Belatedly, but for the record: I considered the Cohen Glenn Close "joke" to be sexism; I thought Kennedy's classless remarks were just garden-variety disrespect and unrelated to gender. But given that Obama himself is going out of his way to express respect for Clinton and her voters, it just showed that Ted Kennedy is about Ted Kennedy, as usual, not about Obama.

doloresflower, at the time I wrote this post, that thread had quite a few revolting comments about West Virginia. Maybe it got better later? Certainly you should know I would not be talking about Maddie P. (Maddie P. gives me hope for November.)

Did I do something recently to make you think I'm posting in bad faith? Because you're not someone I'd expect to react this way.

HarvardPhiBeta, can I ask how and why you chose your screen name?

Thanks, doloresflower. I worried that the entire tide and tone of the Democratic primary was turning when I read that post!

I do understand what you mean about reaching out and some folks not reaching back. I have seen it here. And yes, I find myself sometimes not replying to something smart and great an Obama supporter says, because I worry about the troll-abuse the person I write to will endure. Which is stupid, I know.

Anyway, thanks for all you do.

HarvardPhiBeta, I regret asking you that question. Please accept my apologies. Like it or not, I've done so much writing about myself on Salon and elsewhere, no one needs me to fill in the blanks, because there aren't many. Likewise, I don't need to ask why you chose your handle.

08YesWeCan, you made your debut here talking about Chappaquiddick. You showed your colors. Everyone here saw them.

HarvardPhiBeta, I graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and I'm damn proud of it. But I don't boast about that, and the only people I know who boast about their Harvard backgrounds, well, actually, I don't know any. And I know people who went to Harvard.

Oh, and I do know what Phi Beta Kappa is. Thanks, though.

Jamie, I should have included that point in the post. But I had a question I wasn't able to answer: Have prior Democrats running for that seat also run as conservatives? I'm just wondering how different Childers was, and I wasn't able to see much online. If they've been nominating super-conservative Dems and have still been losing, this would represent something really big. If they've been nominating liberals and losing, maybe it's not as nationally significant. I'll keep looking around but if you can fill us in, please do!

Amity, you're right, the "again" in the headline was meant ironically but it didn't come off that way, so I changed it.

God bless your mother, BryanS. I was talking about myself.

And anyone who read this post primarily as a slam on Barack Obama needs to take a wider view of what's at stake. It might be helpful to read the piece I linked to from four years ago, which ironically mentioned Obama with enormous admiration, which I still feel. But this is what I believe about gay marriage, and have believed since February 2003. I was disappointed in Clinton, too, and I said that first. I don't work for the Obama campaign, or the Democratic party.

Wow, as I've said before, I love Obama: Some of his supporters? Not so much. Disrespect Elizabeth Edwards if you want. Insist that Salon ignore the small chance that Clinton can win the nomination, if you want. Mock Clinton supporters, if you want. Call me a racist, if you want.

But if the wider world of voters ever tunes into these lines of argument, I promise you, McCain will do the near impossible, and win.

Thanks, doloresflower. I think that's fascinating about your mother. I actually wondered that when I saw the Indiana and North Carolina election results, which showed Wright didn't matter much overall. It may be that more religious and conservative voters will separate Wright from Obama, in a way I haven't been able to, because they would never leave their church over something a pastor said -- unlike someone who's an ambivalent, mostly secular holidays and special Sundays Catholic like me!

Have a good weekend.

Hi C. Mosby. Thanks for your concern. I thought the post making light of my asking where Elizabeth Edwards stands, because she's not even a superdelegate, was a little bit mocking. Clinton may well have (almost certainly has) lost, but what Elizabeth Edwards thinks and does is actually interesting to many Democrats, especially those of us who care passionately about health care. I think it's nothing to make light of, but I could totally be wrong. I'm sure you'll tell me!

david sugarman, I can't believe I'm actually replying to you, but...I think it's wrong for people to threaten to vote for McCain as a threat. So where in God's name did I threaten that? I won't vote for McCain. I've said over and over I'll vote for Obama. But I do promise you: the arrogance in these threads, the people who don't read -- did I really not answer C. Mosby? -- the casually tossing the slur of racism. It's just good hardball politics on the self-defeating left, I've lived through it before. But it's not going to be a real winning argument in the general election. Those of you toiling in an RNC basement: Good work!

Calm down, DS. When you read what people are writing, rather than just reacting to your own projections, you can occasionally see the truth, and I ask that you continue to try to do that, for Obama's sake, not mine. Thanks!