i thought that you were trying to figure out whether or not clinton's ad was dishonest? every democrat understands the right-wing slime machine that is headed the democratic nominee's way. so i guess you're saying obama agrees that clinton's ad is good preparation for a general election in which he'll face an onslaught of dishonest republican attack ads?

Amen to that, Joan.

You don't like his campaign, Ms. Walsh? I like both him and his campaign, and was pleased to see The Nation's Laura Flanders bring up the grassroots enthusiasm in the Obama campaign, and how vital that is to the future of the Democratic Party...

"Suites versus Streets"

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080211/flanders

But Clinton's campaign style sends a very different message from Obama's. As Cornish put it, "Senator Clinton's campaign is all about her. Obama's campaign is all about us." When Obama held a rally in New York, the lead speakers were unknown volunteers. When I saw Clinton address an open-air rally in Washington, DC, she was flanked by senators, a past secretary of state and Grammy award winner Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.

...

Dan Slater, vice chair of the Colorado Democrats, endorsed Obama in part because of his concern that a second President Clinton would take steps to dismantle the 50-state Strategy. "With Clinton you get the same professional DLC types who've been making the same mistakes for thirty years," says Slater. People associated with the Clintons--Harold Ickes, Terry McAuliffe, Rahm Emanuel and Chuck Schumer

I definitely side with the 50-state grassroots strategy, and not with the grasstops DLC approach that's gutted progressives from the Democratic Party in favor of triangulating Blue Dogs.

Inasmuch as Obama's campaignd depends on grassroots volunteerism, and not grasstops party powerful, I'm supporting him. The way to beat the GOP once and for all will be through the organization of the Democratic grassroots, and not depending on hired guns and paid political consultants and polling gurus.

What with the lies told by Bill and the deceptions of Hillary on her voting record, they should make a fine couple to uphold George W. Bushs legacy. The more lies, the more votes. The more corporte sponsorship, the more votes. The more deceptive, the more votes. Billary is a shoe-in. I just wonder if Bill will sit on Hillary's lap in the oval office or will Hillary sit on Bill's?

I'm an Iowan who was very impressed with the positive campaign Obama ran leading up to the caucus here. I've been growing increasingly disillusioned with him ever since--and I think you've put your finger on why. It isn't him as a person I've come to find irritating so much as the evolving tenor of his campaign, which seems at once cynical and immature, and the hysterical adulation of his supporters, which borders on insanity. I will try and block all that out--much as I've been trying to block out Bill's stumping for Hillary.

I do wish the Obama people would make him more available to voters in forums other than stump speeches and handshake lines. He's starting to *feel* like Ronald Reagan--vaguely pleasant and uplifting, but aloof and highly scripted. And it's the fault of his campaign basically.

Joan, as you know your colleague Glenn Greenwald wrote about Obama's "Committed Christian" flier that his campaign has distributed to S.C. voters.

Obama, as you point out, is running an ad that claims that "Hillary Clinton will say anything to get elected."

Well, it seems to me that Obama "will say anything to get elected" if his flier is an indication of what he's willing to dstribute with his name on it.

As for me, I cannot separate the man from the campaign. His campaign has his imprimatur all over it.

Why does Obama get a pass on that campaign flier? It's scarely different than what Huckabee was pilloried for in the media and the blogosphere. Is it because Huckabee is a southern, right, white fundamentalist Republican and Obama is a black man, ostensibly making history, who is running as a Democrat?

I haven't quite yet come to the point of concluding that Obama's campaign is fully an expression of his person, but I'm close. You need to understand, though, that candidates are *not* their campaigns, though they are ultimately responsible for them, obviously.

any democrat is gonna stroll in. if so, this is a good year to introduce america's rednecks to the concept of knuckling their forelock to a black, or a woman.

but america put dubya in office twice. there's a lotta rednecks out there. it might be a close election after all. if the dems lose by 1000 votes in mississippi, are you still gonna feel good about selecting a candidate that's got a 5-50% 'never' handicap among the electorate?

or are you going to think " gee, maybe we should have tried to put a candidate before the electorate that doesn't cause lock-jaw in the bayous."

please, people, the whole world has had enough of 'democracy-spreading', as realized by sac and the u. s. marine corps. give us a rest: select a politician like edwards, competent, unthreatening, and not visibly enthralled by fantasies of world domination.[correction: not edwards. he's wholly owned by the israel lobby. is it too late to go for gravel?, or biden? or dodd? yeah, it was always too late.]

now that i think about it, an empire can't have a virtuous emperor. virtuous people don't apply. probably marcus aurelius beat his wife.

as for equal opportunity: 150 million men, and more women, are not going to be president. their opportunity is zip. you want equal opportunity? select by lottery.

"I like Obama better than I like his campaign."

And the same for HRC.

I see these people in interviews, I read from their biographies, I watch them interact with people, and I think "Yes. S/he is great!" Then I see the stupid campaign tricks both of them pull, and I get turned off.

I'll keep following them both, and probably won't make my choice (between them, or for Edwards, or god bless him, Kucinich) until Super Tuesday (barring any real race-changing event).

I still love them loads more than McCain, or Nader, or any other potential nominee. And I'll support whomever the Democratic nominee will be, even if they are less than perfect.