I'm glad you're not Joe Blow representative of most Texans I know, as your "all hat and no cattle" setiments tend to show.

One word: Iraq. Where were her "balls" when it came time to vote on Iraq. You wanna talk about toughness, lets see her make a decision that isn't politically calculated, or based on the next election cycle. And, please, the only thing she did by appearing on O'Reilly's show was make him seem legitimate. Sadly, she went on the show (and Bill on Limbaugh) to speak to her new supporters, not to " take him on".

I really can't deal with all the very strong bias for Hillary Clinton on this site. We used to be Premium members, but have let the membership expire. It's annoying to see the ads, but not as annoying to see all the "news" about how wonderful Hillary Clinton is and the "problems" with Obama.

BTW, I'm a (white) woman and a feminist and I would love to see a woman president someday, but not one who has sold her soul like Hillary.

Hillary would not cling to the suspension of federal taxes for gas without a solid purpose, especially when Obama is hammering her for it daily. I believe this is the perfect opportunity to initiate the windfall profits tax on big oil which would pay to make up the difference so highway funds would not be lost when we critically need them. For the most part, people support it-except for Hillary haters who could never be objective about anything she says or does. It is step one, and any politician or citizen who really cares about getting oil companies off the corporate welfare system should support it. It's us against them, and Hillary is fighting for the people. Americans can stick together on this one, at least those who've incessantly complained about corporate takeover of our country and gas prices. Well, it's time to stop bitching and support an idea that begins the battle against corrupt corporate oil interests. Even if it comes from Hillary. Imagine a politician opposing this? Wait, Obama is doing just that. I thought he was going to change the power paradigm in this country? What's he waiting for?

First, "testicular fortitude" is funny, and that is how I took it. A kind of old guy labor activist compliment that has a bit of poetry as well as intentional charm to it. "Balls" is a word I am not likely to want to use.

Second, "hard work": I mean this in certain senses. An old friend, a very well read educator and early supporter of Obama, when asked Who would you say is the best president in our lifetime (born in the 1940s)? answered, Lyndon Johnson. Why? Because he knew how to legislate and he knew what had to be done, and at the right time he did the work to get it done (including the dastardly insider dealing). Dr. King stumped for his election because he could get kind of work done. My old friend knows that Mrs. Clinton has own kind of hard work–get it done ability, but the talent and potential and the war make him an Obama voter. Fair enough.

Now, I was in the younger generation during the sixties and I despised Johnson over the war, and refused to vote for anyone tainted by it, especially H. H. Humphrey. I have barely seen a Democrat with that much power to marshall since. Bill Clinton was not my candidate, and there are a lot of things he did that I do not respect. (And I will never forgive him for failing to pardon Leonard Peltier.) But he did what it took then to stay in power long enough to give younger and more diverse Dems the experience they need to take back power from the Right. Look at the Rahm Emmanuel or the long list of Obama advisers from that administration. But for me, given my experiences in watching politics, It is the Lyndon Johnson kind of hard work over talent and purity that I am going to trust at this time. I do not disrespect the younger and more optimistic voters who think Sen Obama has enough talent to transform the need for the hard work (the ugly work) part of politics.

However, what does Mr. Obama mean by community organizing ("the people") trumping the old politics? Does he mean he will give a speech every day like W does outside of Washington? That is, take it to the people like Arnold did in California. I am not at all sure what this new kind of power is supposed to be and how it turns legislators and regulators into different actors. Even if it does, on what time line? Again, if this community awareness and organizing is the centerpiece of his experience and political vision, why is his church organized on a sixties model?

Take the gas tax holiday. To me, Mrs. Clinton is touting it as a demonstration project. Of course it is not a "solution"—it is like a street protest and shot across the bow at the same time. It says, I will be your president and make the oil companies give up some of their profits for you. It's a communication with voters. It's the same kind of communication she has been accomplishing in the big swing state primaries.

Thanks all.

No, No Joan. You and the few others that usually get it right are getting this one all wrong. The gas tax holiday is not just about money.

Sure it's just $30 bucks. But the impact is psychologically enormous. My dad always used to say, "Hey better in my pocket than Uncle's." Folks will remember when summer ends, and the tax comes back, how good those few bucks felt and who gave it to them.

Joan, I must commend you for being one of the very few in the press and news media who hasn't trashed Senator Clinton. I agree with everything you say. With our country in such a mess; it is so hard to understand how the American people want to go with an inexperienced person like Obama with so many unknowns and the bad judgment to choose his associates. We need a true tested experienced person in the White House and Obama isn't the one.