Change you can XEROX

In last night's debate in Texas, Mrs. Clinton said the following about Mr. Obama's message of change.




"That's not change you can believe in. That's change you can XEROX."

Referring to recent news out of the Clinton camp that he was using words borrowed from ally Deval Patrick, the governor of Massachusetts.

Mrs. Clinton, shame on you. I wasn't at the debate last night, but had I been I'd most certainly have stood up and boo'd at this comment. Obama's message of hope and change resonates with millions of Americans. This is the first really honest candidate I've seen in quite some time. Mrs. Clinton, take you're negativity and you Obama bashing aides and quietly fade into the sunset. There is no way you can catch up to the Obama freight train. And sticking around is just hurting the party. I know you want to see how you do in your firewall states of Texas and Ohio, so I'll deal with you for another week or so. But please, after March 4th will you please go away? Lines like, "Change you can XEROX", will just give more lines of attack to McCain and the republicans. Just watch and see. Before you know it, we'll all be hearing it from McCain, "Change you can ZEROX." And he'll probably even give credit for the phrase to it's rightful owner: Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Senator Clinton, if you'd like I'll fax over to your headquarters a XEROX copy of my delegate count for Senator Obama's last 10 primary victories.

Obama Wins Wisconsin; 9 in a Row

Tonights decisive win in Wisconsin for Obama solidifies his status as democratic front-runner. Along with a most certain win in Hawaii making this a 10-0 run for the freshman Senator from Illinois. Exit polls in the Wisconsin primary show Obama leading or nearly tied in every demographic.

Clearly the momentum from previous wins in recent weeks has played into the Obama campaign. After tonight, Obama will own the news cycle for the two weeks leading up to the March 4th primaries. Even John McCain can see the writing on the wall. He clearly refers to Obama several times in his speech tonight, although not by name.

Speaking of speeches. Obama's move tonight to interrupt the Clinton speech was clearly calculated and one of the most aggressive moves by the Obama campaign to date. Once it was obvious that Clinton was not going to congratulate her opponent again, the Obama camp jumped in, mid-speech. They essentially marginalized her. The moment Obama began to speak, all the major networks left the Clinton speech. Want to see the Clinton speech? Forget the media networks. You're going to have to search YouTube, or the Clinton webpage. What a strong move by the Obama camp. That is the way Obama says, "Oops, I didn't see you there. Did I interrupt something here?"

Obama has put McCain squarely in his sights. The Obama focus for the next two weeks is twofold: win Texas and get a national strategy to beat McCain. We'll keep our eyes on everything.

Obama Gets It

In the Las Vegas debate with Obama, Clinton, and Edwards, there was a question that really sticks out in my mind as a turning point in the campaign.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/jan...ranscript/

Russert asked, "...quickly, your greatest strength, your greatest weakness." Obama went first with, "...my greatest weakness, I think, is when it comes to — I’ll give you a very good example. I ask my staff members not to hand me paper until two seconds before I need it because I will lose it.…And my desk and my office doesn’t look good. I’ve got to have somebody around me who is keeping track of that stuff." This is basically a "I'm not very organized" response.

Edwards goes next with, "I think weakness, I sometimes have a very powerful emotional response to pain that I see around me...And I feel that in a really personal way and in a very emotional way. And I think sometimes that can undermine what you need to do." Are you kidding me? My weakness is that I have an emotional response to pain I see around me? I WANT a President that has an emotional response to pain they see around them!

Clinton goes last with, "I get impatient. I get, you know, really frustrated when people don’t seem to understand that we can do so much more to help each other. Sometimes I come across that way. I admit that. I get very concerned about, you know, pushing further and faster than perhaps people are ready to go." Okay, this is the "I get frustrated when people around me don't want to work as hard as I do" response. Again...are you kidding me? Go....get frustrated...get mad...tell people around you to work harder....yell at them to help each other more. Go for it! get some!

Okay, the point of all this. After this brief exchange I thought to myself, "Okay, I get it. Obama is the honest candidate. He gave a really honest answer. His 'weakness' was actually a real weakness. He's not organized. Clinton just played the game.

After the debate I heard comments like, "It showed Obama's inexperience and that he's naive." Or things like, "This is Interviewing 101. Hasn't Obama ever been in a job interview? They always ask you your greatest weakness and you are supposed to turn it into a positive." Well, the way I saw it was he was being honest. I mean, it's that simple. He didn't play any games. He didn't try to spin it. He simply told the public about a weakness he has, honestly, just like he was asked to do. The other candidates? Business as usual. Washington as usual. We get it...say one thing while meaning another.

Obama is the straight shooter. He's the honest candidate. He's the future President that will listen to the People and give back honest answers, the facts as they are....the truth. That's what I took away from the Las Vegas debate.

Is it just that Clinton is a woman?

Our choice is a woman or an african-american. Either way history will be made. Now many people are saying that America is ready for a woman president, as well as a black president. And many people will vote for Clinton because she is female and many will vote for Obama because he is black.

The Office of the President of the United States of America is a sacred thing in this country. It transcends celebrity, and icon. The person who holds that Office will be faced with all the intense, complex, sophisticated problems facing the world and mankind. Whoever holds that Office will have the power to influence the direction of the whole world. Every past President has etched out the pages of history for their time. Their personality and persona are manifested in our daily lives. The duty and responsibility of the Office requires that all voters of our free democratic society take their role in choosing the future Office holder very seriously.

Our choice is clear. The decision should not be about woman or man, african-american or white. The decision should be about who will step into that Office on day one and do the work of the People. It's a job for the one person who more than any of the other candidates feels a deep patriotism to serve the will of the People. We need a President who will hold the Voice of the People in one hand and the Constitution in the other and move the country together and move it forward.

I am voting for Senator Obama. Not because he is black, but because he is that person who can best move our dear country forward and change the failed policies and ways of Washington.

To the Left....to the Left

It seems to me that the country as a whole is moving to the left. For the republicans this means a shrinking party, and many moving closer to the middle, becoming independent. For the Democrats, this means a growing party. I think this is borne out in the fact that more democrats are turning up at the primaries and caucuses than republicans. And the fact the the presumptive nominee for the republicans is getting more support from independents than the base. This could be a result, in part, of seven long years of the Bush administration and all the disappointments that go along with it. This sort of swing probably happens slowly normally, with the country oscillating from the left to the right and back again every generation or so. For now, it seems, that the republican party will reap what is has sown. For me, I am just plain glad to see the numbers of so-called conservative republicans shrinking. The liberals in this country are in a unique, positive position. It's a bad year to be a republican candidate. I feel sorry for McCain. He's a republican running for President. If you were a republican running for President, is this the year that you'd want to be running? As for me, I'm supporting Obama. I just hope that he can wrap up the nomination sooner rather than later, so we can get started on running a national campaign. This year should be pretty easy for the democrats. This is a clever enough slogan for whoever gets the nomination: Vote for me...the other guy is a Republican.