I agree with 'Latin Vote' What has gotten lost in this melee is the tenuous and somtimes deeply fractious relationship between Latinos and African-Americans.

The chattering-classes love to conflate the 'black and brown' vote, as if they were part of some alliance. We white folks, either due to arrogance or ignorance are guilty of the same sad generalizations.

Roil up the races! Put a real face on all the 'make-nice' veneer. It is thrilling to have viable black and female candidates.--Now let's get real about who we Americans really are---its our only chance of winning this thing.

Rosieinexile

I mean really, what are people so mad at? The fact that Obama inspires, dare I say it? Hope.

While the soothsayers are all busy coming up with complex equations of experience + money + 'electability'we common folk are feeling, dare I say it? Hope.

The equations gave us good candidates like Gore and Kerry, who I ardently supported and watched with dismay as they were dismissed by the MSM and the echo chamber as 'plodding' and uninspired. Have we all become so jaded and manipulated that inpsiration is no longer meaningful? That a good, bright, hardworking, public servant like Barack Obama is somehow unworthy of our confidence/votes because he invokes in us, dare I say it? Hope. Is hope somehow now equated with simplemindeness?

I have loved Bill Clinton, but have always felt his selfish sexual antics and political parsing was what brought Shrub to the White House as people tried to purge themselves of the taint of public humiliation. I now find I have become increasingly uncomfortable everytime I try to sit through one of his speeches, there is a tired but entitled quality to all that he speaks about in support of his wife.And himself.

I am weary, like so many of my fellow citizens, obviously, of all the 'success'equations. I am tired of putting up the 'war hero' because THAT will beat the nasty GOP, or the policy wonk with'years' of experience(if we were sincere we would have voted for Biden.)I just want to feel a little better about my country again. I want someone smart and dynamic,who I trust--who is the face and voice of the USA here and around the world.

We could all do with a little more....Dare I say it? Hope.

While I don't deny that HRC has real feelings for her country(or her ascent to power) Most of us do.

But if you don't think that 'genuine' moment at the end wasn't pure political calculation, you've been watching a different campaign.

The last place Hillary got any traction was in New Hamsphire, when she was asked 'How she kept going'. The tearful moment!!! Tucked into the middle of that closing love sonnet(valedictory) last night was a reference to 'How she kept going'---it KILLED in NH! Seems all you media Hallmark folks forgot you got the same card back then.

As to the reference to her Edwardesque close, in case you haven't noticed she frequently, goes a paragraph too far. I admire her, I don't admire this campaign. It has sounded hollow and calculating from the beginning. If a measure of her competence is how she has run this campaign---then, no thank you. If the measure of her sincerity is distilled down to her two 'real' moments in over 156 days of this spectacle. Then, really. NO THANK YOU.

Does she so mistrust us that being real is a last ditch effort?

Real is what we are hungering for.

JosieOrtez....what constitutes a'great' article? A singular, uncorroborated piece that supports your intense dislike of Obama and his several miilion supporters?

I read the piece. I don't know if and what this 'reporter' states is true or false. Do you? How?

I found the article mildly amusing, in as much as it is more about the writer himself, than Obama. His quest for work and interviews, his crappy car, the places he slept(or 'crashed') His atmospheric retelling of sitting on Chicago porches above places the homeless haunted. All very self-impressed with the romance of the young struggling reporter. He's a wannabe, using anti-Obama invective---to pander to the segment of the electorate that confuses vitriol and personal attacks with productive, meaningful political and civic dialogue.

I am white, female, very middle-aged, have struggled as a single mother most of my life and am told I represent the core the Hillary's base.

Sorry folks---I support and admire Obama--flaws and all.

JosieOrtez in supporting your candidate you might want to chill out on the anger, propaganda tact, it's so Bush 2000/2004...Its just not working this year.

I love the way everybody slices and dices the economy and 'foreign policy' like they are seperate unrelated issues.

"Ohio voters are about the economy." "Iraq isn't getting as much 'traction' as last time around."

Are you kidding me?

Is it just possible that all the billions of taxpayer dollars vanishing down the sinkhole of Iraq, might, just might have a positive impact here at home?

Like new infrastucture? Schools to train and retrain our increasingly umcompetitive workforce?

Healthcare that isn't enviserating the working poor and the not- so- poor working?

If our money continues to be cannabalized by an unchecked defense program, fueled by fearmongers and war profiteers..then everybody can kiss all these promised reforms 'New Green Jobs...blah, blah, blah(from any of the candidates)a fond farewell.