Dear Fellow Feminists-

In all respect and affection, you need to GET OVER YOURSELVES! I am a 1960's feminist--began the first daycare center in Washington, D.C.--been a single parent, and lived with no healthcare! That was then; now is now! We have the chance to elect a truly transforming (and feminist) candidate for President this year, and HIS name is Barack Obama!

I too have been a big Clinton supporter, and have been sorely disappointed at the way both Clintons have conducted themselves in this election! But most of my pain is because of the extreme codependence with which Hillary has behaved towards her two "junkyard dogs," Bill Clinton and Mark Penn. She should have thrown out both of these turkeys months ago, and listened to her own gut! The election results might have been much different if she had! What attracts me to Obama is his true voice--both in speaking and writing--and the fact that he is not a product of image consultants. Hillary Clinton changes with the breeze, and I am continually looking for that solid core of self, which is sadly nowhere in sight! This is a tragedy for her, and for all of us who believed she represented our interests in the Women's Movement. The truth is that she has listened not to our voices, or to her own, but to Bill Clinton and Mark Penn (and a few other waaaay too wealthy and powerful men in her campaign). For this, I do not respect her. And she will not get my support or my vote!

Kate Madison,LCSW

Depoe Bay, Oregon

Yikes!!!!! I just figured it out! Huckabee is not actually a Baptist minister. He is an Islamofascist TERRORIST!!! But it's okay, we need not worry, because I am sure he is compassionate!

Yes, by all means, we should ignore the polls--and the obsessive mentality of unimportant trivia that accompanies them. However, we ignore this election at our peril!!! This is not an election about which to be cool or cute! We have an incredibly serious decision to make about our country--which has been going crazily down the toilet for eight years! And that has nothing to do with the polls. It has to do with voters educating themselves about our most important issues: the War in Iraq, Universal Healthcare, Global Warming, Influence of Lobbyists---shall I go on??

Please, people, get with it! This election is about our country and our future! Pay attention!!!

Thank you, Joan, and other Salon people for getting Obama's first book reissued! You have done us all a great favor!!

Mr. Obama had a rally today in Portland, and the word is there were 50,000 people there--with others lined up and unable to get into the park! It was at a waterfront park, so there were kayaks and canoes all lined up watching too! Go Obama!

Kate Madison

Depoe Bay, Oregon

This is very depressing to me: that voters in Appalchia think Hillary Clinton is their "friend" and Barack Obama is not! Who of the two is more elite? Not Barack Obama, for sure. He has much more in common with these voters, than does Sen. Clinton. I think the issue is that he is BLACK--well, half-black! And, let's face it, outside of the major cities, the population is not educated and will most likely believe what the right-wing media and psychopathic politicians tell them: that Obama is a Muslim; that he does not care about their problems, etc. etc. In truth, both Clinton and Obama would do more for the people of Appalachia than John McCain. Since Obama will be the Democratic Presidential nominee, it will be in their best interests to vote for him. If they do not.......well, all the sterotypes will be reinforced--that they are prejudiced, ignorant and uneducated!!!

Uh.....Sorry, Joan! We DO know how this is going to end, and it is not going to be the way the Clintonistas hope! In fact, Barack Obama has a lock on the nomination, and only his decency and good manners keep him from pushihg his case--which I compretely agree with! This man is a class act, and Hillary Clinton is a loose cannon! He needs to be measured and thoughtful and kind in his respose to her--make her feel like the truly important woman she has been in this historic campaign!

And....If she just won't leave, there are ways to deal with that sad fact! It might come down to a delegation of senators coming to take her home to Washington--and turning out the "junkyard dogs," Billy Boy and Mark Penn to their rightful homes--guardig the junkyards!!!! This time around coule be the end of a powerful coalition--if Hillary decides to keep her own counsel! What a breath of fresh air that would be for the country, but, most of all, for HER!!!!

Hopefully-

Kate Madison

Depoe Bay, Oregon

Oh geez.........this guy is so "old think," and completely out of touch with the thinking of America in 2008! Guess what, Joe? America is sick to DEATH (literally) of this terrible War in Iraq, and want only for our brave soldiers to come home safely! We are also sick of the rich getting richer and the poor--well, you know the rest!

So, Joe, I have an idea! Why don't you run with Senator McCain as his Vice President? You can whisper correct answers in his ear (Sunni or Shia) and remind him that we are not fighting in Vietnam--or are you stuck back there too? Anyway, not to worry--you both will lose! Then you can head off to Sedona and soak in the hottubs on the vortex, and perhaps begin to open your minds to the "fierce urgency of now!"

Kate Madison

Depoe Bay, Oregon

Hillary Clinton, please go now!

And do not tell us you don't know how.

You can go by shoe; you can go by cow,

But think of your country, and please go now!

(with apologies to Dr. Seuss and Maureen Dowd)