Are the heebie-jeebies a condition that causes persistent repetition? And what is slithering and what’s wrong with it?

Take away race. Take away sex. If you just compare Hillary & Obama on what they have done, what they want to do and how they want to do it., Clinton would get 100% of the votes. But this sure has been fun watching people go all wobbly about Obama. Thankfully Americans are too down to earth to fall for a dream, a myth, a fairy tale that this untested, callow man with good suits and tons of money can win this election and drive us into the ditch. No way. Thank God! Besides he’s be the 6th black president so chill!

I agree wholeheartedly with Bella Mia. I listen to Obama speak but I don’t hear anything of substance. He speaks well but is than enough to make him a good president? Is inspiration enough to run a country? As for all of the lovely things written by Suzanne, I will just say that this is 2008 and while J.F.K. and his words were moving, we don’t, any of us. know how he would play today. How would he deal with Iraq or even with the close media scrutiny our politicians face today? I love history but dead presidents are dead presidents. I am a conservative and plan to vote for McCain but should Hilary be the Democratic candidate I will seriously consider voting for her because I believe she would be an amazing president and would bring real change. I WANT to see the difference a woman can make.

Oh, now I am going to be in trouble. Why is Obama black when his mother white? I think that Obama is playing beautifully on the racist guilt of the while middle class and also doing a creditable Uncle Tom. All those white liberals are just falling all over themselves to show that THEY aren’t racist. When all is said and done and America gets right down to the voting, I do not think that the genetically racist white middle class will allow even a HALF black man to enter the White House.

An acquaintance emailed me just after Senator Obama’s March 18 “We the people…” address in Philadelphia. My friend wrote: “I am stunned by Obama’s combination of ethics, reason, intelligence, and love.” I am not what anyone could term “a true believer”…I watch, listen, and take my time making decisions. Shortly after receiving that message from my acquaintance, I happened to read a piece by Andrew Sullivan on The Atlantic.com titled “Goodbye to All That: Why Obama Matters”. The article cited some very logical reasons why Senator Obama is not only a viable candidate, but also how he could be the answer to many of the troubling issues facing our nation and why. I found the article refreshing in how Sullivan took a totally different and thoughtful approach to examining Senator Obama as a person and as a possible leader who could perhaps radically change our image not only to the world, but also to Americans who have lost faith and trust in our government. Sullivan points out how many of the issues that others determine to be weaknesses, are possibly the very reasons why he would be the best leader for the difficult times facing our nation. Sydney Nysted

I would love to vote for a woman. But that woman, sad to say, is not Hillary Clinton. I was a John Edwards devotee. To me, as far as the issues go, he was the only candidate that would have truly brought change to the White House. John Edwards was the ONLY candidate who would have confronted the war on the middle class (that Ronald Reagan started) head on. Now, my vote will go to Obama. I truly believe at this bleak time in American history, that we do need some inspiration to rise up and return this country to greatness. As far as Hillary’s concerned, I cannot get over Hillary’s “yea” vote on the Iraq War Resolution and then not admitting what a big mistake it was. I cannot get over her vote on Iran. And I have a real problem with her not wanting to raise the income ceiling on the social security tax, and her so called “universal healthcare” that will continue to line the pockets of the for-profit health companies. And with the whole “kitchen sink” attack on Obama, it just reminded me that the Clintons now represent “politics as usual.” So to answer the question, do I believe that Obama has an uphill battle being a black man in America? Yes. But does anyone believe that a person who couldn’t vote for a black man could vote for a woman? If so, you’re giving the American ignoramus too much credit.

I want a female president but I feel Obama has caught the imagination of those who want real change. I also like to see old white men fumble when confronted with the image of a black president. It’s about time. I want to see more women run. The era of white men has gone on long enough.

A recent article in Time magazine reported that some of our most skilled Presidents had the least “experience.” To me, an important skill in addition to those already mentioned is the ability to “think on one’s feet.” The candidate must not only be very bright and have good judgment over time but also must have the ability to analyze a situation quickly and make the best decision on very short notice. I saw this skill in John Edwards and I see it in Barak Obama. Both also are able to control their emotions under stress, another critical skill.

If I’m talking about the article, then I suppose Obama might prove them wrong. But to tell you my feelings, I doubt it, or hope not. I don’t feel Obama is trustworthy at all. I’m not talking about experience, or likability, or even the ability to say a good speech. Obama’s whole premise is about change, he has made himself out to be above the political game, yet it is clear that he is where he is right now because it is quite possible that he is the best political game player around right now! If he could only own up to who he is, then I might be able to trust anything he says. Hillary hasn’t tried to hide who she is - I respect that! She is so intelligent. She is level headed. She can laugh at herself. She is the fighter that I want. Go Hillary!

“Clinton and McCain are clones of the past. She is a lightening rod and that will be a distraction. We need a whole new change. Someone who can articulate a vision and get people inspired and hoping again. Spirit is what changes the world.” When Obama supporters go on like this my reaction is to ask – who are you talking about? Do you actually know anything about Obama’s record? That his voting record is nearly identical to Clinton’s? Obama isn’t a lightening rod? How is he different from Clinton? Why would people ‘hope again’ based on Obama’s speeches and nothing more? Do you know who he beat to get his Senate seat? Do you know his voting record in Illinois? That he often votes ‘present’ when the vote will mar his vague record? That his early associations were with the Black Panther party in Illinois and that his pastor claimed that he US government created AIDS to kill off the African American community? Are you voting for a person or a projection of your own longing? The problem with Obama, for me (aside from the inundation of women-hating remarks that pass as acceptable discourse from the talking heads and print media) is that he has no firm ideas. He is another Dr Phil – a media creation with more presence than substance. I‘ve read Shelby Steele’s ‘Bound Man’ on Obama – which I picked up after hearing Steele on Bill Moyer’s Journal. Steele (a person of mixed race like Obama) speaks of the phenomenon of the ‘Bargainer’ - the black person (Cosby, Oprah, Obama) who succeeds because he assures non-blacks that he knows they aren’t racist. This curious premise came to clarify for me the extent to which the media (and TV personalities) haven fallen blindly in love with the Obama – the unquestioning adoration had to be fueled by some sense of tangible relief. Then I caucused in Boulder CO – my adopted home. Boulder Co is the whitest place on earth as I see it – and the caucus went overwhelmingly for Obama. Teens in their decorated t-shirts and jeans – emblazoned with ‘Obama08’. These kids don’t know any people of color, their town has no blacks, and their parents do not have black friends. When I asked several on the Obama team why they voted for him, they all said that he was ‘so inspiring’, ‘so cool’….. I felt like I’d walked into a meeting of Heaven’s Gate. Obama’s followers are protective to a bizarre degree. Bill Maher coos that having Barack as a president will be like ‘having your first black friend’; Keith Olbermann flipped out and claimed that the Clinton campaign was like the KKK and Clinton was like David Duke – this hyperbole was Olbermann’s reaction to the Ferraro observations on Obama’s racial luck. (The fact that Obama had himself noted that he wouldn’t have gotten this far if he were white. He was not a participant in the Civil Rights movement, he was a beneficiary by way of affirmative action – an admission that was not apologetic or confessional, but just a fact. It was a sensible and honest admission - and one completely ignored in the reporting of the Ferraro ‘incident’). There is a horrific tinge here of unfairness, of misogyny that the disproportionate defensiveness belies. Clinton dreams up danger in Bosnia, recants and is mocked to this day: Obama reports that he was not in church on the days that Wright spewed hate speech, then recants - and is defended and coddled until Wright’s impact is muffled. Instead of cooing over what I see as Obama’s diverting ‘race’ speech where his implication was that Wright’s rage was the white culture’s responsibility – how about a PBS program on the Black Power Theology - which is highly political and racist – but also a great force for unity and raised awareness for whites as well as blacks.. Why not own it? Why not let Obama be a person – is that not feasible because if his iconic guise were lifted that might not be much ‘there’ there. CNN’s article on Racism vs. Sexism dissected the issue in a dispassionate way, concluding that sexism was ok according to more than half of Americans but racism was frowned on by most. The article had no suggestions about changing the effect nor implied that any change was in the works. The media’s unbalanced treatment of Obama vs. Clinton is a jarring confirmation of the nation’s preferences. Finally, the JFK comparisons have to stop. By the time JFK had squeakily (and many say dishonestly) won the presidency, he was a WWII hero (with his own ballad), a Pulitzer Prize winning author and was a person tempered by illness and the beneficiary of incredible privilege. (He had also apparently slept with half the East Coast).