Lately I've been taking a class on Buddhism. One of the main ideas is that happiness doesn't come from external conditions...things like your school, your job, your house, and your mate. The kind of stuff this column usually talks about.

It's an interesting idea, the idea that happiness comes from inside, but it has nothing to do with contemporary America. Consider, for a moment, that you might be studying at a community college, not a prestigious university. You might be editing a local newsletter, not a hip and high paying magazine. If you did these things, you might think...that you're a loser? That you don't quite measure up?

It does seems as though you are in fact following your dream. You're on the way to being a winner in the world of writing. But...you don't feel like you measure up? You feel like a loser, maybe a little?

Maybe the problem is inside, not in the school.

Clinton would be spending just as much if she could raise the $.

brevity is the soul of wit

For me, in the end, the question isn't whether we can keep America's promise; it's whether we will keep America's promise.

Could you repeat the question?

...but will it fly in November? I will HATE to vote for Hillary, but I will. How many will just pass, or vote for a third party, or vote for McCain?

If Obama wins the nomination by the rules, but loses by delegate decision...well, disappointment can be a big spoiler.

You must be new here.

The stark contrast between George W Bush and Bill Clinton's presidencies should disabuse anyone from the dangerous notion that we should vote for someone who gives us great speaches about unity and tone in Washington rather than the boring policy wonk who has actual plans to make things better.

Clinton was a better speaker than either Bush by far (Bill, not Hillary)...certainly not a "boring policy wonk".

Bush's key flaw is his right-wing ideology.

He's not running.

Not bored...just wondering what you are specifically referring to.

You are very confused, because the government is not a business. I would know, because I work for the government. That is not to say that we don't receive valuable goods and services from the government, but the President does not "run" our country.

The "large state" argument - that Clinton's large state wins in the primary translate into large state losses for Obama in the GE - has no basis in reality.

The Democratic primary uses a delegate system for determining the winner.

This is interesting, because after her Super Tuesday flop we heard a lot about how the delegates were necessary so that any "distortions in the system" could be corrected.

Now that Obama is ahead in delegates (even closing the gap in superdelegates), it's the popular vote that matters with Clinton supporters.

But the rules say they are NOT to be counted.

Didn't you say: "(Those are the rules.)"?

Just the rules you like.

Obama will win the blue states in the GE. The strategy to win overall is getting the swing voters, and some red states.

Supporters of Hillary go on and on about her ability to bring in the swing voter...but her real strength is with the base, a base that would be expected to go with Obama in the GE rather than switch to McCain.

Again, you seem to be arguing for only those rules you agree with, and against the ones you don't like, while saying the rules must be followed.

You argue that the caucuses are undemocratic, but argue that we must follow the rules regarding the superdelegates, who are hardly democratic at all.

Why not just accept ALL the rules? If we follow ALL the rules of the nomination process, Obama is the leading candidate.

"I have stated time after time after time that Roe v Wade was a bad decision, that I support a woman — the rights of the unborn — that I have fought for human rights and human dignity throughout my entire political career," McCain said. "To me, it's an issue of human rights and human dignity."

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, says her group has always considered McCain pro-life as well. And it's not just abortion, she says.

"He voted against family planning, he voted against the freedom of access to clinic entrances — that was about violence against women in clinics," Keenan says, adding, "He voted against funding for teen pregnancy-prevention programs, and making sure that abstinence only was medically accurate. This is very, very extreme."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18632802

Q: President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years — (cut off by McCain)

McCAIN: Make it a hundred.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/04/mccain-100-years/

"There may be times when the will of the people, for example Iraq, the will of the people, unfortunately is that we withdraw from Iraq immediately or very very soon. I don't share that view of the will of the people. And I think the will of the people was that we get out of Korea when Harry Truman was president of the United States, but then he decided to do what he thought was best for the will of the country. Now, I don't compare this issue with Iraq or Korea, but, look, I'll be glad to continue this discussion, and read the stuff about it, but I am not changing my position on quote 'medical marijuana,' okay?" (Nov. 14, 2007, McCain blogger conference call, said upon being reminded that the will of the people in California was to make medical marijuana legal)

http://politics.healthdiaries.com/john-mccain-quotes-on-medical-marijuana.html

it's a close race...but not a stalemate. no I didn't read the article.