Letters to the Editor
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Two degrees! Woo Hoo!
Barber and clown?
That was an awesomely elitist point about us being elitist!
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Salon-Very Dissapointing
I remember how in the last election cycle how Salon had such an impact and was always on the cutting edge of the political scene. Now it seems to be merely a shadow of its former self, mimicking the mainstream media to a large extent.
Now I go days without reading Salon. I must say, I don't really miss it.
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I wanted Edwards
ANd this is why. Perhaps Edwards or Gore can be drafted at the convention. Because the media rubbed out the true economic progressives early on?
One of these two can be vice president.
I'm truly tired of the silliness, the dog on dog stupidity, the excuse making. Do the research. They are the same, and neither will go far enough to deal with the economy if we don't force them. Put the identity politics aside, and let's describe a Voter's Bill of Wants. Present it and make these two deal with it.
That would be productive. And we all know people prefer to whine over being productive.
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About those voters
The white uneducated voters that keep Obama from "closing the deal" and Clinton in the race, are also called Reagan Democrats. They have been voting the GOP ticket in every presidential election since 1980. Despite their almost hopeless employment situation in an outsourced US economy, they vote in the general on issues like abortion, gay marriage, gun ownership, flag burning and other phony "patriotic" issues. They will vote for McCain regardless of who the Democrats run against him.
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Hillary Clinton is the One Who Can't Close the Deal
It's interesting that hundreds of media outlets today -- Salon included -- are leading with stories that "Obama can't close the deal."
This is not an actual or legitimate "news" headline, of course. It's just the media, parroting Clinton campaign spin...a Howard Wolfson talking point designed to deflect attention away from the truth. Because the one who can't close the deal has been, and continues to be Hillary Clinton.
Hillary Clinton entered the campaign as the "inevitable candidate" and the "presumptive nominee." She was never the underdog, and she was supposed to have closed the deal long ago, by Super Tuesday.
Hillary Clinton waltzed into the campaign as the wife of a two-term, popular president. She entered the race as Democratic royalty, heading for coronation.
She had the support of women, of Clinton fans, of the Democratic party machinery, the unions.
She had a huge war chest.
She was white, establishment Washington, she knew the ropes, she'd been around the block. She knows the White House.
Many newspapers -- including the New York Times itself -- endorsed her.
So who exactly is it that can't close the deal?
Hillary Clinton squandered away her inevitable, frontrunner status, by sending surrogates out to cynically play the race card, by lying about the extent and depth of her political experience (35 years, really?), by exaggerating her bravery (sniper fire in Bosnia), by flip-flopping on everything from NAFTA to the war in Iraq, and by running an ugly, Republican-style personal smear campaign with tactics right out of Karl Rove's playbook.
And as a result, she's struggling to keep her head above water. She's broke. Even former "Clintonians" - Bill Richardson, Robert Reich - are endorsing Obama. Voters says she's untrustworthy and has a credibility problem.
And there's no way she can win the nomination unless she stages a desperate and destructive superdelegate coup d'etat in Denver.
Meanwhile, the real underdog candidate, an African-American with a funny name and a Muslim father in a land that is still trying to overcome racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia, came from the obscurity of the Illinois state legislature, gave a speech that touched a nation, has risen to national prominence, became a Senator, answered the call to run for president, inspired hundreds of thousands to register to vote and become politically active, raised phenomenal amounts of money for himself and other candidates, and has created a once-in-a-lifetime political movement.
He's just a few months away from becoming the Democratic nominee -- and if Hillary Clinton had as her priority the good of the Democratic party and a Democratic victory in 2008 -- she would step aside and let that happen sooner.
Hillary had every advantage and every chance to close the deal. The nomination was hers to lose. And she lost it. She couldn't close the deal.
It's time for her to step aside and let Obama have the time to bring the party together to heal, and energize in preparation to win back the White House in 2008.
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It's the Machine, Stupid...
...should have been the title of your article. The fact that Obama is running almost even with Clinton where she has near-total support from Democratic political machines that have been part of the political infrastructure for decades is the real story here.
The fact that her biggest supporters have been these hacks who depend on traditional Democratic Party welfare for their livelihood, and are part of the "I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine" political culture Obama is running against is the untold story of his failure to "close the deal."
And this doesn't even go into the fact that Salon, along with the traditional media, has engaged in character assassination on the man for the last month or so.
Just because he has raised more money than her doesn't mean he isn't still running an insurgent campaign. His campaign still is an uphill fight against Republicans, the Democratic Party establishment, and most of the media, including the supposedly liberal Salon.
As a final note, let me add my voice to those confirming I will not be renewing my membership in the fall. The only writer you have left on your staff worth reading is Glenn Greenwald. And I have come to truly despise Joan Walsh.
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The North Carolina Republican Party
PT reported what I heard that the North Carolina Republican party is running an anti-Obama ad. The letter said thank God they are weeding out the weak candidate. I don't know if you are serious but do you seriously think that the Republican have the Dems best interest at heart. Like Limbaugh, they want to run against Hillary and sure enough, people are going along with it.