Happy Birthday Barack Obama- Here’s my wish for you to succeed in becoming the next President for eight years and that you do change the country and the world for the betterment of all. Thank you for involving and inspiring so many people and creating an atomosphere where getting involved in a political election feels nourishing and right. Your campain has tapped into the need for Americans to be a part of history and take action to improve life for themselves and others. You have encouraged and allowed citizens to give their best ideas, creativity and spirit and therefore energized the kind of participation and true patriotism that existed at the beginning of this great nation. Happy Birthday and many more!

I think that Obama would get a big boost if Hillary supporters, who may still have anger, take a vacation from the anger and think about giving peace a chance. In thinking about this seemingly challenging dilemna I looked to famous quotes as inspiration in addressing this need to come together. As, Ben Frankliln said,” there was never a good war or a bad peace.” It is time for the democratic party to unite. . Now it’s time to look for peace in the party, as George Bernard Shaw said, “Peace is not only better than war but infinitely more arduous.” It is time for Hillary supporters to take a new look at Obama and go beyond the campaign rhetoric,to make an effort in understanding him and by taking a closer look. Perhaps listening to “The Audacity of Hope,” on audio tape or by visiting the Barack Obama website and studying Obama’s positons on issues. For the Obama supporters it is time to get beyond Hillary bashing and acknowledge her accomplishment for women . It is now not about who was right and wrong but about coming together around the real issues at stake for the future of our country and the world. Charlotte Bronte said” Life appears to be too short to spent in nursing animosity and registering wrong” as so are political campaigns. The real work from now until November is to bury the primary hatchets on both sides and unify to a democratic victory in November. Franklin Roosevlet said “The point in history at which we stand is full of promise and danger. The world will either move forward toward unity and widely shared prosperity - or it will move apart.” It will be exciting for the powerful group of women who have been engaged in this election to come together and be a significant force in changing the road America has been traveling on these last eight years. To pave a new path and together begin to really contribute to real solutions to the formidable problems we all now face. If we expect to have peace in the middleeast, to have a world where countries of the world must come together to solve the universal problems of global warming, population explosion, hunger etc. is it really so difficult to make peace in our own political party. One last quote. “So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth. Unity ” Baha’u’llah

Obama is so popular because his core motivation is to choose love over hate and hope over fear. Clinton tended to choose hate over love and fear over hope (even too the point making cynical remarks about the foolishness of hope). When I really listen to Obama’s most inspired and heartfelt speeches, I walk away with a wonderful feeling because, I believe,he connects with the highest instincts in our human nature. This is new and refreshing because whether its prescription drug advertising or news reports capitalizing on fear it is very easy to feel sick tired and defeated. As a country we now have a tarnished image around the world, lots of things are crumbling (schools, bridges, health care), our nation has resorted to torture tactics and all this is quiet disheartening. To have a candidate who has the courage to truly believe we can do better is very healing for everyone in the nation, even for those who would never vote for him because his message changes the context of the way we look at ourselves and the world. This new view leaves room for hope and where there is hope there is energy and where there is enery there is action. Obama inspires the hidden hope in the electorate, the one taht has been put away in a closet in our hearts. Each American has different hopes and what is beautiful about Obama is he encourages you to have your own vision and to dust off your own dreams. His spirit wants to revitallize Americans to feel powerful and participatory, not to be victums but to be creators of the future. In his campaign he welcomes people’s creative ideas and acknowledges individuals for their contributions. People are not just exicted about Obama they are excited about themselves. They see that they don’t have to be powerless, hopeless and cynical they can be building blocks on the road to changing the world and finding positive and exciting solutions to the very large problems we now face. Obama’s ability to unify people is so important to solve world problems. What the world needs now is love not hate and hope not fear.

NO Hillary for VP or Secretary of State. She is not a good choice for either. She could have a role in the administration perhaps something new. The head of a new department on WOMEN’S ISSUES.

Yes I think Bill Clinton has not helped Hillary’s campaign. He is a constant reminder of the past scandals and his behaviour in the campaign has been both embarrassing and destructive. His presence also sent confusing messages about where she stood and who was in charge. She would have been a better candidate and divorced him before she became a Senator. She would have been freer to run her own race on her own merits. But apparently she was afraid that she wasn’t enough with out him. Having said that I don’t think she would have been all that different without him. I think her selfishness, negartive and hit below the belt strategies are part of her makeup. Their partnership tends to bring out the worst in both of them. This is why she would not be a good choice for VP. Especially still tied to Bill.

Something to think about for women who are behind Hillary and are thinking of voting for McCain not Obama. You may be caught up in the disappointment of not having a woman for President but think twice if you are a mother or grandmother. Do you really want to see your children sent to a war that McCain wants to continue for 100 years. Do you really want to support a policy that continues to kill young Americans just because your mad your girl didn’t win.

As cynical as I am abourt Hillary Clinton I was still surprized at how obnoxious and selfish self serving and totally ungracious her silly boring speech was. It was a kind of masterbation to soothe herself and pretend this all wasn’t happening. The Cllintons are cheaters and are still scary, I am hoping that they have nothing up their pathetic sleeves. But it really should not be a surprise if you really look back over all the Clinton scandals and near impeachment you see the real core of what they are all about. I definately pray that Obama does not cave to their pressure for a VP spot and also not cave to the need for delegates announcing on the floor. She’s hoping for some miraculous unprecedented upset or is planning to leak a nasty bit of something that might change the picture. How graceless. I think it is embarrassing as a representation of how women behave. She obviously has unresolved issues or a makeup that isn’t mature enough to face reality with dignity. Contrat that to the grace and generosity of Obama to Clinton in his speech. Of course he wants to help her supporters realign their thinking but I think he is genuine following his personal code that love is better than hate and inclusion is better than division. Obama stands for understanding compassion and the better angels of our nature. I am hopeful that his wisdom and internal strength lead him to selecting a VP that he wants to have that in the long haul will be the best number two person for his Presidency and not bow to the shamefully determined pressure of the Clintons for their obsession with still not leaving the White HOuse

At first it might be undectable but after a few one starts to look like they come from another planet. I think it would be nice if there are a few women and men who age naturally and I hope that the few of us that do won’t end up as curiousities at a world fair.

It is clear to any really logical person that a Obama/Hillary ticket would be a disaster. Howevery politically expedient it might seem in the short run it would not work. It would inhibit Obama to have such a competitive running mate. There styles do not go at all and her message and style would only drag down the energy of the campaign. Bill Clinton would want to interfere with the policy making and it would not work at all. It is time for a new era and a new beginning. The Clintons have had their day. They had been in power for eight years and that is enough. That’s why we have term limits. We need new energy and an administration that has not sold itself to the higgest bidder. The Cllintons are intangled with old alliances favors promises and frankly old thinking. Perhaps Mario Cuomo is worried that Hillary might be interested in the Governorship of New York if she isn’t able to get VP. That might not be great for his son.

Love what you said about Hillary. Exacty on the money. In answer to one of her ripped off lines I say NO SHE CAN’T

I am thrilled that Barack Obama is the nominee. I am surprised and disappointed that Hillary is still not conceding. I do not want her to be Vice President but could see her as Govenor of New York

Not voting for Hillary does not mean women do not want a woman president. I think it is demeaning to women to think that they have to vote for a woman they don’t think would make a good President just because she is a woman. My question to women obsessed with this gender thing is would they vote for Hillary with her same qualifications and baggage, dishonesty, mania for power at all costs, negativity etc if she was a man. I think the women who have the courage to vote for the best candidate, Barack Obama, regardless of gender prove that women are equal and can make the best decisions for the future of the country and the world. To utilize HIllary as a lightning rod for all the frustrations of the plight of woman in history is not in the best interest of the country right now. Just as it is not in the best interest of the democratic party for Hillary to cry sexism and try to stay in the race until the convention. She is showing her lack of integrity in trying to change the democratic rules she agreed to with the other candidates at the beginning of the campaign. Now that it is to her advantage to break her agreement and set the party on it’s head she does so with impunity. She thus demonstrates in spades her lack of integrity and the penchant for not honoring her word. She wants to cheat her way to the Presidency, cry sexism and unfairness when she is the one being unfair. She wants to inflame people’s feelings of not votes counted, to fan the flames of yesteryear’s Florida fight between Bush and Gore. She is now acting as if she is Al Gore. Al Gore did not benefit from real support from the Clintons in his fight for the Presidency because they wanted the chance to come back and claim the White House again themselves. I do think that she has made progress for woman in being taking seriously as a candidate and that is the silver lining in her campaign effort. I can’t wait to vote for a woman for President but it has to be a woman with integrity, with a real desire to change the country for the people not just for her own self interest, a woman who is a good orator, a woman who is not burdened by compromises to special interests made during her years in politics, a woman who has not been associated with many scandals of her own making, a woman who when trying to solve healthcare can be open to real solutions and who has the intelliigence to make real changes, a woman who will be strong, not by immitating men but with a woman’s style strength, a woman who is appealing and has a charismatic personality that can inspire people to do the right thing and most of all a woman with ethics and principles that can be an example for a new American way of being- one that we can be proud of. A woman who is not negative, who tells the truth, who does not look down on hope but rather embodies it, a woman who has the courage to make an a decision that may not be politically advantageous but is the right decision (i.e. Iraq war decision). A woman with sound judgement and who can admit mistakes and correct them. A woman who can surround herself with talented people and not be threatened by them. A woman who is not insecure and who chooses her personnel not by a measure of excessive loyalty but by the talents and their commitment to making a contribution. This a a heady list but there are women who can be this candidate and I look forward to their future candidacy.

Benazir Bhuto as official leader and Eleanor Roosevelt as unofficial

IN THE LIGHT AND BREEZY WONDERFUL WEATHER WE ARE HAVING AND IN THE MIDST OF A DELIGHTFUL PICNIC THAT BEGINS THE PROMISE OF AN ENCHANTING SUMMER AT THREE OCLOCK TOMORROW TAKE A MOMENT TO HONOR THE MEN WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES AND CANNOT HAVE A PICNIC TO GO TO. 3 OCLOCK IS THE NATIONAL DESIGNATED TIME FOR REMEMBERING OUR SOLDIERS. AN IN THAT MOMENT I HOPE WE CAN PRAY FOR THE END OF OUR CURRENT WAR. When I was in Washington with my daughter, she had come to participate in History Day Competition finals, we took a nighttime tour of the famous memorials in the our Nation’s Capitol. As we walked in the dark from the Lincoln monument to the World War two monument, the Korean War monument and then the Vietnam Wall. Seeing these poignant tributes to the dead soldiers of so many wars in one short evening gave me such an eerie feeling of the senselessness of all these lost lives. Our tour guide was an amusing fellow with a funny umbrella that he used to lead his group to the appropriate stop on the tour. As the night deepened and the shadows on the monuments spoke to us like quiet whispers I came away with the feeling that those brave soldiers who had gone before us wanted to tell us- there should be no more wars. Our guide made his closing statement about the Vietnam Memorial and then added a personal note. He revealed that he had taken this part time job because he was a Vietnam Veteran and that, although he didn’t make much money at it, he found peace in visiting these monuments night after night. He was proud that he could help facillitate the profound message the monuments seemed to utter. Why do we find war necessary. I thought how and what can we as citizens do to make their sacrifices count. I would say- not sending anymore young men to find their same fate. I think on this Memorial Day we must think about ending the war we now wage.

I think age can be a plus for the Presidency if the candidate is healthy and energetic and sharp because they have wisdom. Having said that if they have a history of health issues it might be a problem.