debaser and all you other apologists:

Regardless of what his grandmother may or may not have said or done, was it REALLY necessary for him to taint her like that, drag her through the mud that he has been wallowing in? This is the family that cared for him, this is the woman who housed and fed and clothed him when he wanted to stay in Hawaii when his mother moved back to Indonesia. He would not be where he is today without this family. He will say and do whatever he needs to say and do and he's really good at it.

Wow. I never thought I'd see the day that a Democrat calling for unity amongst the races would be compared to Hitler on Salon.com.

Unbelievable. Just fucking unbelievable.

you are absolutely correct.

if history has taught us anything, it's that a long pre-presidential resume is not a reliable indicator of presidential success by any measure. character and judgment play a far greater role in the success of a president than their past experience and achievements. this past administration alone was highly lauded as being one of the most experienced ever put together (cheney, rumsfeld, wolfowitz, etc.), and look where that got us.

here's another difference while we're at it:

obama: WE

hillary: ME

I know that man with the funny little moustache you're talking about, Charlie Chaplain! Yeah, he was an even funnier little ass-hat than you'll probably ever become.

Wasn't Charlie's schtick the fact that he DIDN'T TALK? Kind of hard to be a good public speaker, then, huh? Maybe you should think things through next time.

But yes, I will agree that I will never be on the level with one of the masters of comedy. I'll go cry quietly now, like a good liberal boy.

Clinton: Vote for me because of what I've done.

Like umm all the black people she helped lock in cages to protect them from drugs.

Oh sorry that was her husband!

Ugh I try not to get involved in this fight but it's hard to resist when you're living in a country that loves locking black people in cages so much that even "liberals" are able to come up with convenient moral-sounding excuses for doing it.

What Obama reflects is grace under pressure.

Clinton resorts to attack ads, crying and elevating McCain.

Obama gave a god speech, is a great man, and will make a great president. For the racist among us, his speech will never be enough. It will not stop the divisive nature of FOX news. If I were the candidates I wold refuse interviews on the FOX network and ignore them. FOX loves love to did up unimportant crap turn it into a big deal for their ignorant audience.

You will never see FOX showing videos of the hateful rantings of white evangelical minsters.

Unfortunately, master card don't service the poorer Appalachian areas, or I'd send him a donation.

... we're with you in spirit, though, Barack. :)

bahhummingbug

...between Clinton and Obama.

Obama: Vote for me because of who I am.

Clinton: Vote for me because of what I've done.

Senator Clinton had an opportunity to address the race issue last week and instead gave a timid apology only after a couple of days of the Ferraro story not going away. The ideal situation would have been for her to stand with Obama this morning. As for her speech yesterday, interesting she brings up war contractors - since Mark Penn's company is heavily into Blackwater - the worst of the worst as far as perpetuating the money pit that is Iraq. Wonder why she didn't mention Blackwater?

To the reader complaining about Obama's tactics - you don't live in Texas so you didn't experience Clinton's 527 ads, misstatements about Obama (that he wants to bomb Pakistan) and Bill Clinton appearing on a local radio show hosted by someone who subs for Rush Limbaugh. If you go back to the beginning of the campaign season you'll see Clinton introduced negativity after losing in Iowa. Only time will tell if the tactic works. But it's interesting McCain has stood up for Obama over the Wright incident and not Clinton. No, Clinton endorsed McCain over Obama in order to create her illusionary foreign policy experience. When you are defending yourself against Sinbad instead of talking about issues, then I think it's time to reassess your campaign strategy.

The main point of Obama's speech today was for everyone to come together against the real problem - which is maniuplation of our economy and lives by special interests in Washington and elsewhere. People need to quit relying on what others say and investigate the truth on their own -- that's what I did at the beginning of the campaign - went on each candidates website, researched their voting records. And the reality - and what is put out there are very different indeed. I've asked on several blogs and await answers to my question of please provide me with substantive legislation introduced by Hillary Clinton in her 7 years in the Senate -- still no answer. Edwards and Obama first introduced bills their first years. . .

old people are the most racist people i know!

and they vote in record numbers.....if you think they are going to vote for obama think again.

So everyone in your family has never said an offensive thing ever in their entire lives? Wow. I'm impressed.

The rest of us know that our parents or grandparents or siblings can say terrible things, or hold awful opinions...but that doesn't make us love them any less. You try to correct their assumptions but you don't stand up, point your finger at them and yell "J'Accuse!!!"

cheers

As expected, this speech played right into Obama's core message of unity and getting past the partisan divide of yesterday. I think it was a slam dunk. He took a nasty racial debate and turned it on its head, voicing the concerns of both whites and blacks and challenging every American to move beyond the old divisions that have paralyzed the country for so long. He's completely changed the narrative.

I'm sure that the conservative fringe (Hannity, Limbaugh, Coulter, Hewitt, Dobson, et al) will continue to snipe, but this was an extraordinary speech that will be recited for a generation. Only a hardcore cynic invested in continuing the politics of the last 20 years could find fault with it.