Political Punch

The campaigns of Clinton and Obama aren't causing a divide. On the contrary, I think it is bringing a large segment of the population together. As the race gets closer, or as Obama appears to overtake Clinton, I think we'll see the Hillary Clinton that we are all familar with--attempting to be divisive, threatening, and hostile...and this time it won't work. Obama's movement is unprecedented, and people see in him hope for the future--for not only healing this country, but also with the ability to bring the U.S. back in favor with the world. We don't need another experienced politician in the White House, ready to play all the political reindeer games, we need a miracle to overcome the damage brought about over the past 7 years. I'm willing to give Obama a chance to start the long process of healing this country and our status in the world.

Obama Is so wrong, as his in-expiernce shows. Bill was the best and Hillary will, I repete will be better.

I totally agree that Sen. Obama is extremely bright and very inspiring. BUT he is no less a Socialist than Sen. Clinton. If you want the federal government to manage our health care system with all the ramifications that entails (being told what you can eat and drink, what you can or cannot buy), then by all means vote for either Sen. Obama or Sen. Clinton.

I am amazed that there is so little mention of the huge movement called "Republicans for Obama". I am 66 yrs old, and just "signed up" as one of them, & also donated to his campaign. I have never voted Democrat in my life, but this will be my first time, IF - and ONLY if, he is the candidate. He is amazing, extremely bright,and so very inspiring. Wake up, folks - people like this don't come around often.

It would be nice if Political Punch stopped censoring!

The Democrats are never held accountable for their actions (and inactions) by African-Americans. And when African-Americans have "stepped out of line," the African-American leadership and others condemn them. That is why there are so few African-American's running for office as Republicans. It's not for lack of conservative African-Americans. It's their unwillingness (and understandably so) to subject their children and families to such ridicule. Just ask yourself, "Would the mainstream media be enamored with Barack Obama if he was a conservative Republican?" Of course not!

Actually if you look back over the past 50-60 years, this can be said of the Democratic Party. That the African-American's lining up behind the Democrats out of loyalty is nothing more than the mentality of the plantation. Even when the Republicans had control of the White House and both Houses of Congress, the governments of most urban cities with large African-American communities have been controlled by Democrats. What have African-Americans received through their loyalty to the Democratic Party? Mostly rhetoric!!

The Democratics gave many African-Americans cheap, if not free, housing and free food stamps for decades. But there was a catch...many found themselves forced to live in the drug infested and gang controlled projects. One of the top issues of every election in the past 50 years has been Education. Yet, in a number of large urban cities the dropout rate is around 50% for African-Americans. 70% of African-American children are born out of wedlock!

Affirmative Action! Many African-Americans have, in fact, benefited from affirmative action. But the flaw in affirmative action has been that in many cases it actually promotes the less-qualified over the more qualified instead of just opening doors -- a reverse discrimination. For some who have benefited and are now very successful, their success is somewhat tainted in the eyes of others who may wrongfully perceive that their success was handed to them.

On electability, we need to remember that Hillary is carrying the big states the Dems traditionally depend on--New York, California, etc. Obama's wins in Iowa, So. Carolina, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, etc. are, in sense phantom wins, because those states will go for McCain. And are these recent polls pitting Hillary and Obama against McCain weighted to reflect the division of electoral college votes? I doubt it.

Obama is just as much of a divider as anyone. Not to mention this lopsided biased reporter. Mr. Tapper, when I took journalism classes in high school, I learned that news is supposed to be unbiased. Where did you go to school?

Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

Fools!

I want specifics! I want to get things done! I want action!

And I don't want my president making "BONE-HEADED MISTAKES" as Obama admitted about a real estate deal OBAMA HIMSELF INITIATED with Rezko during a time when he knew Rezko was already being written about.

And I don't want 130 PRESENT votes, which betrays a lack of conviction and a tendency to seek political advantage.

Fools! Fools! Fools!

How foolish we are about believing all this nonsense!

I think the Hillary campaign has paid someone to do this dirty job! How could she stoop so low. I had empathy for her because I am a woman but reading all these comments, I think Obama is the right person. It is sad but regretably to note that she is very polarizing. I needed some explanation why she lost in the last primaries and she responds that it is because of 'African American' community. Read between the lines and you will notice that she is playing the race card. I am a white caucasian woman but we all know that Maine, Alaska and many other states like Colorado has just below 1% African Americans. And the next is that she say it is because of 'educated electorate'. Always finding some scapegoat. This is not fair. Let the truth be told as I sadly change my position. She is a disappointment and her race card is not doing a good job. They voted for Obama not because of race but because of what the world needs today. I wonder what she will say after Wisconsin. She will blame them as 'progressives'. Oh gosh, I am tired of all these. If you are paid to write this for Hillary, note that I was once a passionate Hillary supporter, campaigned for her but later events has proven that she does not have the vision to unite this country. She has instigated the Latinos against Obama in playing the race card. Evidence of this is shown by some claiming that 'as a latino' he or she will never vote a black man. I am caucasian and many of us love Obama not becuase of his race, but because he has got a vision! And again, he is even more progressive than Clinton in letting the Latinos get driver's licence one of the reasons why I ditched him. I presume the writer was not speaking for the Latinos for I am sure that Latinos are not racists as portrayed by Hillary campaign and some writers here. These are good people and they dont vote on race. You will be shocked in Texas. Obama will win.

I agree with Michael. If you dont want to vote for Obama, dont say that 'as a Latino I will never vote for a blackman'. I was shocked as well because I never knew that Latinos are such racists. I am British and the editor of a newsmagazine and I have some stories to tell next week. Just for your interest, the whole world is praying for Obama. We need a leader not a president. Give him a chance, you will not regret because you did. Baby boom in Asia, and Europe and Africa has Obama as first names. We need him. With Obama, America will restore her positio of leadership in the world.

I dont believe the posts here. i am German and I have been watching with interest what is going on. I did not know that the Latinos are such racists. To read someone say that if Obama is put against Macain, he or she would vote MacCain with a 'heartbeat' smacks only of racism. It is gross and it does not speak well of Latinos all over the world. However, I have colleagues and friends who are Latinos and they are not racist. I guess the writer should just speak for himself and not for Latinos. Latino's are wonderful and what happened in Colorado will tell you that they actually love Obama. Please dont make hispanics look like racists. This is where Obama counts. All over the world, From Germany to Japan, Obama leads; every school children extols him. He is well known and his vision for this broken world is what the world needs today. If you dont want to vote for him, dont say it is because you are a 'latino' it makes you look like a racist. Just write that you dont agree with him. But not as a Latino. Again, consider that 9/11 was not just the problem of George Bush, ti was in fact a built up anger that accummulated during Bill Clinton's administration that exploded in the first year fo Bush's administration. From a historical perspective therefore, Bill Clinton is very complicit in what happened in 9/11. He did not do enough to defuse the tensions and anger against American imperialism. The anger simply accummulated and exploded under Bush. Now, the problem with the repbulicans is their error in Judgment, error which Hillary is also complicit in. For the good of America, there is not doubt that the leader America needs is Mr. Obama. I think the Clinton should give others a chance, for a fresh perspective, the oval office is not a family business. He had his chance and his foreign policy for all the touts of Hillary campagn did not do much for the world. Just consider one scenario: Bill Clinton was informed of the Rwanda's upcoming genocide and because there was no American interest, he refused to stop it. He knew it was coming and he did not do anything and over 1.5 million lives were murdered. He could have prevented it. This is foreign policy for Clinton. for the Latinos, speak for yourself and not for the whole Latinos, they are great people and not racists as some writers have tried to circumscribe by saying: 'as a latino, I will never vote for Obama because he is a black man' This is exactly what Obama is fighting against. This statement is extreme and if Obama loses the nomination, you can bet that Hillary will never win. Good luck

All I am reading here are attacks ON Obama by Clinton fanatics. Clearly the little Hillfans are busy typing away trying to creat a story where there is none. I think Mark Penn has sicced a few volunteers on each website dealing with the primaries to drum up the anti-Obama vitriol.

Also, why is it that so few Hillary supporters can use grammar, punctuation and paragraphs? Is this why well educated voters are shying away from her? Perhaps better educated voters also have longer memories and so have not forgotten what the Clintons are really like.

I also do not know why "46" is considered immature and young. Bill was not much older than this when he began his much vaunted leadership of the free world and all that.

I think the reason so many Obama supporters are divisive is because they are actually republicans posing as independents. Everyone keeps blaming the Clintons for being divisive and polarizing when in actuality it is the republicans who are the hate mongers. They hounded the Clintons the entire time they were in office and in spite of their efforts Bill Clinton was the best President this country has had in the last 50 years. It is going to take someone tough like Hillary to get things done in Washinton. Contray to what some of the Obama supporters think, the sea is not going to part when he glides into the white house and the republicans aren't going to do his bidding just because he says pretty please.

Clinton does divide America. Just after Wellseley, she played the gender card, vote for me, I'm a female. NOW is currently pushing that idea, and any woman not voting for Hillary is considered a traitor. Personally, to me, that she has to rely on such an argument, instead of on her qualities, shows that she doesn't have what it takes to be a President. Will that be how she leads our country, with indignation that, when someone doesn't listen to her, that it's because she's a woman? I've had enough of that already. If she can't take the heat with dignity, she's not ready.

qster: "I want someone with experience not someone who just says things. Our country cannot afford to give an important job to someone who has done nothing." Ahh, you have your candidates mixed up. Obama has an amazing legislative record that covers nuclear disarmament; alternative energy; a viable health care program in Illinois; government ethics; foreign aid, the right judgement on Iraq, Iran, cluster bombs; the ability to find concensus on difficult bills; he's unencumbered from lobbyists, so he can set the agenda; and he has a vision for this country. These are great credentials.

My family did very well during the Bill Clinton years. The economy was good, we had a trillion dollar surplus, we had money in our pockets, jobs and freinds around the world. Mark my words, Hillary willmake an even better president than Bill.

Friends:Not since the days of Truman, have we faced a more difficult and turbulent time in our history.We are in two wars,one which is justified and the other not, there are fanatical terrorists who are out to destroy our dream, our borders are insecure, the economy is in a shambles,the Chinese and the Arabs are bailing out our corporate giants,the dollar is so worthless that middle class Americans such as me can't afford to travel abroad,our people are losing their biggest asset which is their home, we have a health care crisis which is on the verge of collapse, the number of uninsured or underinsured Americans are about 50 percent of the population, we are beholden to the oil states and the sheiks, and our environment is falling apart. We have to think carefully about whom we elect as our next president.We should not be carried away by our hearts and use our minds at this crucial juncture.For me, there is only one candidate who can deal with our multitude of problems and that is Hillary. She is a strong and courageous woman who has withstood assaults on personality, character, family, sex, name it whatever.She has a track record for strong work ethic and over the past 8 years in the senate, she has shown that she can work across party lines to negotiate and achieve a consensus. To those who believe that a single person can bring about change that is foolhardy.Our forefathers have created a great system of pride for all of us with the three arms of the government which bring about the checks and balances which protect all of us.Hillary has been at the forefront in the battle for civic rights, children's and women's rights, abused children and women, families ("It takes a Village") and health care.

There is an old saying that we get the government we deserve. The comments of Anonymous Democrat for Hillary Clinton are the proof in the pudding. The ideas that a Democratic party member would vote for McCain is as silly and disingenuous as Ann Coulter saying she will vote for Hillary Clinton. As is the assumption that Sen. Clinton has more experience or that the Clinton's did so much for black people. We are debating perception people, not facts. Do Hillary supporters perceive her as being more experienced because she's older? Or is there something else about Obama that they don't like that is politically correct to say?

The fact is a vote for McCain is a continuation of the failed policies of the past 8 years. No one really knows what a vote for either Clinton or Obama means; Obama is an unknown but inspiring quantity. The simple fact is that we can't ever go back to the 90's; they are gone never to return.

I have not voted for Clinton in the Missouri primaries for a couple reasons:

1. Her close relationships to Washington lobbyist. She can't fight for the interests if the American people if she is in the pocket of corporate interests.

2. Her politics are the politics of 50+1. Are they going to try and out-Rove Rove? If South Carolina is any indication they are well on their way.

and finally,

3. I don't feel any obligation to her because some people believe President Clinton was good for people of color. People of color need to reflect on whether their lives improved. Did the achievement gap decrease? Did the Clinton administration decrease the percentage of black men in prison or stabilize the black family? The assumption that any socio-ethnic group owes ANY party allegiance is ridiculous.

I'm a free thinker, not sheeple.

In many cases this requirement that blacks line up behind the Clinton's out loyalty is nothing more the mentality of the plantation. Clinton offers us more of the same. And as Howard Dean said in 2004, we can do better than that.