Dear Joe,

Once again I am amazed that you would put out such a retarded article based on one or two sound bites, true or untrue. The US can't even finish the 2 wars we are currently in so why would you think we would start a third war? There isn't going to be any war with Iran unless e.g. Iran sinks one of our ships in international waters without provocation. So why talk about war with Iran like it's inevitable?

While you're daydreaming, put something out there that says Obama is going to run a third-party candidacy if HRC steals the nomination. And this, of course, will put McCain in the WH.

Kamiya is so extreme in his views that he cannot fathom why this whole event is the stuff that gets people unelected or unelectable real fast. Eliot Sptizer has a better chance of bouncing back than Obama does because the average person finds Sptizer's problems amusing while they view Wright as downright scary. Even Nancy Pelosi puts distance between herself and the "hate America first" crowd because she knows this stuff is toxic outside a very narrow audience, certainly not for general consumption. The bottom-line is the "pastor disaster" is causing the "chickens to come home" on Obama's campaign. Obama needs to throw himself at the mercy of the electorate because no amount of spin is going to make this go away anytime soon. It's one thing to give a speech at Bob Jones Univ (a big yawn) or even start a war, but to be associated with Wright like Obama was (20 years and counting) is some serious misjudgement for one seeking national office. Wright's style was to combine selective passages from the Bible to promote black separatism or "black liberation theology" much in the same way that others once did to justify slavery or the Inquisition. I estimate Obama will limp across the finish line and win the democratic nod but could very well get hammered in the fall.

By the way, who coined the "pastor disaster"? It wasn't me.

The last national politican who felt he could be frank with the American people and still keep his job was Jimmy Carter in 1980 and we all know how that turned out. No presidential candidate wants to be identified with the Gary Kamiya wing of the democratic party, period. Democratic candidates cannot even hint that they might raise taxes much less talk trash about 9/11. Obama has carefully avoided the "hard left" label in the primaries and has even hinted that he may not end the war as soon as people think he will. Despite the hysteria, Obama does not want to rock the boat, not yet, at least. All of his talking points are at "38,000 feet" which is by design. He is letting people extrapolate what he is saying to suit their own personal worldviews, which is great as long as skeletons stay in the closet.

It seems to me that the "pastor disaster" that Wright has become will likely cost Obama in the fall. He should be the Dem nominee but he will have a "hell of time" defeating McCain, even if he can. If the swift boaters could derail Kerry despite their dubious facts, imagine the constant hum-drum of the "pastor disaster" for the next 6 months and what it will mean for Obama. This is an unmitigated disaster for Obama in the general because a lot of people will not give him a pass on it.

What is his best strategy to win the WH if he cannot win it outright? Team up with Bloomberg and run a third party ticket. Let HRC be the Dem candidate and throw the election into the House of Representatives where McCain would have no chance and Obama would likely edge out HRC in a major brawl that would make 2000 seem civilized.

Remember, Ross Perot got 19% of the vote in 1992 and he was an idiot. Obama would get at least 30%-35% causing no candidate to get 270 electoral votes.

Interesting!

Obama knows that 95% of Edwards' supporters will fall under his wing so he really doesn't care what Edwards thinks AND it also follows that Edwards will NOT be his VP. It's obvious that Obama does not have to shore up the left wing of the party in the general and it is unclear that Edwards can help carry the South.

The BIG deal this past week was the timing of Richardson coming out for Obama because he is the perfect VP: Obama needs lots of help among Hispanics and he needs some foreign policy creds too.

So why did the NY Mag waste space on John Edwards other than to add fuel to the fire.

Joan, you are asking the wrong question. Instead of lamenting the demise of a woman candidate and the ascendancy of a black candidate, the better question is what qualities in a candidate catches the imagination of the American people and propels him or her into the stratosphere? What are the intangibles that separate Hillary from Obama? These intangibles are well documented in this specific case and it is no wonder who is leading as of this point or who has raised the most money. However, we will soon find out whether those "out of this world" qualities will mean anything in the general election.

The last part of this piece is a bombshell in that the Clintons are "filthy rich" not unlike Eliot Spitzer and very few others. This puts them in a totally different light and raises serious questions about why she wants to be president so badly. She has seen first-hand that former presidents stand to make tens of millions in book deals and speeches, and as the first female president, the sky knows no limit for her. This smacks of corporate greed where the CEO rakes in tens of millions and the rank and file are denied health insurance.