"Rufus, you can trust me. Tell the truth now. Is Obama really Jesus?

-- AKA Smith "

No. there is only one Jesus. his name was Jesus.

Obama is me. I am a white man. To me, I can only speak for myself, he was what I could have been if everythign worked out. He is would I aspire to be. What used to be called a role model. Not just for me, but for millions. African america kids espiecally. Where are their role models? Jesse Jackson? Al sharpton? Sell-outs. Will do anything for money.

It's about representation. not just for the gop. this is all our coutry.

If I did better in high school ,and tried more, maybe i could have went to college. Maybe I would have excelled. MAybe I could have gotten into harvard law. He is what i aspire to be. not a god. not a cult. just a man. A good man. very few left in america, who will not sell-out when the time comes for them to sell-out.

Also I am a basketball player. One of the reasons I didn;t care about school was, i was going to the nba. I was a legand on the blacktops of san jose california. Where does that get an american child? Better to work hard in school. :)

Basketball is a great sport. The great thing about basketball, and most sports, is race doesn't matter. Age doesn't matter. Sex doesn't matter. All that matters is producion. Or what kind of teammate you are. Or if yo udominate the game and all comers or not. Race never enters in. All are equal. that is america. many striving to reach a goal, to win. We are all one people. those who would divide based on race or gender show their face.

I could detail more, in terms of his leadership qualities. Or standing up when it matters (as leaders lead when they are most needed. Or we can talk abou this policies. But we don't do that on salon anymore. It is forum, topic, target. All against obama. that is my issue.

but no. he is not Jesus or a God. What he is, is an example. someone to be looked up to and congradulated. It angers me when selfish people destroy that, for youth people. think about the future. Think about the big picture.

Joan,

It's not about the where, but the who and the what and the why.

All the coverage of "bittergate" has focused on references to guns and religion, and criticism couched as elitism. I think Obama's quote smacks of racism. He's basically saying that these rural whites are bible-carrying, gun-toting haters (antipathy)of non-whites and immigrants who are bitter about manufacturing jobs going overseas 25 years ago. What if a white politician characterized African-Americans as bitter welfare recipients who resort to crime and rely on welfare because they never got over the impact of slavery 150 years ago. Both attitudes are messed up.

As an Obama supporter I'm torn on the "Bittergate" issue.

On the one hand, I was a little disturbed by the initial comments. Not because I felt condescended by Barrack Obama. Because I realized what he said or at least the way he worded it has the potential to hurt him in the fall.

On the other hand, it's a really sad state of affairs when a candidate momentarily speaking the truth, albeit in a way that could be perceived as tactless, is the kind of "gaffe" that could prevent him from being elected.

So it's partly Obama's fault for saying something that could be easily distorted and misused by his opponents. But it's mainly the fault of political pundits like Joan who endlessly debate the effect of Obama's comments without any regard to whether they're true.

Far as this playing into the effette, out-of-touch liberal meme, all I can say is ... please. This is the same playbook the Republican party has used since 2000. The Democratic party could nominate Ronald Reagan and today's GOP would still be parsing his public quotes to make him out to be a flip-flopping radical lib.

The answer isn't to shrink away from saying or doing anything that might reinforce that meme. What candidates need to do is confront these charges head-on and without fear. This is exactly what the Obama has done, and now Joan says they're being "defensive."

You just can't win with some folks.

Finally, as a Pennsylvanian I'm more than a little tired of being told by talking heads that I want a voter who connects with me by pretending to like Yeungling and bowling. This is bullshit. Nothing is more elitist or condescending than candidates who visit my city for a cheesesteak and expect the photo in the Daily News to warm my heart, as if I'm going to vote for Hillary or Obama because they eat at Geno's and do shots like a regular Joe. No thanks.

Obama is from Chicago - not Scranton, not Harrisburg, not Allentown. He knows it. The voters know it. To be honest, it's refreshing to have a candidate who's NOT trying to convince me he's the kind of guy I'd meet at the local pub. Obama's poor attempt at bowling was, I thought, kind of endearing. On the other hand, Hillary's transparent attempts to show she's a longtime sportsman who does shots of whiskey on a regular basis, at least in my crowd, go over like a fart in church.

Joan, how about covering actually issues? Like policy positions and who might make the better president? Too many people in your line of work are so focused on covering the horse race that you forget there's something at stake in this election. As a PA voter, I find that more elitist and condescending than Obama's poor choice of words.

- Mike in Philly

"What do you mean by "expect to get called?" How will we be called? Who will call us?"

I tried to say called out. It was 1002, words. I had to deleate two.

I'm sure you can count the words in my post. you have to parse words. you clinton supporters have nothing else. Count em.

I except your appology in advance