The Trail: A Daily Diary of Campaign 2008

It is ironic (or just racism) for Jews to belong to a religion that just for jews, yet blacks cannot have an Afro-centric church, not religion, to which to belong? It is ironic that there are Greek, Armenian, Serbian, Ethiopian (oh, they're African too), Russian, and on and on and on, yet American blacks cannot have a church that has social concerns for the black community that supports it. That's quite hypocritical or is it just racism. Rev. Wright calls like "he" see is and not the members of the church. It is not "his" church, it is Jesus's church. He is a Christian Minister that was good enough for the then President Bill Clinton, and Hillary also in attendance, to invite to the White House after Bill Clinton's lying and cheating on her - while just lying to us. I'm a Republican and I can't even stand her campaign - with his help. It has brought our country back to the days of Jim Crow!!

mcmahon10:

I was not aware that you were asking me any questions. I also never said there was anything wrong with his Obama's books -- and if you think a real Muslim could get elected President while bin Ladin is still on the loose, I've got a bridge to sell you. BTW: I personally do have a religious test for the office -- there's nothing in the Constitution that forbids that -- what the Constitution forbids is the GOVERNMENT setting a religious test.

to 'poh'- "I think the U.S. is the one country where the government is not truly representative of its people.
The government is representative of corporations and hidden agendas. True of most of the world..."

to 'cyberella'- you're an idiot. besides, even if obama was muslim, who cares? I don't. It would improve our relations with the Middle East tremendously. Translated: less likelihood of terrorism plots.

to everyone else reading this blog- FIRED UP! READY TO GO!!! Obama '08, people. Let's do this.

I am so distress by what I just read... HRC saying: "I'm well aware that New Hampshire, and America, has a lot of voters who don't think they need a president right now, they're doing fine, they're well educated." I cannot believe anybody would say that. People are spending their valuable times measuring and weighing the next president and she feels there are some well educated folks out there who don't care!! This abhors me termendously!

And this is why we get nothing done. Time to stop the obviously hyped-up negative charges, they only degrade the person making them. The idea that Obama appeals only to an educated elite is ludicrous. The idea that he is a secret Muslim agent is pathological paranoia. The idea that hating someone because he/she disagrees with you on one issue is why we're in this mess. Government HAS to work or we all pay dearly. We need skilled Statesmen not skilled politician.

Obama kicked Hillary's butt in EVERY DEMOGRAPHIC.

Just stop, Hillary.
Either you can with on your own message and merits, or you can't.

cynical clinton should be stopped for once and all.
Clinton a champion? we agree a champion of duplictiy and ugly opportunism.
To blame it all on bush shows her strongest deviation: cowardice and revolting opportunism.

First of all, these "racial issues" are absurd and as Mr.Carl Bernstein said himself after writing a book on HRC. Obama is the dream of Bill and Hillary Clinton, it must be quite a blow that he is happening in their watch...so this is to be dismissed and even ignored.

I can't get over the media in the United States is taking anything and everything Mrs Clinton does and giving it a negative spin and/or blowing it out of proportion. Everything she says is scrutinized beyond limit and Obama can do no wrong. I am not an American, so I don't vote and probably my comments are of no consequence to anyone, but American politics, unfortunately, is extremely important to the rest of the world and it affects countries like mine, specifically, since we are south of the border. Thankfully, we (Panamanians) are not strong on immigration to the U.S. but we do watch American politics closely.
Before the whole campaigning thing got under way, I actually liked Obama...now I am not so sure anymore. I do agree with Mrs. Clinton's assessment that he is someone that represents a dream that is mostly alive on paper but not a reality in the day to day grind. It (he) is an illusion of an America that does not exist and will NOT come to life if Barack Obama is elected president, ladies and gentlemen,the America everyone is dreaming about through Mr. Obama will exist only when Americans decide to change and that change requires introspection, sacrifice and heavy duty reality checks on the part of the American people. I think the U.S. is the one country where the government is not truly representative of its people.
The government is representative of corporations and hidden agendas. True of most of the world, granted, but Americans boast too much about their principles. This is the problem. Also that is the tragedy of Bush and America. Americans are hated for the missteps of an administration that has managed to divide a country and create a vote that is becoming a vote of punishment, which is exactly what is happening right now between Obama and Clinton and the rest of the democrats. People are voting to punish what has passed without thinking of the outcome of such action.

Mr Obama is a wonderful orator but I find he has very little to offer right now. In eight years, maybe. I know what I am saying because about thirteen years ago, I voted in my country for a candidate that spelled change, he was very much like Mr. Obama, brilliant, Harvard graduate, understood the masses needs, etc, etc, etc. I was devastated when he lost. He is in government now, and the best thing that could have happened to us was that he was never president. I was young, educated and an idealist as well and I deplored the status quo. I still have ideals, but I know human nature a little better.
Sorry...Hillary is not sweet and perhaps she is not inspiring but I get the impression she will get the job done and has the skin to tackle the Republicans. Something Kerry could not do and I am not sure Obama is prepared to withstand. Anyway, I will continue to read and watch this most interesting and sometimes disappointing contest where the biggest losers are not the candidates, really...it is the biased, manipulated media. These are, indeed, trying times for the United States of America.
LOH47

for VICE PRESIDENT WITH BARACK OBAMA = Marian Wright Edleman
who runs the www.childrensdefensefund.org

would be the best person to bring mothers and
families and fathers and grandparents and all the
feeling that there is someone who care for all
children which should be our major future.

The wonderful woman of color who started the childrends defense fund = Marian wright edleman speaks about the cradle to prison pipeline july 24th with Amy Goodman of democracynowDOTorg that was created by the clintons and about hillarys term on the board of the wwwDOTchildrensdefensefundDOTorg http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/24/1431211

........................................

http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=People_MWE

Marian Wright Edelman

Download a high-res photo
(JPEG, 1 MB)

Marian Wright Edelman is a lifelong advocate for
disadvantaged Americans and is the Founder and
President of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF). Under
her leadership, CDF has become the nation's strongest
voice for children and families.

Mrs. Edelman graduated from Spelman College and Yale
Law School. In the mid-60s, she was the first black
woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar and directed the
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund office in
Jackson, Mississippi.

She moved to Washington, D.C. in 1968 to become
counsel for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Poor
People's Campaign.

Mrs. Edelman founded the Washington Research Project,
a public interest law firm and the parent body of the
Children's Defense Fund. She began CDF in 1973. She
served as the Director of the Center for Law and
Education at Harvard University for two years.

Mrs. Edelman served on the Board of Trustees of
Spelman College and chaired the Board from 1976 to
1987. She was the first woman elected by alumni as a
member of the Yale University Corporation on which she
served from 1971 to 1977.

She has received over one hundred honorary degrees and
many awards including the Albert Schweitzer
Humanitarian Prize, the Heinz Award, and a MacArthur
Foundation Prize Fellowship.

In 2000, she received the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, and the
Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award for her
writings.

She is a board member of the Robin Hood Foundation,
the Association to Benefit Children, and City Lights
School and is a member of the Council on Foreign
Relations, the American Philosophical Society, the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the
Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of
Sciences.

Marian Wright Edelman is married to Peter Edelman, a
Professor at Georgetown Law School. They have three
sons, Joshua, Jonah, and Ezra, two granddaughters,
Ellika and Zoe, and two grandsons Elijah and Levi.

The problem with trying to box Obama in is that his support is much broader than Clinton's and is not the typical single-bloc, single-interest group. Mark Penn seriously miscalculated Iowa and sadly the Clinton's think that by just claiming to be "for youth" or for (fill in the blank) that voters will believe her.

Poor Cyberella... her wicked stepmother has her stuck trolling the internets slinging muck and mud while Chelsea gets to go the all the events. Poor, poor Cyberella. She doesn't even get to play with the Seven Dwarves.

It is pretty clear to me that Cyberella is a HRC operative that is marching out the HRC talking points to try and stir up racial hatered. The political pundits have said recently that Hillary's camp may start to play the race card and I think with these posts you are starting to see a trial balloon to see how far they can go with it. If you remember some of her staff was fired for sending out e-mails with nonsense about Obama being a practicing Muslim and all that nonsense. This is just the Clinton machine trying to scare white people and playing the race card. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Now we'll see if Senator Clinton cares more about winning than about her party or the American people. If she sets out to destroy the opportunity that Senator Obama's candidacy represents to our country - the opportunity to build new consensus and heal old wounds, we will all be made worse for it.

Senator Obama is not only an incredibly intelligent and capable leader, he is uniquely and crucially positioned as a personality that appeals across classes, races, and religious divisions. He embodies the words "E Pluribus Unum." Out of many, one - one American people.

A earlier post in this thread referenced "Dreams From My Father" in an attempt to discredit the Senator. I've read the book, and I encourage anyone with 'cultural' concerns about the Senator to do so. It was written over 10 years ago, after he was named first African American President of law review at Harvard Law school. As a result of that historic moment, he was offered the chance to write his story. and he wrote it beautifully. "Dreams from my father" outlines his sincere belief in and reverence for the Christian faith, and tells in detail of the experiences that fueled that faith. It tells about his profound love of his Mother and the maternal Grandparents that raised him - white Kansans. It describes his feelings on race - the central importance of his race and experience in his life, and his profound belief in the ability of Americans to unite on a deeper human level. Dreams from my father shows that Obama doesnt just 'talk the talk' because it sounds good at cocktail parties. He has lived this philosophy since he was a very small child.

Many people have and will continue to attack him. I hope that Senator Clinton will resist. To give in to the impulse to throw mud and spread lies will not only hurt her reputation, but it'll hurt our country.

So what you are saying Hillary is if I am currently an Obama supporter that I am wealthy, educated, elitist, care only about myself, and have no conviction? Do you think this is going to make me want to come and support you instead?

Are you saying that the majority of Iowans are elitist since they supported Obama or that you would have to be lacking intelligence to vote for you?

Do you have a group of 5th graders running your campaign?

Step back and take a deep breath for a moment, you are seriously embarrassing yourself.

Your campaign and popularity are like a sinking ship and you just lost your remaining bailing bucket.

Just because you are FOR black people, doesn't mean you are AGAINST white people. I know whites have used that sort of framework in dealing with races, but black people do not. We feel working to make ourselves better, benefits whites as well and makes us better as a people.

FYI, it is not usual for biracial people to be angry with their white parents because they go through a period of realizing they are not white and that means in this society that they are somehow not as good. That sort of anger go away when the biracial person develops an identity that embraces them and helps them realize they are valuable human beings. Don't hate him because he has shared his journey of personal growth with the world. We are not static human beings; we are evolving works of God.

One other thing, aren't the "yuppie elites" the liberals who are most likely to vote for a Democrat over a Republican? Maybe the vaunted "Clinton machine" ain't so vaunted after all, and it's just made up of a lot of old retreads and old ideas and is now running scared. I think the Clintons spend too much time patting themselves on their own backs for having their "vaunted Clinton machine" and not enough time patting voters on their backs.

I am still trying to figure out, just what the heck are those 35 years of experience that HRC is touting as being so much better than what Obama has under his belt? Just being married to Bill and watching what he does hardly counts as personal experience. Based on HRC's calculation, I guess all years after graduation from college should count as experience, and based on that we should always elect the oldest person possible.

Hey Hillary am a republican and i have seen the light in the democratic side, it is with Obama not u.
You talk about being ready to go on day one but i worry that on day one when u step into the Oval office u might have some not so good memories (Monica Memories), how will u handle that, to some extent i think they will hinder ur effectiveness and lastly i will worry about him running loss around white house

I hope that cyberella and JakeD are not representative of HRC supporters. Yes, Obama is a member of Trinity United church of christ, which is about 2 miles from where I live in chicago (i am caucasioan). It is a primarily black church but so what? One of my law partners is a meber of the church. If that is the most damning criticism you can level at Sen. Obama, that speaks the most loudly about the desperation of the HRC followers. Face it. She is a smart lady, but she is devisive and the wrong person for this time. And her experience argument is myth. Being 1st lady does not qualify you to be president.

JakeD - answer my questions.

And is there anything wrong with the quotes from his book? Yes, he went to that school. But he was never a Muslim. Why would he been afraid to claim that when he wrote the book? It was before 9/11 (do I have to pay Guiliani for saying that, he must hav copyrighted that - 9/11). He was never a Muslim. And even if he was, whats the problem with that? Do you have a religious test for office? If so, you must not believe in the Constitution... the one thing that we all should believe in.

Are you guys denying those are direct quoted from Obama's books and church website?

I would hope it's not the well-educated citizens of NH pushing those ridiculous smears on Obama.I expect those smears to come from the boondocks in the South, not in progressive NH.Then again, Clinton's New Hampshire chair attempted the same trick and had to resigned after it backfired.Stay positive, people. Don't go down the gutter with HRC.She's already trying to divide you by pointing that Obama's supporters are well-educated. I guess she's looking for a class and race war.

Cyberella -
Does it feel good to attack someone for which elementary school they went to? Did you choose which elementary school you went to?

Does it feel good to attack someone for what internal struggle they had a s a teenager? Did you have any internal struggles?

Is it appropriate to attack someone for the church and their views? If so, should all Catholics vote against Hillary, Edwards, Kucinich, Richardson and even Guiliani because their church is against abortion?

Cyberella, waiting for your answers?

I assume Cyberella hasn't really read Obama's two books - otherwise he/she wouldn't be sprouting such nonsense.

And anyway, I'm not sure what Cyberella's point is - that Obama is a Muslim and follows the teachings of the Koran, or he's a Christian and is a prisoner of the doctrine of the church he attends? Make up your mind, Cyberella! Is he a Muslim, or a Christian? Come back to us when you've decided which talking point you wish to use. Then we'll debate you.

Bill Clinton asked if the United States was ready to "roll the dice" on an Obama presidency.

Iowa caucus-goers rolled.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections08/barackobama/story/0,,2235741,00.html

Yes Cyberlla, get a life. Your thinking is so pathetic and infused with fear.

To Cyberella,
Why don't you get a life instead of pushing smears and libel against Obama.

Does it hurt you so much that a state with 95% white population will judge an african american not on the color of his skin but on his character?

What are your own achievements? How many memoirs or books have you written?

Or is this the only level of fulfillement that you can achieve in your pathetic life?
I will love to see a quote from one of your books.

Part of Obama's church doctrine:

Commitment to the BLACK Community

Commitment to the BLACK Family

Adherence to the BLACK Work Ethic

Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the BLACKCommunity

Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting BLACK Institutions

Pledge allegiance to all BLACK leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System

Personal commitment to embracement of the BLACK Value System.
Look up Obama's church doctrine on the ne; Trinity United Church of Christ.
Take that doctrine and substited WHITE for BLACK! If a white church put out that kind of doctrine, how long do you think it would take for Sharpton and Jackson to be out front with 10,000 protesters?

From 'Dreams of my Father', "In Indonesia, I had spent two years at a Muslim school"
"I studied the Koran.."

From 'Audacity', "I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."
(Well, you've TOLD us, Obama. Now we know.)

From Dreams of My Father, " I FOUND A SOLACE IN NURSING A PERVASISVE SENSE OF GRIEVANCE AND ANIMOSITY AGAINST MY MOTHER'S RACE".

This line of attack is only slightly less pathetic than the vetting of Obama's kindergarten papers.

So rather than attack Obama, Mrs Clinton prefers to attack his supporters...

Bravo. Way to raise the level of the debate.