As a native Texan, I feel I have to point out that up until the mid-1980s, we had elected Dems everywhere... from the top on down. I know its been painted with this broad brush over the past decade, as some sort of monolithic far-right state thanks to its connections to Bush, but it quite simply is not.

As far as worries about the general election are concerned, I think we're suffering from a bit of a Chicken Little Syndrome.... call me idealistic, but I cannot belive for one second that this division will remain against McCain. Tensions are high, people on both sides are being overly dramatic, but please... take a step back and look at this from a distance. Either candidate will face off against a 71-year old man, prone to anger and outbursts with deep ties to quite possibly the most unpopular presidents in history and an unbreakable bond to a simple disaster of a war that about three quarters of this country is against. Whoever gets the nomination, is this really going to be a problem?

Posted at April 9, 2008 3:50 PM in response to Wavering on Obama

Nice one Blue Skies... a great piece from the Tribune.

Posted at April 4, 2008 11:51 AM in response to Poll: Hillary's Lead In Pennsylvania Drops To 11

Diet,
I agree. Maybe i was not clear in the post... it's my first. I was not suggesting that he cozy up to her in the coming weeks, only that he stays away from the drum beat to get her out. I believe that this would actually strengthen the chance of that anti-Clinton narative from catching on....as I said, the more she can cast herself as a victim of a gang mentality, the better off she is as, I would argue, we've seen in previous states. The trick is to let that anti-Clinton opinion catch on without his visible hand.
You are right.. he would beneift from distancing himself now in every way. I think that his speeches and comments directed at McCain are a good start.
Cheers for responding.

Posted at April 3, 2008 12:34 AM in response to A Case Against the Calls for Withdrawl

Citoyen92.... a nice rundown, but I am pretty certain that the foray into Clinton's files was directly connected to a trip to Moscow he took while studying abroad in England. Some Clinton critics were making a fuss about what he did on that trip and who he met with and if I remember reading his biography correctly, the snooping was directly related to that.
As it relates to the Obama situation, it's possible that whoever these people were, they were looking for something as specific as the Clinton case, not blindly grasping at straws.

Posted at March 21, 2008 10:48 AM in response to Today's Must Read

In regards to the pressure HRC may have felt from her constituents and how it may have moved her towards voting the way she did – while it is a sad fact that a large percentage of Americans believed that Iraq was tied to 9/11 at the time, do we not depend on our elected leaders to correctly study these issues and point out when something is wrong? Don't we rely on them to be calm in the face of pressure and heightened security?
There was hardly a lack of critics stating that there was no such link so why not stop and listen rather than simply running with the highly charged emotions of the masses?

Posted at March 20, 2008 12:36 PM in response to Obama's other speech this week: Let's call it the "gates of hell" speech

Earmarks have been released...
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0308/Obamas_earmarks.html

Now, about those tax returns.

Posted at March 13, 2008 5:29 PM in response to Debate Alert! Hillary And Obama Campaigns Accept Invite To ABC Debate In Philly

An interesting take on it: http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/politics/March-April-08/Why-Was-Spitzer-So-Reckless.html

Posted at March 13, 2008 11:00 AM in response to Today's Must Read