The Trail: A Daily Diary of Campaign 2008

As an African-American man, I am truly conflicted about opposing Senator Obama, but I just cannot help but think he is like a sub-prime mortgage ... very exotic and comes with a promise of access to the good life without having to put up any real capital -- and his supporters are like the consumers who were enticed into these instuments without full knowledge or disclosure and without any consideration of what the downstream cost of this choice would balloon into. Hillary is the safe and wise 30-year fixed rate mortgage that will safeguard our investment for the future. A campy analogy, I'm sure, but I don't believe Obama is ready for the presidency, even if he can win the election.

Technoboyie, are you saying that older people don't have Good Ideas? or that because they are older they are out of touch? I am going to believe that that is not what you meant and as such Hillary's ideas are good ideas but you rather hear them from Barrack. Experience still remain the great teacher it ever was and maybe more so today. I used to think my parents were very old fashioned and dismiss anything they said when it did not fit my purposes. I also made a ton of mistakes because I wanted to re-invent the wheel, what a fool I was. Please do not make the same mistakes I am referring to, without people like Hillary you younger ones won't have a leg to stand on. Four years ago Hillary was smart enough to help to get Barrack elected to the US Senate. She was not the senator from Punjab and no one said that she could not look after her own house muchless the WHITEHOUSE. Oh how time has CHANGED. I will not bite the hands that fed me. Yes, I would compete but with RESPECT,mutual respect.

EXPERIENCE COUNTS, EXPERIENCE MATTERS and we all should learn from experience, when I visit a doctor I make a point of checking his/her certificate to see the type and year of graduation. When we fly, or seek the services of others we check to find out the level of experience the provider has.

Thank you, tic20011 for your post! It is nice to hear what many of us think and know about hillary. BO is a nice guy but compared to hillary, he just isnt ready....it is as simple as that and so far, he has not shown any substance. I, too, gave more money to hillary and will give more. She's been my girl and will be to the end! BTW, I'm a 12 year marine corps vet (girl type :) and know a strong 'can do' woman when I see one...she's as tuff as they come and will beat any repub they put up...even john mccain. it is amazing to see her weather the latest BO streak. And, I know she did not mean to minimize the caucus voters...but her point was taken that most caucuses tended to not favor her constituency (elderly, older working women, etc. who were unable, or could not afford the luxury of taking time off from work to go caucus). Her time is coming with TX, OH, and PA...and she even got John GLen's nod today.

Re:technoboyie; Sorry, Barrack's only plan is to produce as much FLUFF to mesmorize to press and Joe public that he is a fresh young face full of great ideas for the good of the country.
Well I grant him that he is a younger face, full of energy, good ideas I hope so but I have not seen much of it on the stump, he is making lofty statements no substance. Good preacher voice that took hold with the press and as such they gave him a free ride to date. However when they scratch the surface they will see himas an impostor, he takes the good working ideas from others package them as his speaks forcefully to convince us that he is serious and filled with the knowledge necessary to deliver that which others purposed. That's great but he is not working at Burger King taking orders and elivering he is running for President of USA therefore I want to hear his views from him not Hillary's views from him.

With respect to the Latinos, he is liken to a cat on hot ashes, thanks to Oprah he got a lot of doors opened to him but his topics lack substance he tells us all he think we want to hear pure sound bites then Iraq. "I did not vote for Iraq I was against it from the beginning. He forget to say when I reached Washington I voted for the continued support of the war there. If he was against it in the beginning then he should have voted against the financing of it, that would be consistantcy.

I disagree with your characterization of the black vote in this nomination. The Clintons have been ardent supporters of Blacks and I believe that though the choices were tough we should remember those who were there for us before we could stand on our own. Why should anyone help you, me, or anyone else if that help one day would come back to haunt you. I admire Vernon Jordan, he is a man of principle.

Vision, where did you see Barrack's vision? Yes we can is not a vision merely a feel good statement, pure FLUFF where is the MEAT? I do not dislike Barrack but he is not ready as a president you cannot copy you have to LEAD, you have to put forward ideas, dancing is a great exercise but there has to be music and you have to go with the beat otherwise you will be out of step unless your are a magic dancer. Today Barrack to my mind would be a disgrace for most of his first term. However I would have him on the ticket where he would gain the experience for the next term.

This is a Democratic battle between the corporate candidate and the peoples candidate. The facts to prove this thesis are in the numbers.

Look where Hillarys money comes from...BIG DONORS...who donate the maximum. Who will she represent when she gets to the White House? The same people who donated to her campaign. BIG DONORS. That's old school politics and if you don't know that, you are only fooling yourselves.

HILLARY:
http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/mapApp.do?drillLevel=US&stateName=&cand_id=P00003392&searchType=&searchSQLType=&searchKeyword=

BARACK
http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/mapApp.do?drillLevel=US&stateName=&cand_id=P80003338&searchType=&searchSQLType=&searchKeyword=

Hillary got most of her money from BIG DONORS, and she will represent BIG DONORS when she gets in office. Same players plus the same skewed donation numbers equals the same results. This is why Washington is broken right now. And she is right, she has the most experience - in a broken system.

Obama is raising money in a grassroots campaign where almost half of his money comes from the 'Under $200' donors. Thats Main Street people, not Wall Street people.

Big Oil was the largest donor to the Bush Administration. Exxon currently has the highest quarterly profits of any company in the history of the world. Do you Hillary supporters think this is coincidence? Look at the numbers and open your eyes. Think about it.

The simple question you have to ask yourself in this campaign is:

Who needs a representative in Washington? Main street or Wall street? In truth, thats the decision we all face as Americans.

And if you look at the Federal Election Campaign links I provided above, it's CRYSTAL CLEAR that Hillary represents Wall street and Barack represents Main street.
It's undeniable.

So...who do YOU represent?

rd you should write a spy novel i could almost hear the music.

Iowatreasures, SEEK HELP

What I am most concerned about is winning the Democratic presidency, and Obama will sink like a rock when the swiftboating starts.

Instead of Willie Horton, it will be a picture of Antonio Rezko the Syrian Muslim that goes on trial in Chicago for political corruption this month.

He was Obama's closest financier and political ally in Obama's brief career. This corrupt Syrian Muslim is who Obama went to just three years ago after being elected to the Senate for "advice and help" to buy his Chicago mansion, even though Rezko had just been indicted. This was the first thing Obama did when elected Senator.

Republicans will Willie Horton / swiftboat this naive young man who says he is tough. We're not talking about whether Obama will get his feelings hurt, we're talking about whether he is tough enough to keep voters when he is being swiftboated.

He isn't vetted, but Republicans sure will vet him in October, and we will not win the White House because he has secrets the Republican swift boaters will sway all people concerned with our national security, which is everyone but the Obama cultists.

Hillary can stand toe to toe on national defense. Obama can't, and he will lose on that amidst his intimate ties with a corrupt Muslim. Obama's main focus in his short career was funnelling our tax dollars to this Syrian slumlord going on trial for political corruption.

There, there's a start to the vetting.

rd

ehperkins: Obama has done more harm to the black people than anyone in the history of this country.

I have never been a rascist, but now, I would not vote for a black person to be president. I don't trust Obama, and now the black people have shown by voting 80% to 90% for Obama, because he is black that white people will undergo a lot of punishment by Obama to make up for what the black people perceive as the evil white people that oppress them.

What they don't realize is we have all been oppressed by this Bush Administration. gw.

He says: "Fired up? Ready to go?"

I say "Where are we going?"

The presidency shouldn't be a Magical Mystery Tour.

reinharden

mybuddy: I agree with your assessment of Barack Obama. As you can tell by my comment right after yours.

Only one thing I don't agree with is that Obama is a Bush II - Obama will be the ruination of this country - Obama is worse than Bush ever thought of being.

I don't trust Obama, being a radical as some people say that write about him, I don't trust him with our national intelligence and access to our nuclear weapons.

They say "birds of a feather flock together," and Obama was friends with Rezko for 17 years, who was indicted and pending trial on corruption charges and "influence peddling." The FBI picked him up recently and is awaiting trial Feb. 25th.

Michelle Obama is well aware of that REzko/Obama close friendship. That is how the Obama's got the 1.9 million dollar mansion they couldn't afford. On the same exact day that the Obama's purchased their 1.9 million dollar house for $300,000 less than the asking price, Rezko's wife purchased an INACCESSIBLE VACANT LOT NEXT TO THE OBAMA MANSION FOR $650,000. After REzko was indicted on influence peddling and corruption charges, the Obama's bought that exact same INACCESSIBLE VACANT LOT NEXT TO THE OBAMA MANSION FOR $110,000.

Obama has admitted that deal, and when he was caught, he said it was a "mistake,"

Was it also just a mistake that Obama sat in on Rezko business deals to influence potential investors.

Was it also just a mistake that Illinois Senator Barack Obama wrote letters on his State Senate letterhead on Antoin Rezko's behalf to city and state officials that netted REzko fourteen million dollars in taxpayer funds paid to Rezko?

Was it also just a mistake that Barack Obama forgot all the 17 year association with Rezko and LIED during a recent debate and said, "I only did about five hours of work for a church doing business with Rezko."

The biased, swooning media has never asked Obama one question about that back room shady deal association.

But John Kass, the investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune reported on Jan. 27th, that "Rezko is Obama's guy." Kass also said the photo of the Clintons/Rezko is "inconsequential." Kass also said in that article or on Fox News that "Rezko belongs to Obama," and that, the REzko/Obama friendship, relationship was "significant."

I don't want people that Obama associates in the White House with access to our government national intelligence and our nuclear weapons.

Obama is a big mistake, and McCain will never let Obama get away with fluffing all this negative past poor choices, poor relationships, poor ways of doing things - calling what he did on the streets of Chicago "community organizing" when he was doing this "organizing" in an office in the radical Trinity Church that is anti-Israel.

And McCain will induct my beautiful 18 year old daughter to be in his McCain army since he believes we will be in Iraq for 50 to 100 more years.

Our only safe bet is Hillary Clinton. We know she will give us universal health care, she will bring the troops home from Iraq, and she will do good things for the economy. Sounds like the right thing to do. gw.

I was wondering, when a canidate loses, where does all the money they rasied go?

The "Bubbas" who form Hillbilly's base got scared and started donating. The thought of a black president scared them half to death.

mybuddy: If there had never been a white president, never even a white candidate from one of the major parties, if whites were as much in the minority, and were as under-represented politically, as African Americans are now, and if every president and every major party nominee for president in the history of the nation had been African American, then YES you would see 90% of white Americans coming out to vote for the first white candidate with a real chance to become president, voting for him over even an equally-qualified African American candidate they might otherwise vote for.

Re: MYBUDDY oh come on do you expect Obama to reveal his plans so that the republicans can analyze and criticize them. His message of hope is working. and it's obviously not working for Hillary. She is yesterday's politics. How can any of her plans come to fruitition with a divided house?

Regarding Latinos, the media doesn't report that Obama won the latino vote in Washington State, and CT? and it also doesn't report that Obama is dead even with the Latino vote in New Mexico, now does it? Point being Obama has done well with 3 and 4th generation Latinos and have not done well with 1st and 2nd generation lations. Which California is made up of, and Nevada. So check the facts.

Second, your example of all whites voting for a white candidates and not a black candidate is not relevant. This has been every election year.

Vision always trumps experience. we are at our current state in modernity because of visionary ppl. I mean not to compare Corporate America to politics, but can you tell me why so many corporations are getting rid of the "old dogs" for fresh new faces and new ideas? it's because ppl get set in their ways and cannot think outside the box. This is why Hillary's campaign is failing so far. She is set in old political compaign mode. Obama is doing something fresh and new and it's forcing Hillary to watch and adapt.

The way I see it Obama is a Mac and Hillary is a PC. She will get the job done just fine, but Obama will get the job done and then some. Eventually Hillary will have to adapt her campaign startegy to mimic what Obama is doing. Another example of how visionary this man is, that it's forcing the candidate with 35 yrs of experience to rethink her strategy. Isn't she suppose to be winning this becuase of her experience??????

ichief: That katalusis blog was totally pointless, and didn't prove a thing. Did you even read it? He listed some examples of COMMENTS made to blogs like this, where people criticized Hillary, most of them weren't "hateful" in the least. He gave no evidence that Obama followers are "hate-mongering", let alone any evidence to show that Obama supporters are any less civil than supporters of the other candidates. Unless you are as dead-set as katalusis is to say something negative about Obama, no matter how little substance there is to it, then I suggest you read and think more carefully before posting an agreement with someone else's writing: they may not be as clear-headed and unbiased as you.

ralphdaugherty, and jmunzinger, and tic2001 -

Thanks for cheering me up. I, too, got a heartfelt "thank you" from Hillary.

I don't know if you knew that Bob Dole called Obama a cult-like personality. I have thought that for awhile now.

It wouldn't bother me if a lot of people supported Obama or showed up at his rallies, but the way he got the young people so mesmerized, does bother me.

I followed Obama from the beginning, or at least I thought it was the beginning when he came to Iowa. I knew nothing of his past or even where he came from. I had not heard or read either of his books.

What I saw was how Obama "worked" the system - how he "worked" the election process. Even heard him say in the first debate how he "worked the system" to get his girls in private schools, whereas other people had to put their kids in public schools.

Obama was not honorable, he was not authentic. Obama said, "I know how to win elections." And that he does.

But I am very concerned about what Obama is up to. I can see that he uses the "divide and conquer," or "divide and rule" method of politics. Obama has mastered the ability to divide and conquer.

I was calling it playing the "victim" and Hillary the "villain." Now I am beginning to realize his method is even more sophisicated than that.

Two things that made the media swoon were:

1) when he released his "contribution" figures when he was an unknown in Iowa. Sixty million dollars, he said. And as Obama planned, the media swooned.

Then when they were questioned, they said, some of the contributions were purchases instead They didn't say purchases by whom.

I began asking the question, "Just who did buy all those bumper stickers?"

I didn't know then about Obama's background of a 17 year joined-at-the-hip friendship/relationship with Antoin Rezko, the man from Syria who the FBI said was receiving large sums of money from people in the middle east.

Rezko has donated a lot of money to Obama campaigns in Illinois. I would like to know how much Rezko has donated to Obama campaigns, and how many "foot soldiers" Rezko has paid for and donated for Obama to use in the voting states, and how many bumper stickers Rezko purchased.

These "foot soldiers" for Obama actually went to the Iowa Caucuses the night of the caucus and filled out a piece of paper that was not questioned, and not even filled out or looked at, and they influence voters and even cast votes themselves that night.

Obama only won by a few points, and it is my opinion that those "foot soldiers" made up that difference.

Now it was told on a cable channel tonight that those "ground troops" from Illinois are now in Wisconsin.

I know people like Rezko can team up with somebody like Obama and have a lot of money donated "through employees" of companies, such as what Obama said when questioned about a drug company donating so much money to his campaign. Obama said, "Oh, that was money from the employees, not the drug companies."

Obama won't talk to reporters while he is traveling, because he wants to control what he talks about. He even cancelled his second plane that carried reporters with him.

2) The way Obama turned on the young people to be mesmerized by him was when he went to the college in NH and told those students how he smoked pot and snuffed cocaine.

Some of the students stood up and then they all stood up and cheered for him ever since.

Obama certainly knows how to win elections, but do we want somebody who lies about his associations, such as Rezko, and Reverend Wright, the pastor of the radical anti-Israel church and who teaches their doctrine in "every black school, every black home, and every church. . ."

Obama can't say it was a casual alliance with either of those men. Obama was married in that radical church, Obama took the title for his book "Audacity of Hope" from one of Rev. Wright's sermons.

When Obama began running for president, he would not let Rev. Wright attend any of his political functions. REv. Wright said, "a lot of his Jewish support would dry up quicker than a snowball in hell."

I don't want Obama, with friends like he has, to be in the White House and have access to our government national intelligence and our nuclear weapons. gw.

The way I see it.

Say Obama wins the Presidency, and tries to enact a health care plan that the nation rejects. Say it is so poorly done that the Republicans muster a huge wave against Pres. Obama and the Democrats, and 2 years into his first term the GOP sweeps the Dems out of control of both houses of Congress. The rest of his Presidency he can't control anything, and is on the defensive.

If that happened, he'd only be tied with Hillary in ignominy.

See, we supporters of Obama don't have to play "maybe" and "what if". We have cold, hard historical facts that tell us to be wary of a Hillary Clinton White House.

I'll take my chances with Sen. Obama, thank you. I've already seen the other movie, and I gave it a thumbs down.

I am share "tic20011" view regarding Barrack Obama's rhetoric, he is PURE FLUFF no substance. As mondale asked "where is the beef?" there is none. Barrack piggy back on Hillary's positions when he sees them working then fall back to his sly attack regarding the war vote. When is he going to tell us why he skip certain controversial vote in the Senate once he decided to run for the nomination. Also why do these first rate journalists going to question as vigorously as they do Hillary? When isgoing to be questioned regarding his Zelko connection, his present votes and his other questionable Illinois dealings? Shouldn't he be held up to a similar test? Barrack is running a cunning racist campaign, listen carefully to his statements in given cities or groups. He has great difficulty connecting with the Latinos because his range is rather short because he fears saying anything to them that might offend BLACKS watch how he dancesin talking to that group, he stammers a great deal because he is being very careful not to get trapped as he try to woo them. THIS MAN IS A PHONY,"GEORGE BUSH 2ND. The Republican machine is warming up hoping that he get the nomination then they go to work on him even referring to him as another G W Bush very inexperience an not what America can allow right now. I am also sick and tired of his wife playing this Holier than thou role attacking others and crying FOUL when others respond. Lastly what would African Americans say if 90% of the white electorate vote a white candidate and against a better qualified Black candidate?

I just don't understand how anyone can compare Hillary with Obama. It is easy to dig up things from someone who's been around for so long, just look at Ted Kennedy. Obama has in the short time that he's been around done plenty of bad, for started promising that he will serve his full term if elected as senator of Illinois, just lies and lies, just another politician with full of illusions and that says what everyone wants to hear to get ahead. Not me. I am betting on Hillary winning, at least we know how far or short she will go.

Here's some fuzzy math:

If you count what Hillary counts as her 35 years of experience, she's counting the years she spent in law school. Excuse me??? If I told potential employers that I had 6 years of experience and counted my 4 years in college as part of that experience, I would be shown the door.......after they stopped laughing!

The image Obama"s campaign presents of him is at odds with the behavior of his hate-mongering followers on the internet. Read more: http://katalusis.blogspot.com/2008/02/obamas-image-conflicts-with-hate-speech.html

Thank you, tic20011. I do not understand why people think that inexperience is a good thing. While Obama seems like a good guy and is more inspirational than Clinton, his inexperience makes him more susceptible to outside influences. Clinton would be more likely to rely on her experience and fully thought-out point of view on the issues that she has been working on for years.

That's just one beautiful post, tic20011.

As for myself and the sudden change in donations that Repubs are questioning here, I dug in and doubled my quarterly donation to $550 which also maxed me out at $2300. I'm not the only one. Tens of thousands of new campaign contributors donated online when we found out that Hillary had to loan her campaign $5 million to stay competitive with Super Tuesday advertising.

The heartfelt thanks I got from Hillary via email today shows that we made a difference coming through for her.

Hillary '08!

rd

I look forward to the Wisconsin, Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania primaries! I am curious to see how this great battle between front runner Obama with his message of hope and change turns out against underdog Hillary's message of change and leadership. I tend to agree that Obama's message lacks specificity and substance and it worries me. If he wins the nomination will he be able to compete against McCain who has detailed, and pragmatic plans? I am putting my hopes on Hillary, I do believe that she has the experience that is needed to bring about change and to put is on the right path. If Hillary loses the nomination, I am putting my hat in the ring for John McCain. I won't vote for another candidate that lacks substance (as I did in 2000). Inspire me with hope and speeches, but all the hope and inspiration without a specific plan is meaningless.

"That kind of money and now it's "oh those little caucus states aren't what really count"?"

And some people want her to have a bigger role in deciding how our tax dollars are spent.....

The Republicans are contributing to Hillary's campaign. On February 7, Rush Limbaugh said, "The reason for raising money for Hillary is because my party is relying on fear and loathing of Hillary to unite Republicans...What if she's not the nominee? We've got to make sure she's the nominee if the Republican Party is to be unified." To see the entire text, go to Rushlimbaugh.com and search Feb. 7.

That is an impressive figure but is it as impressive as the fact that they blew through 175 million by the end of January? That kind of money and now it's "oh those little caucus states aren't what really count"? http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-campaign_monfeb11,0,27774.story

Don't count Clinton out, now that she's got Williams back on board but still, that is a whole lot of money to poof with not enough to show for it.

I'm an African-American man who is a 10-year veteran of this country's military and a member of the post-boomer generation that Obama attracts, but I must admit that I want a whole lot more substance from a candidate than he's showing on the trail. His speeches are full of high-flown rhetoric, but so short on policy that I'm just not certain he's thought anymore about the power and responsibility of the presidency than George W. Bush did in 2000. My money and volunteerism efforts are with Hillary until the end of this nomination battle. I may have to vote for Barack in November, but I sure hope he gets over the hype and gets serious about the real situation of the world we all live in before then. If he becomes president, he will not be able to simply vote "present" on the important issues like he did in Illinois, or miss a lot of the big votes like he has in the Senate. His past behavior is a one-way, non-stop ticket to a failed one-term presidency and and sub-prime mortgage on all of our futures. Go Hillary!

Knowing the way these Clintons operate, I wouldn't be surprised if their claim of 12 million in funds raised since last Tuesday turned out to be a lie.

These people lie like george bush lies--sociopathically easily. If it is a lie, it will be another one that turns on them as Obama supporters will quickly rally to surpass that figure.

Interesting that Bill did the announcing and that it is the amount, not the number of contributors, that is the news. Obama has an excitement that Hillary cant match. The Clintons' time has come and gone; time for the post boomer generations to tackle the problems they will be paying for decades from now.

Amazing how quick a change in fundraising. But, of course, they won't have to publically report on this until mid-April, at which time it may not matter whether they lied about the specific numbers or not.