Sure, you can't see everything coming but you need to jump on this crap a bit better than the tit for tat. I'm not interested in seeing this crap where they just through statements back and forth. We need to ENGAGE the conversation and lead it to where we need it to be.

The thing is McCain can win the Hamas argument. It doesn't matter if it's right or not. Some people want to dismiss him as a crazy old man that is losing it, but how many people do you know or have you known that would buy this stuff hook, line and sinker? Hamas = terrorist organization, Hamas says Obama is their preferred candidate. It seems really obvious to me that many people in the country do not think about these issues as Salon readers do or even most bloggers. This is something that will resonate with regular people in the country.

Obama needs to put McCain on the defensive and not assume they are going to win because "it is a democratic year". Overconfidence will kill us. Do not underestimate McCain or the GOP even if they don't like him. They want power and will do whatever they can to get it. We need to be ready and fight for this stuff this year.

That's a pretty big stretch for McCain's staff to use. Obama said that to mean that the 'Straight-talk express' has lost it's heading, or bearing as a ship would. You could extend it to losing the wheel bearings even. Both would make a hell of a lot more sense than equating it with him losing his "marbles". Wow.

I thought there were plenty of better ads on there. Some didn't even make it to the finals but were very well done.

They clearly made a decision about which one would play the best against McCain instead of choosing the one that really was the best overall. I guess that makes sense though.

I wonder how many have a copy of their birth certificate handy.

Bad idea by any stretch. Hope it fails horribly.

Perhaps. Sure you can easily make the argument that a Bush or McCain would have the policies that Hamas and others use to rally for their cause to fight the infidels and so forth.

However, what if their response is just one that is logical against administrations that have no hope in ever negotiating any deals from the U.S. or expect Israeli pressure? What if the idea of Obama seems appealing to them because they might believe for once he'll change our foreign policy?

I'll agree though, any sort of attack will help the necons, but I wonder if a ceasefire would be chosen as a way to help Obama? I see two possibilities here.

I love how Hillary is somehow this magical candidate that has no flaws as soon as she's behind.

Reality seems to change I guess for some.

...and so far it hasn't. After June 3rd, they'll have little if any new metrics to use to try and sway the supers.

I'm ok with letting her run till then but after that, there isn't much room to make your case anymore. At that time, if there isn't an hint of supers going her way to give her the nom, then she should call it.

Going to the convention is just harmful for the party and her imagine, both of which will take a severe hit and she still won't be the nominee. I honestly think she knows this though. They are just staying in to wait for Obama to implode so she can step out from the rubble and be the one left standing. This has little chance of happening though.

Nostalgia will.

Reagan defeated communism.

The Cold War was the issue of his time and he "defeated" it. The facts mean little. If they did with respect to past presidents, Lincoln wouldn't be known as someone standing up against slavery, when his primary objective was to hold the union together, not free the slaves.

I admire those that focus on the facts of Reagan but the average Joe and Jane citizen in the midwest remember the nostalgia of his presidency. He did lead, whether it was wrong or right, he made people believe he was right. History will most likely put him in the camp with the great presidents, whether we that know of the facts want him to or not.

At least there is progression in the GOP towards this issue. When you have people like Tom Delay saying that it's crazy to think that man can cause climate change, this is a nice change. At least we can have a debate on how to best approach the issue instead of over whether there is a problem.

And Katetex, if we can burn clean coal, it's better than burning coal. You can't solve the energy needs of the country with solar and wind power. One reason I like Obama is that he will look at nuclear power but Clinton has completely written it off. You know how many solar panels or how much land with windmills it will take to replace the 20% of our energy needs that comes from nuclear? Obama can at least understand this reality and is open to finding the best solutions that exist. This is the type of realistic leadership this country needs.