate knowing how unevenly the Clintons applied their foreign policy interventions to use nation-building to combat ethnic cleansings in Africa and Bosnia and why. They should know the truth about this before Saturday. I don’t even know the why; but I do know the facts: They tried in Somalia, took an initial defeat with the Black Hawk down thing, and abandoned the effort and the people forever. This experience in Somalia has been given by pundits as a reason they ignored Darfur. In between they went all the way in Bosnia, using all their persuasive powers and showing America and the world the best of their leadership skills and character in putting together a global alliance and proceeding in the face of aggressive political attacks from Republicans and Independents here in America against nation-building. The truth of what they did is enough, let the S.C. voters then ask or ponder why they did not apply that policy and that courage consistently

5. “It Takes A President-Crime & Punishment”
Last, but not least, you can’t let this week go by without informing the Black voting electorate in SC of where the disparity in federal sentencing for cocaine and crack came from: a legacy of The Clinton Administration. Mayor Giuliani says the Clinton Crime bill was modeled after his in NYC and also was introduced to Congress by Gingrich Republicans. I don’t know about that. But the complete truth about the law that Clinton boasts put more officers on the street than ever before is that it is also singularly responsible for the generation of young black and brown people incarcerated at never before seen rates due to the disproportionate sentencing it enabled for what many had previously been regarded as petty crimes. I have even seen it reported that the courts gave the Clinton Justice Dept. an opportunity to equalize some of the mandatory sentences in the federal sentencing guidelines back then that for the first time took judges out of the equation, specifically in the case of crack/cocaine sentences, which the former President instructed his AG to decline out of fear of appearing soft on crime.  

Your team can fact-check that last point; but suffice it to say that The Clinton’s Crime Bill is the single biggest factor responsible for the incarceration of thousands if not a million Blacks and Latinos in the last decade. And if in fact it was a Republican initiative that The Clintons just co-opted and took credit for as they attempted to improve, let’s remind them that it takes a President….he could have bucked them like he did with the budget crisis or like GW did all last year on Iraq and our budget. Just give Black people in S.C. the truth and let them sort it out.

There you have it, Mr. Obama: my words reflecting our support, encouragement and formal authorization for you to take up the challenge laid down by Mr. Clinton and walk us through a formal review of his record of accomplishment that makes him so worthy and due the fealty of all us DEMS and mankind the world over. The truth is probably that his death penalty flip-flop cost not just the life of one admittedly guilty Black man in Arkansas, but also countless others who may have been innocent there and throughout the country where other Govs were given cover based on the former President’s record as a Centrist DEM Gov to campaign on the death penalty like The Clintons did. The Death Penalty and the growth of the Prison Industrial Complex, all borne out of, not what is in The Clintons’ hearts, but of their penchant to chose political expediency over principles tell a cautionary tale about the lack of CORE VALUES, or a “conscience” as John Edwards described it, that won’t go missed by other DEM constituencies who will likely see these spots on YOUTUBE or cable news.

So go down that path with the former President; and you may just come off even more Presidential than you already are. Is he a better speaker or debater than you? Take up his challenge and keep inciting him with the truth like you did with the Reagan comment.

Tell America that you agree with his assessment like most of us do, that supporting you represents a ROLL-OF-THE-DICE or leap of faith. It certainly does, but not for fear of loss but for hope in coming up 7's. Tell him it is a gamble on a big, sweeping DEM victory that can usher in real change against the downside of a ROVE/CLINTON conversation that REPUBLICANS are no-doubt well prepared for.

Fair is fair. Right now it is not clear to this Obama supporter if Barack defers to the Clintons out of politeness or "political correctness", adherence to principles or fear. If he's chivalrous, then he should do the right thing: not shrink from Bill Clinton's future engagements and challenges but take him head on. Only then will we really know who is best suited to be the next "Head of Household" in a DEM White House.

Would it be a surprise to learn that the ROVE/BUSH Republican party has been game-planning this run against Hillary for some time? Only a fateful, public opinion coalition of faith-based Dems, anchored by African-Americans, and fair-minded Independents stopped them from defeating him in their 3rd and last national campaign which was the Impeachment Referendum. They are said to relish the opportunity to finish the job and completely expose the Clinton record in what may be the last chance they get to salvage any Bush legacy. Since this would undoubtedly include unearthing the 911 Commission that equally blamed the outgoing and incoming administrations for negligence; isn't it fair for Obama to also start bringing that up again now. Rove, who left the White House early and will likely be the Republican architect for their nominee in the General Election, has probably been planning to campaign directly against Bill Clinton all along, whether he had interjected himself into this election or not. And if so, we can expect them to frame a national debate that will undoubtedly start with assessing blame for 911 and continue on invoking the worst psycho-drama of the 90's that bring back not only the "moral malaise" feeling the Clintons' are known for, but also our unresponsiveness to bombings in the Sudan and un-preparedness as evidenced by large military cuts he deemed a peace dividend, which hindsight or not, the opposition points to now as naively premature.

Since it now appears their campaign is conceding that the inadequacy of HRC to have her voice and mobilize women or young people in time for IOWA and NH forced Bill's hand to intervene on her behalf; they did it in a way that frees the Republicans to campaign directly against Bill and the Clinton legacy in the way DEMS had planned to make GW the issue. And they don’t need new material. Those old dogs will hunt fine once they’re brought out, dusted off and seen through the prism of 911, the event that changed everything.

Even if Bill Clinton were to shut up right now through the rest of the Primary (which he is incapable of), it is clear that Republicans already have the opening they need and won't hesitate to remind us that most pundits see the turning point in HRC's campaign as Bill's NH election eve, "Fairy Tale" rant and previous "Roll-of-the-Dice" reference.

The good news for the Obama campaign is that it provides him the same opening.

But it is a small window, that is closing rapidly.

And isn't it only fair that Obama now give HRC some practice against what will surely be the Republican appeal to America this Fall:

A) That we don't want to return to the moral malaise of the Clinton years in the White House (see campaign tactics: they were for the NV Caucus Rules before they were against them); and

B) That we are tired of hearing about their martial woes (see: Tyra) and more tired of seeing Bill Clinton lie to us (see: "I have been against the war in Iraq since before I was born")?

More importantly, it is necessary from the point of view of this Obama supporter, that Obama take on the complete Clinton Record right now to unite, yes UNITE the DEM party to prevent our entire agenda and current Congressional majorities from being jeopardized and seriously put into play, which is what will happen if we allow that discussion to happen in the Fall, out of some false sense of loyalty, instead of bringing it all out this week in South Carolina.

So I'll sign off with a Kennedy quote he made in response to feedback from an aide that his request to have a tree re-potted from Cape Cod to grow on the White House grounds had not been acted upon after it was discovered that it would take that particular tree at least 100 years to take root in the soil around The White House. JFK replied to the aide, "Then plant it today."

Howard, why doesn't Clyburn have have an opinion of natrive son Edwards?  

Because Clyburn is a "closet" or not so closet supporter of BO.

Howard, I always agree with you. I hope South Carolina chooses John Edwards because he is the right candidate for the Democratic party and for all Americans. GO JOHN GO!!!

MSNBC (& other news organizations),
Since everyone seems so obsessed with playing up race, you might want to start analyzing the most important and yet clearly undereported subtext that may be developing--the historical conflict between blacks and Latinos in major cities and how that may shade perceptions of Senator Obama in the Latino/Latina community.  This critically important (and rapidly growing) group may ultimately be the deciders on the Dem side.  If you're going to analyze how race impacts the election, that's the  story that may swing this the biggest states on Super Tuesday.

I am a Californian but did go to Nevada to work on the Obama campaign.  While there I was fortunate to hear Mr. Obama speak at a rally at UNLV the night before the caucuses and am more convinced that ever that he is a true gentleman and is in demeanor Presidential.  His speech was inspiring and positive.  In Nevada, former president Clinton, was active and campaigned all over the State praising his wife which is expected and reasonable.  The problem is/was that he mispoke several times about Obama regarding his experience, campaign stayegy, and his positions on issues in the campaign and the country.  He not only did them inaccurately but did them in a manner that was unbecoming a former president and of a man who I and many people around the country and the world admire in an abusive manner and in a demeanor that is/was very unbecoming a person of his stature.

Some are saying that Obama should not respond and stay above the fray.  I disagree.  He did respond to the inaccuracies on the stump and on a moring TV show.  He spoke in a very professional manner and redefined his position on a few matters and did so in a presidential manner.  He is a true gentleman and a bright one with great vision and inspiration and is making every attempt to make the campaign process and the presidental race one of dignity as a departure of the negative and decisive approaches that have been the norm in the past.

He has every right to respond to falsehoods about him and his positions.  That is not dragging him down to the customary campaign demeanor that Mr. Clinton displayed but rather giving him the opportunity to correct incorrect statements about his campaign IN A PRESIDENTIAL AND GETLEMAN MANNER, A QUALITY REGUIRED OF A TRUE LEADER AND FUTURE PRESIDENT WHO WE NEED IN THE WHITE HOUSE ON JAN. 20, 2009, not the Clintons again and their normal traditional political ways of operating.  

Fired Up and Ready to GO.......for Obama.  

All of these candidates care about the working poor and the middle-class.  If you believe that the Clinton's are the only people who will do anything for the poor then you are out of your mind.  It amazes me how much union support Clinton has garnered yet they were responsible for NAFTA.  How soon we forget.

This election is about moving forward, not looking to the past.  These divides need to be healed and Clinton can't do that.  Obama can!  The party has an opportunity to nominate a once-in-a-generation leader.  Not the "second-coming" but someone who can truly reach across to all parties and create a working majority from most cross-sections of the electorate.  If we have four years of Clinton (unless the Dems win the Senate and hold the House) we will get about as much done as we have the last three years.

Thank you for listening to Barack Obama, Iowa. The one place where the Dem candidates spent the most time meeting the voters, Barack Obama came out ahead. Iowa(90+ percent white), gave Barack Obama the boost that he needed. Blacks around the country saw hope not fear or cynicism. They saw the appeal that he has across party/racial lines. The media bears a serious responsibilty in playing up this racial card. They(media) are guilty of helping to perpetrate this riff. I am pretty sure that white Iowans noticed Barack Obama's mixed racial background. Again, thank you Iowa(8 points). Let us not forget that Barack Obama is 'battling' 2 Clintons. Yet in spite of that, he came close in NH(2-3 points) and lost Nevada by roughly 5 or so points(against a former first lady).

Obama, stop whining.  You are the one who has consistently misrepresented /distorted the recored of Mrs. Clinton.  And when she starts pointing out that you instead are the culprit, you start to cry.

All her life, Mrs. Clinton have worked for the rights of every American - young and old, black and white, men and women.  But you, you're a Johnny-Come-Lately!  The audacity of a candidate named Barak Hussein Obama!!!

What short term memories we all have! This country has already had "Billary"in office once.Ole "slick Willy" did a lot for his cronies, but not much for us.He was a little "preoccupied" to deal with foreign affairs.On to the Martin Luther King flap with Hillary and Obama. When King was preaching, Hillary was a "Goldwater girl",REPUBLICAN. He lost to LBJ because he was for SEGREGATION.The Clintons are LIARS!The other front runner,Barack Hussein Obama.How many Americans do you know with a name like that? The fact he stood facing away from everyone else, arms folded defiantly,makes me a veteran, so mad I can't stand it!As for his record as a senator, hmm.. he did vote "present",a lot.Now that's taking a real stand! I tell you this country is heading for disaster!The major banks selling their interests in foreign countries,to name one. The reason McCain didn't make it in 2000 was due to Bush's all too effective mudslinging campaign. If McCain had been elected,we wouldn't be in the mess we're in now!McCain has honor, courage and a sense of duty, you can't understand unless you"ve been in the military. He is also willing and able to cross party lines to get the job done! McCain for president in 2008,the one TRUE LEADER!

It is sad to see how facts are... distorted.

I want to know as a Black voter, what did President Clinton really do for Black people while in the WHite house for 8 years?  What did he do that was so great that can be compared to other presidents that I can name; President Lincoln freed the Slaves, President Johnson passed the voting rights acts of 1964 and President Ronald Reagan signed into approval the Martin Luther King holiday. But..can anyone name for me please 5 things that Clinton did for Minority people hat would make me vote for another Clinton!..for four more years?

Sure he moved his office to Harlem in New York and I am sure he hired a few Blacks, but..can anyone Black or White really tell me something concrete that he did for the Black community other than play a saxaphone and grin all the time while in our presence. But, list for me what he did constructively..

Since Clinton and Obama are wasting so much time fighting, maybe the democrats should've gone with John Edwards. Maybe Edwards knows this and that's why he says he's going all the way to the convention. Maybe by then everyone will be tired of Clinton and Obama.

What short memories we all have!This country has already had "Billary" in office. Ole slick Willie did a lot for his cronies,but not much for us.He was a little to "preoccupied" to deal with foreign affairs! On to the Martin Luther King flap with Hillary and Obama. When King was preaching,Hillary was a "Goldwater girl" REPUBLICAN! He lost to LBJ because he was for SEGREGATION! The Clintons are LIARS! The other front runner- Barack Hussein Obama. How many Americans do you know with a name like that? The fact he stood facing away from everyone else, arms folded defiantly, makes me a veteran,so angry,I can't stand it. As for his record as a senator, hmm.. he did vote "present",a lot, now that's taking a stand! I tell you, this country is heading for disaster. The major banks selling their interests in foreign countries,to name one.The reason McCain lost in 2000 was the vey effective mudslinging campaign by the Bush camp.If McCain had been elected, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in now!McCain has HONOR, COURAGE,and a sense of DUTY you can't understand unless you've been in the military. He is also willing and able to cross party lines to get the job done!McCain for president. The one true LEADER!

hey wendy from PA-  hallalooyah sister-  its time to see the light... with a little more name calling John Edwards picks up more steam....why is the Obama headline always the same-  "Obama fights back" - am I the only one that has a problem with this??? this is a primary people, not even a general election,  and we are seeing our 2 so-called best candidates fighting and fighting back!!  this is a way for the media to keep obama from having to address the real issues-we can read and he can concentrate on attacking and fighting back and he doesn't have to answer issues questions....once obama has to concentrate on the issues on a daily basis,  he loses hands down because he just can't do it, period.....Go Edwards

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