Political Punch

"You got to really go some to play the race card with me," Clinton spewed on WHYY. "My office is in Harlem. And Harlem voted for Hillary, by the way."

OK Bill...your office is in Harlem. Where is your home? NOT in Harlem.
I understand it's a 1.7 million dollar home in Chappaqua, NY complete with gates, closed circuit security and secret service protection. Not the kind of place a brother from Harlem will survive knocking on the door.

Black people may have loved Bill in the 90's, but now theyre baffled as to why he's kicking the crap out of the first black man to have a real cance to win the presidency so he can put his wife in there. Black America was played by the Clintons. The Clintons never cared about you, just your votes.

I'm inspired by Obama, but how is it "filthy" or "empty"? Your comment is pretty empty, that's for sure.

Aren't we all Democrats? Let's get real, cut out the cheap attacks, and remember the real issue, beating McCain in Nov!

I'm inspired by Obama, but how is it "filthy" or "empty"? Your comment is pretty empty, that's for sure.

Aren't we all Democrats? Let's get real, cut out the cheap attacks, and remember the real issue, beating McCain in Nov!

Anybody inspired by Obama's filthy,
empty rhetoric???

Hillary 08!!

Obama for senator!

Real leaders do not refuse to answer
questions, put down people, and
have lapel pin issues.

Vote Hillary 08!!!

Bottom line. The Obamas are low-class, lying, cheating, self-serving, manipulative opportunists.

Disloyal. Dishonest. Disgusting!

Vote smaet: Hillary Clinton 08!!!

Bottom line. The Clintons are low-class, lying, cheating, self-serving, manipulative opportunists.

They LOVED black people when they got their vote. Now they've turned against them to court the uneducated, bigoted, working class white vote.

They LOVED "moveon" when the group defended Bill Clinton. Hillary Chased after their endorsement, but when she lost it, she turned against them, too.

Of course, they HATED the Pittsburgh-Trbune Review, whose owner/publisher Richard Mellon, led the RNC charges against Bill Clinton while he was president, but now they LOVE Mellon, because they cut a deal with him to get his endorsement.

Disloyal. Dishonest. Disgusting!

The case is clear: Hillary 08!

Jim from Georgia, before you lecture us about how "black people built this country" you should check your facts:

Lewis Latimer did not invent the filament, he improved the light bulb Edison had already invented. Latimer was a brilliant inventor. Why do you feel the need to embellish his accomplishments?

Pierre L'Enfant was white and he didn't design the white house, he was the original architect for Washington, D.C.

The closest Philip Reid came to "designing" the capitol (check your spelling) was assembling the pieces of the statue on its top along with a bunch of other laborers employed and/or owned by his master.

Benjamin Banneker did not invent the clock, he was just an accoplished clock maker. (See above).

Daniel Hale Williams did not perform the first open heart surgery. He did however perform the first fully successful (long term patient survival) open heart procedure. (See above).

Charles Drew did not "show the world how to get plasma" but he did discover a way to preserve it. Similarly, Garrett Morgan didn't invent the traffic light. He patented one type of traffic signal. Why isn't this enough? (See above).

Finally, Jan Matzeliger did not invent shoes or shoe soles. He invented a machine that sped up the production of shoes. Also, since it seems to be all about race for you, his father was white.

Again, why can't you stick to the facts? By constantly mis-stating and exaggerating the accomplishments of some of these men (wildly, in some instances) you diminish what they really did by implying that it isn't good enough.

Jim from Georgia

I feel that your comments are very unintelligent and probably race based.
You say that Barack is not ready period. You also say that experience and who you know is the reason to vote Hillary. You say change won't happen over night. Well I say to you that Barack Obama is more ready to be president than Hillary Clinton,because if Hillary can't speak for herself on her views, but rather needs Bill to speak for her than she is not the right person for the job. Experience and knowledge that Bill has is not hers and he cannot hold her hand in the Oval Office or at the State of the Union or anywhere else. President Bush's father was in office and he knew people and had influence on them when he became president and look at the mess our country is in. Both Hillary and Barack are Senators and have done great jobs for their respective states, but be real and don't let Hillary fool you into believing she has nerves of steel, because she cried at a reporters remarks about Chelsea. I have children and am sensitive about them also but I don't cry about words. If she can show that she is not Bill's puppet and has her own backbone maybe she would be a good president. Finally as far as the remark about not wanting a first timer in office as president, any one with any type of intelligence would know that unless it is the 2nd term everyone has to be a first time president of the USA, you just can't go to presidential training and learn all the answers. As soon as you and others like you realize that black people have built this country maybe then you will understand why we feel that a black man is qualified to run it

1. Why is it that a Black Man can create a tiny piece called a filament (electric light - Lewis Latimer) That allows people to see in the dark?
But can't be seen fit to lead a country to the true light.

2. Why is it that a Black Man can create an instrument (clock - Benjamin
Banneker) that all People use to tell time?
But people don't think it is time for him to run a country.

3. Why is it that a Black Man can design a place for the high authorities to meet in & a place for the President to live in (The Capital & the White House Phillip Reid (a slave) & Pierre L'Enfant)?
But not good enough to lead these meetings or live in himself.

4. Why is it that a Black Man was brilliant enough to do the first open heart surgery (Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) And show the world how to get and preserve plasma (Dr. Charles Drew)?
But not good enough to put a program in place where everyone can afford this surgery.

5. Why is it that a Black Man was creative enough to design an instrument (traffic light - Garrett Morgan) To bring multiple people (traffic) to a halt?
But not seen creative enough to design a plan to bring all this unnecessary and worthless Fighting between countries to an end.

6. Why is it that a Black Man could create the soles (shoes - Jan Matzeliger) that people Walk on everyday?
But not seen good enough to fill the shoes of a bad president.

7. Why is it that a Black Man was smart enough & brave enough to teach himself (Fredrick Douglas & Thomas Fuller - both slaves) and others how to read, write and/or calculate math?
But not seen (as) smart enough and bold enough to calculate a platform to be President to a country That sure needs another first by us.

So you see,what I am saying is let us not forget our past, which led us to our present and can definitely be the backbone to our future.

We were good enough, smart enough, creative enough, and bold enough then, so lets all give Obama the chance to show that we are still these things and
more.

We all are as strong as our weakest link. We still can OVERCOME & BE THE FIRST

Anyone who has seen more than one presidential election knows first hand that it's the same campaign rhetoric over and over again. Hillary's number one boast is her experience over Obama. This is not necessarily as positive a quality as one would normally think. She has way more experience in double talk outright lies and deceipt. And that folks is what she is using to pave the way for her campaign. We don't want someone who is already moulded to the typical politition. We want someone whose integrity has not been compomised by experience. We want Obama!!!

I am a Hillary fan all the way. American needs to WAKE UP! Why would any American want a President named "President Barac Obama" That just doesn't sound American. And that man has not once solidly said what he would "TRY" to do for any American cause. I think he is just a lot of chatter with nothing to say and has shown very little leadership. He is riding on Ophra's apron string. Not much there either. WAKE UP!

Way to go Jim from Georgia, well said. This has been my feeling for the last year, and I just cannot understand how people think Obama, because he would like to change Washington, will be able to, just like that. I worked for the Feds in DC for a few years, and learned enough to know that you must really know how to work the system in order to get in and get anything accomplished. Please, everyone, read Jim from Georgia's post. One would never hire a CEO with just 2 years of institutional experience. Please, think carefully when you vote. Learn about how long it takes and how much negotiation it takes just to pass a bill and to hire new commissioners (who lead all the federal agencies) and which ones won't change. It takes time to learn the ins and outs of an institution, especially a beaurocratic one. Not only will Obama not be able to change the beaurocracy, he will have a very hard time making any of his ideas come into fruition due to his lack of experience.

Way to go Jim from Georgia, well said. This has been my feeling for the last year, and I just cannot understand how people think Obama, because he would like to change Washington, will be able to, just like that. I worked for the Feds in DC for a few years, and learned enough to know that you must really know how to work the system in order to get in and get anything accomplished. Please, everyone, read Jim from Georgia's post. One would never hire a CEO with just 2 years of institutional experience. Please, think carefully when you vote. Learn about how long it takes and how much negotiation it takes just to pass a bill and to hire new commissioners (who lead all the federal agencies) and which ones won't change.

While Hillary's claims of being prepared and ready to take the reign of being President sound good, the fact of the matter is she was only the wife of a president and was in no way in charge of making any decisions that would qualify her claims of having so much experience. However, Bill does have the experience needed to make that claim and if Hillary were elected who do you think would really be pulling the strings? Face it niether Hillary or Obama has the experience behind them that would qualify either of them to be president, but at least Obama does not have a spouse who would potentially be making the decisions of our nation. He would be doing it himself. For those of you who refuse to see the racial remarks and inferences that the Hillary campaign is throwing out there, open you blind eyes, especially those of you who are black and want to say no, it isn't so. Get real! Obama is the best man for the job, although Ms. Clinton sure has given it a good effort, she is just not up to the demand, but Bill is and that is what she is banking on.

This is a report based upon a meeting we had within our friends and family about Senator Clinton and Obama.
I will like to share the basic core issue at stake and that help me win our internal debate in favor of Senator Clinton.
Things need to change and that is what this election is all about.

1)Believe it or not this is the only Job application process where you do not have to be a President before.
2)However one of the most difficult job on the planet should not be looked at any differently.
3) Say I want to change a company for various reasons for good of employees, products, environmental issues, community and so on.
Will it help me to know the system or be a new comer?
Will it help me to be successful in order to know right people in the company to make changes that I want?
Would it help me to know other companies and relationships that my current company has or should I begin everything from the scratch?

The answers to these are obvious. Chances are a company would be at risk if you were to bring someone fresh at the top and expect to bring about fundamental changes. It sounds too good to be true and it should be that way. It is taking a huge gamble.

Looking at our country and its size and reach and its Governmental machinery we are talking about millions of people working in this system not just the senators and congress leaders and secretaries and governors.

If I am new wanting to bring some fundamental changes not knowing the system inside out, not knowing key people who are going to be there at least initially. ( If I am a President I cannot get a new senate or congress or governors for my self who would all embrace my policies) I cannot replace the govt structure at my will overnight.

I need to know ins and out more than any one else. Does not mean you know everything but my dear voters experience is a key, familiarity is the key, having nerves like steel is the key.

The rest is really good sound bites. Inspiring yes but with this kind of idealism and having not enough experience is a HUGE GAMBLE THAT WE CANNOT AFFORD TO TAKE WHEN THE STAKES ARE TOO HIGH.
Even otherwise the job is too serious.

People are so much fedup with current administration that they would be very happy to get someone that can relate to them.
This is not a guarantee that it would work. (It is almost the other way round)
The challanges are so huge it would not be even start to deliver results end of the 4 years if we have a new comer to the system.
Vito power does only so good. We have been seeing it more often than ever, it is almost autocratic.

We do not want republicans to walk out of Senate or endless fillabusters for bring fundamental changes. We do not want mudslinging which the Reps are so good at.
We can almost derail our system if this new President goes wrong on one of the things or his approach.

My fellow Americans Obama has done a very good job in bring more Americans out to vote but they were already waiting for some to call.

However he is not ready yet. Period.

God please give our people enough wisdom to make this big decision

Hey,
i just want to say that Bush is an awesome president and i say this because he is doing the best he can. i also think Hilary Clinton should not be prez because she is just being lead by clinton. so i believe Bush should stay for prez, but that will never happen. The one person i want to win for this race would be Obama! you go man!
God bless America

Hillary Clinton's use of the phrase "We are going to take back America" is "plagerism" of Pat Bauchannan is his presidential political race.

Guess what?

My 7 year old daughter just said that my household is for Hillary because my wife, her 1 year old sister and herself are rooting for Hillary, while my 12 year old son and I are for Barak.

Reason? They "...are girls" and we "... are boys"! Matter of factly!

Sounds familiar?

I still love her though.

Amazing!

I have kept an incredibly close tab on the so called racial aspects of both campaigns and the only potential racists and/or racially inflammatory statements I've seen are from behind the words of the numerous comments by members of the public on thi blog.

Africans, especially those who have lived in Europe and the US like myself (14 years EU, 6 months City of Angels, also know a bit about racism.

Let me share some thoughts with you.

1. I've seen Africans treat other Africans, on a micro and macro level, more disgustingly prejudiced than most white racists I've ever encountered have treated blacks.

2. Self respecting Africans dont make such an issue of race or racism, they simply live above it - most Africans look down at whites anyway, so deep down they laugh at 'racism'.

3. When I said 'macro level' I meant the injustice that corrupt and inept governments mete out to their owm people in Africa - the total absence of public infrastructures, utilities and collective essential goods such as health and education create a generational psychology that you guys would not even begin to understand, yet Africans live with and in a way 'above' these injustices and their perpetrators and move on, get on with it however harsh and frustrating their daily situations.

4. The way most of you carry on about a non-issue,you confirm the long held comic belief of Africans in the US that their are only two types of people in America; a) those who emigrate there and who work damn hard because they know what they left behind ie Jews, Italians, Irish, Eatern Europeans, Asians, Africans, etc and b) 'white' and 'black' Americans who take their country for granted so much they live their life on a ficticious bed of excuses and accusations against each other about NOTHING! Just like African kids switch off Jerry Springer for being too spolit, childish and nonsensical.

5. Neither Barak Obama nor the Clintons have said anything racist during this campaign, so you lot stop carrying on as if you are a bunch of mentally lazy buggers and discuss real issues.

JPT you let me down a bit by your intro; let's not get too personal or inflammatory. Consider the disposition of your audience and lead us towards constructive issues. In any case, I can't see much wrong with Bill Clinton's statement. Thanks nonetheless.

Cherio!

It occurs to me that Hillary Clinton has managed to shed the blacks and the Kennedy's and in doing so my lure back the white independents that are pro-choice and anti-war that would normally vote for McCain. I personally could care less about uniting this country. It has been divided since its founding. I want a president who can stabilize this econony. Even Greenspan admits she isthe best qualified.

Liberal politicians and 'journalists' protect Barack Obama with a personal vigor because it is in fact very personal to them.

They view black people as their children. And if anyone picks on your kids - come on, nothing is more personal.

Liberals are the parents. They garner themselves with a parental role towards the black community.

They offer them welfare and all manner of social programs to 'take care of them'. Liberals have an emotional investment in the black community. They want to make sure they are 'ok'. Sort of coming out and checking on them as they sleep, pulling the blanket up just a little higher.

Having tried to influence the greater society to cater to their specific needs their entire professional life - failure at this point would be a 'personal' failure. Much passion and time they have poured into raising the black community from infancy.

Like sending your kid off to school. Make sure he has his lunch packed, "call me if you need anything". And anxiously help them onto the bus hoping they will be ok.

Then finally they get to watch Barak Obama at the 'graduation day' of the black population. On stage representing the black population accepting his diploma figuratively by running for president in his tassel'd hat on stage .

The parents are so proud of their child's accomplishment, wiping a tear form their eye, they marvel and think to themselves that it has all been worth it. All the trials and hardships and their child has finally made it through his difficult teenage years.

Now the parents, Liberals, can sort of sit back and rest knowing that they have done good. But there will always be that little bit of worry that comes along with being a parent.

Yet Liberals are the ones who claim that non-Liberals are the "racists". Perhaps its Liberals who use the black community to keep themselves feeling good while the black community remains disproportionately dependant.

I don't think adults need parents. Other adults simply aren't superior.

I am a mixed Black man (like Obama) and I wanted to share my thoughts on why I would NEVER vote for him.

My primary concern with Obama has to do with how his presidency will affect race relations in America. I am a bit of a race man, which appears to be an outdated stance in today's America. I am someone who still knows that racism exists, that its not going anywhere, and that for the most oppressed and most silenced Blacks that racism will continue to keep them at the bottom of the totem pole.

Barry has waged a rather ridiculous campaign of "hope," offering little substance and even less action (just take a look at his voting record in Illinois. And before you criticize, I am an Illinois resident, i.e. his constituent). Not surprisingly, the disorganized and easily-led Democratic masses have flocked toward his message without really thinking about the ramifications of an Obama presidency.

With regard to race relations, an Obama presidency will take this country one step closer toward colorblindness, taking any remaining political focus off of race-based oppression and race-conscious programs to remedy such prejudice. When that happens, the real winners will be White America -- which is pretty fed up with the whole "race problem" anyway -- and prominent Black conservatives such as Ward Connerly and Shelby Steele. The losers? Well the poorest and least well off of Black Americans of course! An Obama presidency will cause racial discourse amongst the White majority to shift from one of annoyance with race to one of ignoring it altogether. And lets face it, once the theoretical discourse on race shifts amongst White Americans, it won't be long before that shift manifests itself on state ballots in the form of statutory racial preference bans and other similar measures.

Now I am in NO WAY blaming Barry for who he is, but I do take issue with his politics. His elementary approach to politics is not only sickening, but also dangerous. He speaks as if he will have sole authority to bring the "aisle" together. I suppose he envisions his presidency with Republicans and Democrats holding hands, Blacks and Whites arm in arm, and he and the Iranian president playing checkers. Sadly, since we live in a democracy and not a monarchy, neither Barack nor anyone else can "change the system" as dramatically as he claims. The "political system," by nature, is adversarial and is predicated upon some level of division. Barack's claims of false hope fail to take this in regard.

It amazes me that large numbers of Democrats fail to see what I see. Although, what is more likely is that most democrats don't care about Black America anyway and the Black Democrats that support Obama are too blind or too caught up in one of Barry's speeches to think of the long term ramifications of an Obama presidency.

I can see it now. President Obama will become a poster child for the "pick yourself up by the bootstraps argument." All over the country, poor, oppressed Black children will be subjected to condescending White America telling them, "Barack became president and he is Black, so why can't you get a job?"

Think about it. White America controls racial politics. Minority advancements are ALWAYS subject to majority approval. This is not to undermine the efforts of Black America to compel the majority to comply, but slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, etc still required the approval of the majority in order to be effective.

If Obama becomes President, the majority will shift the discourse on race again and Black America, I predict, is not going to be happy with what they see. Obama is a perfect candidate in the majority's eyes because he is an intelligent, well-spoken, mixed-race Black man that is bound not to mention race --- because if he does, all of his majority support is out the window. Now this isn't to say that if a viable White male candidate existed on the Democratic side that White America wouldn't flock to him, but given that such a candidate doesn't exist, Barack greatly benefits in this regard.

And again, I am not criticizing Barry for who he is -- I want to make that clear, rather I am merely explaining why I would vote Republican (or perhaps not even vote at all) before voting for him.

Regarding Michelle Obama comments while Barack was seated at her side in a 60 minutes interview where she stated "as a black man, Barack can get shot just goin' to the gas station."

This is very true, however, statistically, as long as the gas station is not in a black inner city Barack should be just fine.

The overwhelmingly vast majority of violence and murder of blacks in this country is committed by other blacks.

I find her comments disgusting and a view into her paranoid madness that she lives with day to day and probably infects her kids with.

No wonder they go to a segregationist church, it sounds like they are afraid of white folks shooting at them. Racists? Or delusional? You decide.

So Michelle Obama should have qualified her statement to show reflect like this: "as a black man, Barack can get shot just goin' to the gas station.... if he is in a black neighborhood."

And I suppose violence in the black inner cities is the greater societies fault as well according to the Obamas.

Hypocritical blame game. These people are through backs to the era of segregation yet they claim to be futuristic and cutting edge.

America, remember that this country isn't made up of only blacks and whites; there are the latino votes, the jewish votes, the asian votes and all the other races that make up a diverse America.

Saying that Bill Clinton introduced race into this campaign is at best a huge media fabrication. The Obamas have been playing the race card from the beginning. It was Michelle Obama with Barack seated at her side that said in a 60 minutes interview that "as a black man, Barack can get shot just goin' to the gas station." There is a youtube clip of an interview with Michelle Obama from NOVEMBER 12, 2007 saying ---- and I quote "black america will wake up and get it".

Hillary Clinton is the most experienced and qualified candidate for President. The Clintons are BOTH great Americans!

I agree with Pete: Bill Clinton's remarks in this case--and others--are highly inappropriate, but I don't think that he realizes what he's doing.

What stands out most to me in the clip is that he can't stand still.

I'm left with the impression that the Clintons believe that they are somehow entitled to another presidency. It has been shown that narcissism and conceit are at the root of anger and righteous indignation. I suppose it's hard to be humble after having been elected twice.

The Clintons are clearly blinded by ambition, and probably by their backers. They seem to be focused on winning at any cost. They cannot possibly unite the nation. I would not be at all surprised to learn that Clear Channel is a major donor, given the boost their candidacy--let alone their election--would give to talk radio.

I am sick of the media's creative editing and their lies about the Clintons. Who runs the media anyway? Clear Channel, etc. Obama is right out of Karl Rove's playbook. Falsely accusing the Clintons of making racist remarks: the media has promoted this myth and Obama's people have gone along with it. Says a lot about the man. Says more than what the man actually does say. He's for change. Hmmm. When attacked on facts he says the Clintons will "say anything" but does not address the content of their attacks. Never have I see a man of such little substance get away with so much. American Idol has conditioned the stupid people of America to be swayed once again by the cult of Personality. Americans have become so dumb.

Jesse Jackson Jr. cuts ad for Barack Obama

By Mike Dorning

Barack Obama began airing radio ads in South Carolina today featuring Chicago Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., son of the prominent civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

The senior Jackson won the South Carolina Democratic primary during his 1988 campaign for president, a victory the younger Jackson recalled in the ad, which is airing on gospel and R&B stations with a predominantly African-American audience.

“Once, South Carolina voted for my father, and sent a strong message to the nation,” the younger Jackson said. “Next year, you can send more than a message. You can launch a President.”

The advertising campaign comes a month after Jackson's father criticized Obama for "acting like he's white" because the Illinois senator did not speak more aggressively in the racially charged "Jena 6" case. The elder Jackson, who is supporting Obama, later said the remark was taken out of context.

African-Americans are a crucial demographic group in the South Carolina primary, a key early contest in the presidential nomination. They comprised about half the electorate in the Democratic presidential primary in 2004.

The younger Jackson lauded Obama for legislation he passed in the Illinois state senate combating racial profiling and for seeking to counter "the railroading of the poor in the justice system."

Though Jackson did not mention front-runner Hillary Clinton in the ad, he appeared to suggest Obama would better represent the interests of blacks.

"A lot of politicians call themselves our friends," Jackson said.

"But Obama has a heart that beats for our community. And he’s dedicated his life to the struggle," added Jackson, who cited Obama's work as a community organizer on Chicago's South Side and as an attorney working on voting rights cases.

Pat, you wrote: "When George Sr. left office his "projection" was 5.66 Trillion when in actuality it was nearly three times that much."

The total outstanding debt on Sept 30, 1993 (which was President Bush 41's final budget, submitted in 1992) was actually $4.41 Trillion. Now then, the total outstanding debt on Sept 30, 2006, was $8.51 Trillion. I have yet to locate the official totals for Sept 30, 2007. However, the website that is keeping track of the national debt shows $9.20 Trillion as of today (Jan 28, 2008).

The conclusion is that you are a 'racist' neandertal if you don't vote for Obama. Remember the conclusion about Hilary's victory in New Hampshire - voters were racist because they didn't vote for Obama, but just the opposite protection was granted Obama in South Carolina - Obama did not win due to race.

We are witnessing a socialistic informational orgy by confused hippies form the 1960's as well as idealistic emotionally led Jesus impersonators such as Jake Tapper.

"This blog really lets you see all the racism that still exists in America. Obama wants to represent all the people. He doesn't even really identify with African Americans - he hasn't had the "Black" experience. So why is it that White America feels as if he would only represent Black people. Amazing! Hillary is okay. But Obama is "new school" and America is crying for that."

What does any of this have to do with POLICY???

James Danely, At least we can count. When George Sr. left office his "projection" was 5.66 Trillion when in actuality it was nearly three times that much. So far the "projection" is 9 Trillion for Junior's administration. Hmm, I wonder what that means?

This blog really lets you see all the racism that still exists in America. Obama wants to represent all the people. He doesn't even really identify with African Americans - he hasn't had the "Black" experience. So why is it that White America feels as if he would only represent Black people. Amazing! Hillary is okay. But Obama is "new school" and America is crying for that.

Right Argument, Wrong Culprit, Part One

Given the length of my letter, I am posting it in two parts.

Part One

Glenn, I don't think I have ever read one of your columns and not agreed with your reasoning, logic and general point of view. However, this column employs a very un-Greenwald-like, extremely subjective appraisal of the facts, not to mention a spurious selection of those same facts to support an argument that is, at best, specious in its reasoning and conclusions.

Ironically, your title makes my argument for me: it is generally conceded that the media's treatment of Senator Clinton before the New Hampshire primary had a large impact on voters, and may have swayed some of them to vote for her as a response to the clearly disproportionate and unfair coverage she was receiving by the media. In the case of South Carolina, however, the very same media establishment (which you apparently have decided to join, at least in this instance) has determined that the candidate who received the unfair treatment in this particular primary was Senator Obama, and that the unfair treatment came from the Clintons themselves. This determination is utter nonsense, and flies in the face of any objective analysis of the facts.

First, in regard to President Clinton's Jesse Jackson statement yesterday, for the sake of argument, let us concede that his remark was inappropriate and patronizing because it implied that black voters voted for Senator Obama primarily because he is black. The problem here is that even if his statement was patronizing and inappropriate, what President Clinton said was undoubtedly correct - I don't know how many blacks in South Carolina were influenced in any way to vote for Senator Obama due to his race, but I assume that the number is quite substantial. Is this assumption racist? You tell me. The fact is that Senator Obama won an overwhelming proportion of the black vote in South Carolina. Is it racist to hypothesize that he did so, in part, because some African-Americans were influenced, at least to some degree, by the fact that Senator Obama is himself African-American? If hypothesizing such a conclusion makes me a bigot, fine. I genuinely don't believe it is racist to presuppose that some, or even many blacks, in South Carolina were motivated to vote for the first black presidential candidate in American history due to racial considerations. I believe that this is the point President Clinton was making. Does that mean he was being "dismissive" of South Carolina's voters? Perhaps, although I cannot glean that intent from his remarks, and to do so is a purely subjective interpretation. I would also note as an aside that President Clinton never referred to Senator Obama as the "black candidate". That some anonymous Clinton campaign officials have done so is regrettable and unfortunate, but I don't think that this label should be blamed on President Clinton, which your column does.

Second, you attribute the disparity in the pre-vote polling from the actual voting numbers in the South Carolina primary to the demonization of Senator Obama by the Clinton campaign. I have no idea how you infer from this polling data that "[s]o many voters decided to vote for Obama in the last several days as a result of their revulsion towards Obama's treatment by the Clinton campaign." To what "treatment" by the Clinton campaign are you referring? Other than the "black candidate" reference mentioned earlier, which apparently was made by the Clinton campaign after the voters had already voted, what statements were made by the Clinton campaign that injected Senator Obama's race into the South Carolina primary? I saw many such statements, but none of them came from the Clinton campaign. Rather, these racially-charged statements were raised, time and again, by the media. Many members of that self-same media attempted to attribute all manner of racist comments to the Clinton campaign, but I have not seen one example where Senator or President Clinton ever raised race in a negative manner in the South Carolina primary.

At the end of the day, if many South Carolina voters were influenced in the final days of the campaign to vote for Senator Obama, I would respectfully suggest that it is far more plausible that they did so because they were influenced by the media's coverage of the primary (where, as usual, Senator Obama was portrayed as the hapless victim of the evil Clinton machine), and not by any negative racial attacks against Senator Obama by Senator or President Clinton, because, as mentioned earlier, there were no such attacks.

The media, not the Clintons, is the villain in this drama.

Obama da Lama is not BLACK!!! He is Half WHITE and Half BLACK!!!
Why is he ashamed of that. He must be because he keeps calling himself a BLACK MAN!!! White people should take notice of that.

Pat Dunn, you wrote: "Has everyone forgotten the $5 trillion surplus he (President Clinton) left us."

First of all that was a myth. Those were 10 year projections. Only Liberals count projections as real money. Now then, the so called surpluses that the government ran in 1999 and 2000 were surpluses only because Social Security revenues were included in the totals. And if you recall, the Republicans took control of Congress in Jan 1995.

Now going back to the 1999 and 2000 budgets, the total outstanding debt actually increased during those years. Here is a chart on the growth of the total outstanding debt during the Clinton Administration:

09/30/2001 $5,807,463,412,200.06
09/30/2000 $5,674,178,209,886.86
09/30/1999 $5,656,270,901,615.43
09/30/1998 $5,526,193,008,897.62
09/30/1997 $5,413,146,011,397.34
09/30/1996 $5,224,810,939,135.73
09/29/1995 $4,973,982,900,709.39
09/30/1994 $4,692,749,910,013.32
09/30/1993 $4,411,488,883,139.38 (Bush 41)

Now to President Clinton's credit ALONG with credit from the Republican controlled Congress, the total outstanding debt during the 8 years of the Clinton Administration rose "only" $1,114,713,502,186.74. The first 5 years (2002-2006) of the Bush Administration has seen a rise of $2,278,737,933,618.07. That is double the increase of the Clinton Administration's in just 5 years.

Say what you want about the Clintons. american econocmy was at its best in years when Clinton was in office. Call them crooks if you want,but polotics have always been crooked. Obama has little expierence, and last time i looked he WAS black , African American or American of African decent. Keep it real people. As much as we would like to say race means nothing,if does! Obama will get the so called "Black" vote. birds of a feather flock together.

Would someone please explain how voting for Hillary is voting for experience? Every example I've seen is of her husband's accomplishments. Are we now voting for a non-running candidate? Is Hillary expected to turn over her presidency, if elected, to her more experienced husband? Wake up, America! We aren't behaving like the great nation of people we propose to be...

Let's see who is really running on the Lefty we have Obama--and oh yea the BILLARY'S two for one what deal--

You are missing the bigger story - there is a split in the Democratic party. The Sorros/Howard Dean wing want the Clinton out because the Clintons have been to powerful and influential within the Democratic party.

Plus - they aren't Marxist enough for the players in the party hence the internal warfare within the party... remember Welfare Reform and all the other conservative ideas Clinton co-opted to save his hide? Or how Hillary says she WON'T bring the troops
home right away.

Not the Amerika the socialists envision within their life time...

That is why you see all this cannibalization of the Clintons, the power brokers within the Democratic party are turning against the Clintons.

Obama is ultra liberal in all areas. Forget about the lies that flow form his lips. He is a socialist. And, thats what the king makers within the Democratic party and the king makers in the main stream Carl Marx media want (observe Jake Tapper).

Excuse me? He is running as a black candidate. All of the media and their polls predicted his win in South Carolina, even though this is John Edwards home state, because of the predominately democratic black population. Wake up people! Oprah is hitting the trail hard hand in hand with Michelle Obama yet Bill Clinton is targeted for defending Hillary from the constant media bashing. Has everyone forgotten the $5 trillion surplus he left us. I'm voting experience. With the mess this country is in we don't have time for on the job training. So for the first time in my life if Hillary dosen't get in I'll be voting for McCain. Hope you are all ready for about 3 new republican Supreme Court Justices. I'm sure the republicans are thinking along these lines.

This is so sad but not surprising. For those of you snarling and squealing in your pen, you might consider how it is that you ended up there in the first place.
It is no coincidence AT ALL that the more educated the electorate, the more likely they are to vote for Obama. Aren't you tired of being Hillary Clinton's puppets? Pull your collective heads out of wherever it is you have them and go educate yourself. Every last one of you is being exploited but you are all laughing it up, lapping it up, like Bill Clinton really LIKES you just because he'll wink and pull off a fart joke in your company. He thinks you are morons or he wouldn't be pulling this crap..

Hillary, Obamarama, and Edwards collectively don't have the backbone to outfit a small rat. We'll need divine intervention if any of these are elected.

Hope that B. Obama turns down that ride with Ted to the beach come spring. Oherwise the Clintons will win again.

B Obama lost my vote with the endorsement of Ted Kennedy. Two of the same when all is said and done more will be said then done.
We do not have a good leader in the contest.

Hillary, Bill and the rest of the people can make false claims about Obama 's religion, false claims about him and race, but it won't help. There are too many intelligent people in America and they are not going to be fooled this time.

The Republicans should be able to see past party loyalty and know this country is catching hell with Bush as President.

Obame-Edwards in 2008.

Well Obama can't have it all ways. He does appear to say anything depending on how the wind is blowing.

Funny how his church changed their website to remove the "black" from the 10 visions they had on there. Still with the internet, nothing is really hidden. I just don't for the sake of future African American candidates want a dud in the White House.

Personally although it is exciting he is running and doing well, I think Gov. Richardson should be in his place, along with Biden and Dodd. Hope matters but so does experience because we do have a Congress after all, although Bush and Cheney like to pretend it and the Justice Department the third branch of government, don't exist.

He isn't the first African American after all to run and it was an African American in 1868 who was elected in Congress well before the women got the vote in 1920....so I get a little tired of the whining.

Republicans are a bunch of clowns who for 8 years controlled both congress and the executive branch and failed miserably.

"I am outraged by this story. I saw the ORGINAL clip of the reporters question. He FIRST asked Bill whether Obama could win as a black candidate…then added the second part of the question. The media CUT the first part, then accused Bill of injecting ‘race’ (with Jesse Jackson) into this response. These tactics are increasingly alarming to me and show that the media is not only deliberately trying to “spin” again Bill Clinton, they are stealing the election from the American people. People need to stand up to this — it is WRONG!"

The media have been doing this sort of thing to Republicans for decades. For once they do it to a democrat and all he!! breaks loose.

When it came to SC primary, the result is so hard to gauge. Majority of SC voters have a simple lens to view. All others social issues: women movements, war, economy...are not well represented.

This happened so many times in the past and make SC primary became so out of tune and trivial. At least like IOWA caucus, the are merits in it. But SC, none...nada.

The Clintons disgust me. I'm tired of Hillary trying to coattail off of being 1st lady. She's a megalomaniac who hasn't had an original idea since 1982. Barak Obama represents hope and unity, making him the polar opoosites of the Clintons

I'm not affiliated with either of these two parties. I only vote for the team that seems best at the time. In my youth, that was usually the democrat I must admit. I even voted for George McGovern. He was the anti-Nixon after all.
However, after going thru an independent phase as I matured, I realized that the politics of the democrats were taking us down the hole faster than gravity could. Democrats invented the politics of race. They are the original "PC" types. They infest the nanny state which wants to control our lives cradle to grave. They put poison in gasoline in California in the name of the environment. Said poison has seeped into groundwater and the cost to clean it up is horrendous. Now, they're in the business of designing the cars we drive. Great. Yugo anyone?
Democrats almost to a person voted for the war. This one and the other one. Then, as if hit by a lightning bolt, they found out that people die in wars. Oh NO! We must put a stop to this they cried. So now they are trying to do what they did in the 60s and early 70s - blame the entire war thing on the other guys (and I dont mean the enemy) and turn tail and RUN, leaving the spoils to the losing side and losing MORE face for America in the world.
These are some of the reasons it is unlikely I can ever vote for a Democrat again. Black or white, male or female. Not that I enjoy voting for the likes of GW Bush, but he did prove to be made of the right stuff after 911. (God help us if Al Gore had been pres then- most he wouldda done would have been to sue Al Queda for increasing global warming what with all that smoke and everything in New York) But W's handling of, for instance, the border situation is beyond deplorable, as is the (former?) position of McCain.
There is ONE ticket that gives me cause for hope. It's in the future. I hope it won't be too far in the future. Two guys who are saying they'll run for public office after they retire from their current jobs. Two guys who excel at what they do. Two guys who can relate to people of ALL races. Two leaders who rise to the top when it's required. Two guys who I have tremendous respect for. Here's my future ticket:

Curt Schilling/Tom Brady for Pres/VP

So WHAT if they can't carry New York! :)

If Barak gets the nomination, it is all over for the dems. McCain will team up with his buddy Colin Powell as Vp. That is a team that will transcend anything the dems will have to offer.

DWR - I agree that tax cuts should not be implemented if it increases the debt.

Traci, I didn't say African-Americans don't do well. What I said was, "Being in better schools will increase the graduation rate of African-Americans. Then millions more African-Americans will have the skills to be successful in the business world. For many African-Americans sports and the music industry are the only way to succeed."

I said "MILLIONS MORE" will have the skills... I do agree with you that "There are large numbers of Black Scientist, Engineers, Physicians, Attorneys, Executives, Managers, Nurses, CEO of Corporations, Wall Street Brokers, Auto Designer, Airline pilots." You can include U. S. Supreme Court Justices and Secretaries of State as well. These individuals made their achievements based on a good education. They graduated from high school and college. BUT my point was that for many of those who don't graduate, sports and the music industry are the only way to succeed.

Now as for who can "save" African-Americans, if they need saving, only THEY can save themselves. I only pointed out what both political parties were offering. For some, rhetoric is enough to inspire them to success. But they are much more likely to achieve great success graduating and getting degrees. But the Democrats place a higher commitment to the National Education Association than they do to those students who are attending failing schools.

Finally, I did not intend to imply that African-Americans wanted a free ride. I only pointed out that that is what many received from the Democrats. And in return, they became enslaved by the government. Most African-Americans want the "American Dream." But that can't happen being trapped in the projects. In some respects that entrapment is worse than the old segregation in the South. That's because too many of the African-American leaders condone this entrapment and the enslavement by the government.

Obama does put his hand over his heart for the pledge of allegiance. That myth has been debunked (see snopes.com plus all the videos of him actually citing the pledge with his hand over his hear) but obviously is still spouted by ignorant schmucks.

True Conservative,
I don't see any true conservatives that are currently in the running. However, at least with McCain, he is talking a lot about the cost side and the need for drastic cost side reforms which is a very important issue to me. More so than the need for additional tax cuts. At this point tax cuts should only be secondary to cost reforms and controlled spending. Getting the deficit and debt under control will do much more long term good for the economy than any tax cut could do.

Bloomberg for President.

How come Obama doesn't put his hand over his heart during the pledge of allegance? Don't vote for him.

Posted by: Down with Obama | Jan 27, 2008 12:15:20 AM

So what do you suggest? Should he instead put his hand on his wallet and worship the almighty dollar as do the wealthy capitalist money changers? They don't worship this country they use it to their benefit.

If Obama isn't the "black" candidate then why does all the media present him as such? Why is it a historic election? Obama will garner the "black vote" because he is black. I would dare say Oprah is campaigning for him because he is black. Funny how Jake here can represent the Clintons as race baiters (as they are) but he could never muster have the courage to make a similar claim against the "black" candidate. This is just more of the same from the ultra PC world we live in....

What is the black vote? How is it different from a white vote? Why are they African Americans and not Americans of African