The implication that older people are more likely to make stupid facebook gaffes than young ones is a bit naive. These kinds of problems are just as prevalent among people my age (college kids). It may not seem as big a deal since we are still sowing our oats, or whatever the hell it is we're supposedly doing, but it's just as stupid and embarrassing.

It doesn't help that facebook feels the need to "update" its design every two seconds, making it impossible for any normal individual to keep up with the annoying details of keeping profile information and applications private.

I'm still irked that some people are only beginning to recognize Senator Clinton's sincerity now that she is out of the running. The fact is, Clinton is a stalwart champion of the Democratic party, whether it was when she believed that she was the party's best chance for a victory (as millions did during the primary), or now, when Obama is its only chance to defeat McCain. Hillary is clearly not the self-obsessed egomaniac that many of her detractors claimed she was. Now on the campaign trail for a man who some argue robbed her of the chance to become president, she is proving herself once again to be the class act and statesman that her supporters have always known her to be.

Now all the rest of us can do is hope that Obama holds up his end and secures a Democratic White House for the sake of all Americans. The worst thing he can do is lose, and leave Clinton supporters forever wondering "what if...."

You can go off on a rant but I'm not sure who you're ranting against. I've got my (free) Obama sticker and button and I'll be voting for the guy even though I think he's slime (he's still not as slimy as McCain, and as a proud feminist I would literally weep to see someone like Palin make it to the White House instead of a qualified woman who actually supporters women's issues).

I'm voting for Obama because I realize this is a pivotal time in American history when we will need thoughtful, informed leadership, and I happen to think that Obama will be somewhat more likely to give us that than Angry Alzheimers McCain. My hopes aren't high but they are what they are.

The racism you project onto Clinton supporters is entirely in your head. The only racism I've ever seen in this campaign has come from the usual suspects: Republicans and neo-conservative trash. I've seen a lot of the Obama campaign capitalizing on fears of racism. You can attribute it all to Clinton supporters if it makes you feel better about you or your candidates' own complicity in the smearing of the Clintons. But that doesn't make it real.

Obama made as many "potentially racist" gaffes in his campaign as the Clintons did, perhaps more. Remember his poor ignorant white grandmother, whose heritage he variously invoked or mocked depending on his audience? Remember how working class white voters "cling" to religion when Obama's speaking in San Francisco, but the guy is all in favor of passionate religious devotion when it gives him a better rep with black Chicagoans or in advertisements aimed towards black South Carolinians? Remember how he pointedly distanced himself from Jeremiah Wright after the news broke about those racially charged sermons, when Obama earlier hailed him as his spiritual mentor? Obama is many things, but above using race as a campaign issue? Not on your life. Get off your high horse: Your hypocrisy is unbecoming to a supposedly liberal-minded person.

First of all, it was Hillary who made the remark about "hard-working Americans," obviously in the context of speaking to white working class voters, not Bill Clinton. Second of all, get back to me with your mindless sarcasm when you or your candidate have accomplished a fraction of what the Clintons have for minorities and the underprivileged.

Nowhere in Clinton's job description does it say it's his personal responsibility to get Barack Obama elected. Just because he's a good Democrat doesn't mean it's his responsibility to fall in line behind His Anointedship.

After Obama silently allowed his campaign to attack Clinton (of all people!) as a racist, I'm surprised Clinton has been as courteous as he has. He could lampoon Obama as a cheap, lying mockery to JFK, RFK, and MLK, and, in the immortal words of Kate Hepburn, God himself would call it justice.

And thanks for nothing, Thomas Schaller, for making a post about a great man like Newman really about a political whore like Obama. I'm sure Newman would have appreciated a real liberal in the White House much more than a pale imitation like Constitution-disarming Obama.

Ok. Right.

I agree that Obama is a better candidate than McCain... it would be difficult not to be... but this letter is not the sort of thing that real independents are looking for. For one thing, you can't even keep your logic straight: McCain, Bush, and the Republican party is somehow directly responsible for our current economic crisis, implying that politicians exert direct control over such things, yet when you talk about Obama you back off and say that politicians have no such direct control. Well, which one is it? You can't have it both ways, and I know an awful lot of Republicans who claim that our current economic woes are actually the delayed result of Clinton rather than Bush.

Second of all, the truisms you use in place of substantive evidence or citations are all commonly-accepted facts... among liberals. You say that McCain has been using negative ads that utilize falsehoods or partial truths, which I agree is happening, but you never actually cite an example.

So basically this letter is saying "for reasons that would be obvious to you if you already agreed with me, you should vote for the candidate I like."