NewyorkNY, you said:

"When Republicans go against the mandate their base gives them, they are punished at the ballot box. John McCain couldn't pick Joe Lieberman as his running mate because the Republican base wouldn't have stood for it."

Did you notice, McCain lost, mostly because he chose someone that was so far to the right,even the right-leaning moderates thought she was crazy and rejected her. Maybe if Obama had gone all the way to the left, he wouldn't have won the election. With all due respect to the extreme left (who admittedly did a great deal to get Obama elected), it was not them who are responsible for his success, but the millions of left of center moderates who did the grunt work. He could not possible have won the elections if the only ones who voted for him were the people at KOS. I say we give Obama a chance and see where he is going with all of this. He is choosing some extremely bright people for his cabinet and staff; if he calls the shots and holds them to loyalty and obediance, maybe we really will get the change he promised.

As far as the MSM is concerned, no matter what Obama does, they're going to criticize him. Now that the campaign is over, they need to make everyting sound like a war between the left, the moderated, and the right: it helps them with their ratings. Let's just wait and see what develops.

Uh, hold on here a minute, Pat. The last time I checked turnout in Ohio it wasn't the Lefties who gave the state to Obama's side of the equasion. It was the moderate independent voters who ran as fast as they could from Republicans and the scary economic mess we're in. Even turnout wasn't stellar in Ohio.

The Lefties got their "pick." It was Obama. And now Obama needs to govern from the center, and so does the Democratic congress, if they have any expectations of being re-elected in the congressional mid-terms, and Obama to a second term.

I'm amazed Pat would even think of such a thing. I'm sure Obama has plenty of left-wing representation among his advisors. We don't need one in the Cabinet. We need people with realistic solutions, not grandiose ideas about funding yet more paternalistic, touchy-feel-good programs.

Obama wasn't elected by the Left. Got that? He sure has.

So you appear on TV with this guy and you don't think that this is a trap? Making "appeal-to-the-fervent-base decisions is exactly what George "I've got some political capital and I'm going to spend it" Bush did, and look where it left him. The Republicans preached through the whole end of the election that Obama was a dangerous extremist in part to set up for the disruptive counter-attack should Obama and the Democratic party try to institute strong counter-measures once they were in power. Doing something provocative just plays into their hands and pretty much insures that nothing significant will change, as independent voters are watching and can easily be scared back to the Republican side of the aisle. The Democratic left should get some respect, but it also needs to show that it deserves it by being smart enough to understand the political realities of life. Buchannan hated the fact that Obama waws too smart to lose the election, and he is certainly hoping that the same won't continue into the administration.

First of all, I voted on Nov. 4 because the entire electoral universe does not revolve around Obama. There was a ballot initiative, congressional races I voted in along the "Working Families Party" line because that is important to unions in NY, and I was not about to allow Obama keep me from voting. I never called Obama a sexist, by the way. He did profit from race baiting, but I never heard him engaging in race baiting, so I never accused him of doing it. I supported his candidacy over McCain's because his selection of Palin was meant to bring voters like me (Hillary supporters) over to his side. It was an insult of the highest order. Frankly, Clinton supporters had to take it up the ass from both sides, but I voted for Obama to protest the Palin pick. I know my vote didn't mean much, but I wanted to express my outrage however I could. FYI, the voting booths in NY do not allow for write-ins. I wanted to write Clinton in, but you pull a lever.

What is the point of being bitter? Sen. Clinton needs to bring down Obama in order to stay politically relevant. He succeeded in pushing her off the national stage, but guilted her into making over 60 campaign stops for him. She listened to the talking heads who said that if he lost she would be blamed and it would tarnish her chances for 2012. The Clintons were dumb enough to believe that the party would ever support them again or give Hillary a chance to mount a credible campaign in 2012.

I was commenting on the political wisdom of Sen. Clinton taking the Secretary of State post. It would sink her career in politics. She would have no policy making role because she carries Obama's water. Further, the big thing in this election is the domestic front. Sen. Clinton would not be at the forefront of the most important issues of the day. It is naive to think that there is any love lost between Obama (and his supporters) and the Clintons. I know that there are many people who believe Obama is a totally benevolent figure who is trying to heal the world and do what is best for everyone. I think he is trying to employ the Godfather "keep your friends close, but your enemies closer" credo. Sen. Clinton could cause him far more trouble in the Senate than she could in his cabinet because he could always fire her if she did. She would be without a job.

The important thing in politics is relevance. Clinton can remain relevant by undermining Obama or leaving the Senate to run for the governor's office. I think that that would be the politically savvy move. She should accept that Obama and his groupies do not want her or her husband around. If they were really smart, they would scrap all this charity bullshit and collect money on the lecture circuit. They are irrelevant now because they allowed themselves to be beaten in the primaries. Sen. Clinton will look pathetic if she takes a job that would make Obama her boss.

By the way, I thought it was hilarious that Ayman Al-Zawahiri called Obama an "Uncle Tom." Adam Gadahn is really a rising star in al-Qaeda, as this message has his fingerprints all over it.