It's Clinton's Hope leading on the inside. Moving up on the outside, it's Obama's Vision. Looks like it's going to be a photo finish folks.
With most pundits agreeing that John McCain has all but locked up the Republican nomination, all eyes are on the horse race the Democratic contest has become. While Clinton appears to have the edge in the polls, there is no way to deny that it is Obama who has momentum on his side. The heavy weight endorsements he has received combined with a very presidential performance in the latest debate has eclipsed any success the Clinton smear machine may have achieved and has given his campaign some serious momentum.
Clinton's latest argument is that she is better prepared to deal with the Republican attack campaign that she says will surely happen once the race settles into the general election phase. What she omits from her argument is that it is SHE the Republicans most want to run against. And the reason is that between the two of them, there's more dirt on this nefarious couple than can be covered in the span of a general election. I predict that if the Republicans get their wish and Clinton gets the nod, we'll see a new scandal a week. The most troubling thing is that with the Clinton's, they don't have to make anything up.
And the source of the attacks won't be coming from the McCain camp. Now, I know that no politician can claim totally clean hands when it comes to throwing low blows during campaigns, but McCain has a much better reputation than most when it comes to dirty politics. It is for this reason that I believe an Obama vs. McCain match up has the potential for giving us what could become the most civil presidential campaign in our history. Just imagine, a presidential campaign completely focused on a civil debate of real issues and how to solve them. I for one won't know how to act.
Wouldn't it be fine to have a president that was elected based on their positions and vision for the future instead of which one was more successful at smearing the other. When I think of the tactics our current White House resident used to get elected I am sickened. The very idea that a "fortunate son" from the Vietnam era had the nerve to impugn the service of two combat veterans of that very war is bewildering. Even more bewildering was how successful the tactic was. Hopefully the recent rejection we saw in response to the Clinton's attempt to smear Obama is a sign that the American people have wised up and aren't going to fall for this garbage anymore.
With the current break down, the most often asked question is whether Clinton or Obama would do better against McCain. For this correspondent the answer is that I don't believe McCain or any other Republican has any chance of being elected in 2008 short of the Democratic nominee being convicted of being an alQiada operative. The simple truth is that none of the Republicans have a handle on the will of the people. McCain's positions on the Iraq war alone will defeat him. Statements like "It's not our presence in Iraq that troubles Americans, its casualties" and "we could still have troops in Iraq a hundred years from now" are 180 degrees out from what most Americans are thinking. Which is that this war was a bad idea and was not worth it. Add in that McCain himself said that he didn't know much about economic issues and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to predict a resounding Democratic victory.
The remaining question is whether we Democrats will make the right choice.
*************
Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent
Devin's column, "Left Of The Right" published weekly or more to Gather Essentials: Politics is a Blue Collar Democrats take on current political news.
Devin was raised by proud Roosevelt Democrats. Being the son of parents counted among the throng of Americans displaced by the Great Depression has given Devin a deep rooted passion for causes dealing with the poor and the working class.
You can find all of Devin's columns at http://gather.com/leftoftheright
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Comments: 68
I too hope to for a Civil Debate.
I feel you are just a little too optamistic about democratic chances. No one has ever been elected on a platform of raising taxes and massive bigger government. I dont think this election will be any different.
I hope both candidates would do a good job because it is still a horse race.
Devin, if this happens you will be granted that position within the Ministry of Truth and you enforce thought crimes!
Death to Goldberg!
But wait, Moveon.org and George Soros endorsed Obama!
Where did Bill go? Did they put him in hiding till Wednesday?
Swift boaters and their ilk (outside the candidates control in most cases), however, won't let it be civil, no matter who the nominee. Too bad ... IMHO most Americans want a good campaign.
That may be the case, and Hillary is a... well rhymes with witch. But both come across pretty good in debates.
Conservatives don't like McCain. In fact, he isn't all that bad. I wouldn't vote for him over Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, however. They are much better choices, in my opinion. In the end, McCain can't beat Hillary Clinton. He doesn't have the skills for one thing. Additionally, he doesn't have what it takes to be president.
Add to that the "endorsement" of Ann Coulter, and I have a real problem with Clinton.
Nevertheless, there are a few things about mcCain that bother me, one being the insistence that we need MORE tax cuts. This after he voted against Bush's tax cuts in 2002. I don't get it.
I disagree that the Dems are shoo-ins. Senator Clinton does have many negatives in the minds of conservatives and some independents, negatives that could serve to restore some of the energy that GWB has drained out of conservatism. Obama is less tempting as a target in terms of being a wheeler dealer. Basically they would just slap the "liberal" label on him and leave it at that.
Elections are never settled before poll day- people are too gullible, sloppy, and ill-informed for that to ever be true.
If it comes down to McCain vs Clinton, I'll probably have to vote for Clinton. I'll hate it, but I think Clinton is much more conservative than she presents and McCain is wrong on too many issues.
Having said that, there is no denying that Obama, Clinton and John McCain are all good presidential candidates.
I expected more from you than that Karl . . . you know that Coulter endorsement was nothing but propaganda . . . and you have to wonder WHY, don't you? She KNEW when she said it it would be used against Clinton and that's WHY she said it. If she's such an easy candidate to beat you'd think . . . Oh wait . . . there is no logic . . . it's blind hatred of all things Clinton.
Really . . . McCain and 100 years . . . or OTHER? You tell me.
Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~
I remember thinking like that and then voting for Jimmy Carter. Enough said?
You can't tax yourself into prosperity.
Change. Change. Change.
So you get 10 Democrat dimes for your 4 Republican quarters. It's still a dollar. No more, no less.
In the end, it will all be left up to the Electoral College, anyway.
I already painfully miss John Edwards.
Lets promise stuff to other people using someone else's money. Lets re-distribute wealth. Lets give a little while someone else pays a lot and feel good because we are "happy to pay and doing our part". Let's be compassionate with someone else's money.
noun
a cataclysm resulting from a destructive sea wave caused by an earthquake or volcanic eruption; "a colossal tsunami destroyed the Minoan civilization in minutes"
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Usually quite devestating to people of lower economic means.
"I predict that if the Republicans get their wish and Clinton gets the nod, we'll see a new scandal a week. The most troubling thing is that with the Clinton's, they don't have to make anything up."
As much as any Leftist can be called a sage, you are one on this subject. I couldn't have said the above statement any clearer or more correctly than you did.
"Obama talks in no detail. People are voting for him on image alone. On a vision alone. No details, and the media is not asking for any."
Here in the United States of Hollywood, we don't really care about the substance of our candidates any more. They simply have to look good, work out, wear nice clothes, speak well, be Liberal, rage against the machine, be green, and hug a tree occasionally. Image is everything. Or haven't you seen all those annoying Mountain Dew commercials? lol
I'd hardly call Mr. Bush a functionary in the United States of Hollywood. They hate him. He's Mr. Average, and not in the cool crowd. That's why the George Clooney/Britney Spears/Johnny Depp bunch loathe him.
And that's why he's been a favorite of the vast underground "Joe and Mary 6-pack" crowd in this country for many years.
I was only making a reference to the low brainpower of the Hollywood Left. Based on their behavior, this cannot be denied.
It can only be denied by those that are part of it all. You know, the folks who watch the E channel. Or those who think the Hollywood Left has credibility. LOL
That being said, the fact is we're hiring a new CEO. That position requires the successful candidate to be able to see the "big picture" and to implement strategies to better it. If Obama is talking "big picture", then he's doing what a potential CEO should do. Clinton's being mired in the details shows a potential micro-manager in action - not someone you'd want running your company -- or country!
I defer to Ronald Reagan, who was once a Liberal Democrat himself, and knew what they were all about :
"Its not that our Liberal friends are ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so"
Hilarity is reviled, and most of flyover country isn't ready for a black president.
We'll see tomorrow sports fan, after the Super Tuesday vote has come in; we'll see if Johnny McCain is the boy, or not. You don't know who's going to win on your side either.
Unless, of course you have a crystal ball or something???
Not exactly you're "run of the mill average guy" if you ask me.
When Kerry made the controversial gaff to the college crowd that the Republicans took out of context and spun into a negative ... though he did no the truth of the matter and what was going on by his party, McCain within a day made a speech castigating Kerry down the same lines as FOX and his party peers had been doing ...
It was then that I saw McCain for what he was, a typical politician sleazy liar and opportunist ... and that was what I then knew as a fact and truth ... since then all evidence has proven that out ... his "followers" and admirers have a lot to learn about the "inner" McCain.
Of course it is. My mandate here is to write political articles based on my personal opinions.
Right now it's 4:00 PM EDT and in a few hours we'll know a lot more about the direction the Democratic race will take... stay tuned
Change is good!
If Obama's campaign continues to gain steam, I don't see much hope for a Clinton nomination.
You poor bastard, you just don't get it do you. It's not that he's black, although I'd like to remind you that he's half white, it's that he has the message and vision we want to hear.
And then he developed mental problems so people like you could elect and quote him?
Want to talk more about credibility?
It's coming Rich, get used to it because I wouldn't want you going crazy or anything. Like I've said as long ago as February 2007. The political pendulum is finally swinging back to the Left. Only this time it has rockets bolted to it.
I just wanted to stop by since I am finally going through what is now listed as under 4,600 pieces of gather new mail that is sitting in my inbox on here.
With that mentioned I just came across either a mailing from you yourself, or someone else brought this piece to my attention. You or they felt that your creation should be shared with the gather community, which I am very glad that it was passed on to me to view. So I wanted to say Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to publish it here on gather for us to all view. :o)
As well before I leave you I wanted to wish you a Happy New Year... in 2009 :o)