Like you, I care about the facts in this election. To go through a few points--what happened in Nevada that makes you so angry at Obama?

I have read this coverage:

http://www.rollingstone.com/nationalaffairs/index.php/2008/01/18/nevada-turns-ugly-clinton-campaign-alleges-voter-intimidation-by-obama-organizers/

which alleges that it was union people--not people who are working for Obama who used intimidation. Clinton's supporters were part of a lawsuit which potentially could have disenfranchised some of her own Latino supporters. When the culinary union ran an ad criticizing Clinton Obama said he would repudiate the ad only when Clinton repudiated the lawsuit--so for me, I don't understand the difference? Both the lawsuit and the union ad were trying to push voters one way or another, but you sound angry and bitter at only one of the candidates.

(Here is someone's story of voter intimidation by Clinton supporters, if this counts too http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2746911)

2. There is also this situation relating to Clinton supporters and the Obama is a muslim charge (other than Bob Kerry's remarks which he apologized for earlier in her campaign)

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/12/05/clinton_campaign_volunteer_out.html

3. How is it "racist" to call Obama unqualified? Well, the word unqualified and lightweight has come up a lot in his campaign. He has worked in public service all of his life, just as Clinton has. He has been a civil rights attorney, worked in poor communities, and speaks about Latino wages on his website (currently lower than white or black wages at 57 cents per dollar for a white male:

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/civilrights/

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/PovertyFactSheet.pdf

He is a Harvard constitutional law professor who has also served twelve years in elected office, longer than Clinton or Edwards. Both Clinton and Edwards ran or considered running for president after one term in the Senate, yet no one called "lightweights" at their presidential ambitions. Reagan had eight years as governor. Lincoln had two terms in the Illinois Senate and one term in the House of Representatives before being elected President. Sometimes calling a person unqualified even though they have many accomplishments can be a form of discrimination. I'm not saying that you're doing this, but that some people can and do.

* * *

If you have made up your mind on these issues, I understand. But most Americans surveyed find that Obama and Clinton are similar in their views on the issues, and they are roughly similarly qualified to be president, if elected.

If you've made up your mind on which candidate you prefer, this is fine, but I don't quite understand the rancor.....and if Obama is the Democratic nominee would you still decide not to vote for him? Is this an indication of a problem between different communities, or is this personally based on his take on the issues? Were YOU intimidated in Nevada?

I'm just trying to follow what you're saying.

I mean the part about the idealistic kid of 14 still kicking today. I like that.

I think you miss anonymous' point. Black woman have been left out of this equation far too much. And black women who I know have been very divided over who to vote for, and the vote could have gone either way. But the results of the election were the way they were.

Further, anonymous is right in that if black people (men and women) had voted for Clinton in higher numbers--that would have definitely attracted attention. So the fact that overall women supported Obama over Clinton (white and black women)--that deserves recognition too.

What Ms. Morrison herself said about the subject is that she recently sent a letter of endorsement to Obama, praising his "creative imagination." She said she has never endorsed a candidate. You can read her letter here:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/01/author-toni-mor.html

Clinton has not committed herself. Obama also supports driver's licenses for illegal aliens. This is another example of a fearless stand on a tricky issue--which I appreciate in Obama.

He also (and Edwards too) have said that water boarding is "torture" while Clinton has refused to commit herself. These are the "least of those among you" that I can think of--political prisoners and illegal immigrants--and I appreciate how Obama has committed himself to looking out for their interests too.

And the Toni Morrison endorsement made my day...

ljwalker I did do my homework. What I said was that Clinton had not committed herself to addressing immigration in the first year of her administration, as per the San Francisco Chronicle.

Here is the article:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/28/MNH1UL57Q.DTL

And the driver's licenses do matter to me, so that's why I wrote that. Thank-you for the information though.

and LaurieNY that is good to know. I'm glad she has said that. I find it very encouraging. Even McCain has said that waterboarding is torture.

Thank-you for writing about the issues though. I care about these details too. Just because I'm an Obama supporter doesn't mean I don't care about nitty gritty detail.