and the Notorious Margret Cho and Whoopi and Ellen

and of course, the late great Molly Ivins

what's wrong is that obama is all style over substance

some of us have been arguing this from the beginning.

sure obama looks and sounds good but we need a president who can fix problems. not just give us pretty words that make us feel all warm and fuzzy.

i'll say it again....obama would make a much better vice president then he would a president.

-- sonofloud

Where's the substance in your thinking? We would all agree that Obama is eloquent, but this doesn't necessarily lead to the conlusion that he's incapable of fixing problems. In fact, he's accomplished an awful lot in his life, and has a very smart, detailed platform.

Having a Vision Statement to go with his Mission Statement isn't a bad thing.

Eloquence and high ideals aren't bad things in and of themselves. Or hope, for that matter.

Of course, nothing's inspiring like watching the Rovian/Clintonian Smear Machine in operation...

That Hillary's campaign is based on a slew of similarly absurd smears and trivia explains why voters think she's slimy, and also why Obama is having a harder time talking about issues that will actually affect America (unlike flagpins, etc.).

ignorant sexists

You know, every time I come close to supporting Senator Obama, I read another virulently sexist post by one of his supporters, and I pause.

--SusanGSMcGee

You make a lot of very good points. Sexism is alive in the culture and the campaign.

But there are a great many reasons for people to support Obama/not support Clinton that have nothing to do with sexism.

Maybe Tim Russert is a sexist threatened by a strong woman. Maybe, being from Buffalo, NY, he has it in for Clinton because of her husband's (and her, at least in public) support of "free trade" which has so devastated many industrial U.S. cities. Maybe it's a combination.

I like strong, smart women, but I don't trust Clinton because of her hawkishness (yes, including the war vote), her economic "centrism," and the petty, childish, Machiavellian campaign she's run (seems to me she's triangulating, deliberately stoking racial tensions to her benefit and the detriment of Obama, the Dem party, and the country as a whole).

If you're into human rights/progressive politics/etc., and think Obama would likely address these issues, I'd urge you to focus more on this than the worst of his supporters.

Some of Hillary's supporters aren't acting very "progressive" either, as you may have noticed.

And frankly, this isn't just a popularity contest. I for one would like to see the Bill of Rights restored...

Coming Soon: "Bomb, Bomb Iran," a duet by Presidential threshold surpassers John McCain and Hillary Clinton.

Now, I come here to see "opposing viewpoint" and to read the letters of some very thoughtful and talented letter-writers. I come here for a preview of how the MSM is going to try to disparage Obama today. How sad is that?

I know how you feel. Thanks for your post!

I like you and your letters, but don't always agree. You wrote:

"The notion that foreign policy is more important than domestic policy is not a legitimate progressive position. The traditional progressive tradition is to redistribute wealth in such a way as to help the poorest in this country."

You make many good points, but in the Bush adminstration the foreign policy of war-making directly affected our ability to provide civil services (Katrina).

In one more fine irony, there are U.S. soldiers (who are most definitely working class) having to deal with home forclosures from Iraq. The war and lack of government oversight combine to hurt the economy as a whole, especially the troops... (many of whom have serious mental health issues and inadequate benefits).

Our foreign policy of fighting terror and our domestic policy of pushing back the rights of U.S. citizens are related, too.

Your overall point makes sense to me, but I think these issues are often pretty tough to untangle.

You're absolutely right and I didn't mean to suggest that the lack of foresight/response was only due to having money and guardsmen in Iraq.

It's pretty sick, all right, and if anyone's interested in how some of the mega corps are profiting off of the disaster, check out out Naomi Klein's book Shock Doctrine...

Thanks for your thoughtful reply, and for your contributions in general.

I was mostly just trying to say, "Please don't not vote for Obama just because other people who are voting for him are mysognists."

But I did sneak in some digs at Senator Clinton, or at least her conduct, and perhaps this reflects my own bias, but it truly does seem to me that Senator Clinton's contribution to our ongoing race debate during the course of this election has been overwhelmingly negative.

oh, manless69, I'm so happy watching Obama implode

that I can even look with fondness on your witless gibes. Go stick a fork in your guy, Manless, he's done.

-- cythera45