> Shapiro stumped for would-be Democratic colleagues in Harrisburg, including href="http://www.leanna4pasenate.com/ >LeAnna Washington, who rather boldly declared that the plan for '08 includes telling "George Bush his brother is dead meat!"

Ride, Webmaster... go forth and fix thy tags!

I wish I were as impressed with his voting record as I am of his pretty speeches.

Obama name-checked FDR, recalling how "despite being in a wheelchair, he stood up, looked out and saw a third of the nation ill-clothed, ill-housed, and ill-fed and said, 'Why not start Social Security and lift senior citizens out of poverty?'"

I guess nobody remembers this but FDR first got into the White House by promising to end the War on Alcohol.

FDR stood up, looked out and saw a nation of illegal alcohol distillers, violent alcohol kingpins, and corruption and frustration at every level of law enforcement, and said, "Why don't we just let people buy alcohol legally, and try to address alcohol addiction outside of the criminal justice system?"

I'm waiting to hear whether Obama embraces that side of FDR, or just the side that's about handing out money.

During Obama's recent trip to Kenya, he held a press conference in Nairobi. One of the Kenyan reporters asked the Senator if perhaps he could use his influence to reduce or eliminate US farm subsidies so that African farmers could compete. Obama replied that he had to support his constituents, some of whom were soybean farmers. He's a politician, not a statesman, and not some kind of humanitarian hero.

Let us not forget that of all the Senate Democrats available to serve as mentors, Obama chose Joe Lieberman, the Republican Senator from Tel Aviv, as HIS mentor.

And when it comes to pandering to the pro-Israel lobby and special interest money, Barack is right up there, smiling, with his hand out, ready to say whatever is necessary.

Why is it that Barack opposed the war, but when asked to speak at the high profile Arab-American dinner in Washington, alongside a coterie of notable bipartisan national leaders, he turned it down citing schedule conflicts.

The conflict? He had to get up early the next morning for a breakfast speech at a pro-Israel event in Washington.

The message? Barack made it pretty clear who is signing those checks to fatten HIS coffers.

Barack's a very bright guy, great speaker, and a charismatic fellow, but make no mistake...he's an opportunitistic politician above all.

He's adopted the pandering approach of Hillary Clinton, and if you hear him enough, he'll eventually say what YOU want to hear, even if he said different yesterday...

Wow. Reading the letters so far, one would be hard pressed to figure out that we're talking about a liberal (scratch that--realistically liberal) Democrat--and one who, by virtue of an unpurchasable thing called Star Quality, stands a better chance of winning back the White House than any of the long-in-the-tooth Usual Suspects who've been lurking in the lobbies of D.C. for the past two decades.

Remember when a previously obscure guy from Hope, Arkansas with Killer Charisma and no national experience ran against an experienced incumbent VP who was the product of a well-oiled, well-seasoned political machine? Try to keep that thought in your head for the next two years.

Memo to my Moonbat Comrades: Try to remember what's at stake here. Barack Obama is one of our own, and while he may not be everything your purest heart could hope for, let's not lose sight that he's one of the Good Guys.

If you really can't figure out the difference between Barack Obama and Duncan Hunter, all is lost. Please, get a grip, before 6% of the party decides to run off and pledge their undying, idealogically pure devotion to a 2008 version of Ralph Nader (because he, like, really stands for my IDEALS, man, not like Obama, who's, you know, like, this total sellout...)

Yeesh. There are days when I suspect the RNC doesn't really need to do much but sit back, watch, and cackle.

I was caught by Traister's description of Obama's calmness as he stood before the Philly crowd.

There is a quality about Obama that surfaces so rarely in this country. That quality is indeed so uncommon that I have difficulty finding a precise but sufficiently broad definition for it. Maybe other observers also share the same difficulty defining Obama, so they rely on the term 'charisma'.

Well, I just looked up the term 'charisma' in my old dictionary: 'A quality of extraordinary spiritual power attributed to a person or office capable of eliciting popular support in the direction of human affairs.' Alright, I agree that Obama has this quality.

But, to more fully capture this guy's essence, more is needed, and that is what I am struggling to articulate, especially being prompted by those lines about his calm demeanor at the Philly event.

Have you ever met someone who has true mastery? Once I had a college professor who had such a breadth of mastery and knowledge and wisdom that he usually would stand and lecture for three hours without notes [I was told by colleague of his that this professor could recite whole passages from books he had read 30 years earlier], and at the end of the three hours, you, the listener, felt in your bones your own place in the history of mankind.

I gave this example of mastery as a way to point to something I find in Obama, not to imply that Obama exhibits the same kind of mastery as the professor. I do think Obama has some inborn or developed mastery that allows him to synthesize continual input and then [without delay or second guessing or guile] simply place himself and his words out into the maelstrom of today's world, and to do so in such a way that gives substantial comfort and guidance to those who hear him speak.

Finally, I would offer this piece to add to his rareness quality. He is kind. I suspect he masterful enough and gentlemanly enough to see through, put into context, and then respond respond with kindness to those who [like anonymous who posted here] enjoy using mean-spirited dismissal brooms.