OBAMA DAILY NEWS Sunday March-16-2008

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

WELCOME TO THE OBAMA DAILY NEWS THREAD

Sunday March-16-2008

http://media.kimt.com/images/NX+democratic+party.jpg

Esteemed DUer's, please consider taking a moment (or more) to graciously participate
by posting news and announcements about the Obama campaign on this thread. You can:

1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.


2. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU,
providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster,too.


3. Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page


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Read the Daily News Archives here

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

1. Advice to Stop Dems From Self Destructing

Primary reality
Dems in Self-Destruct Mode

R/e I just hope all my friends realize that no matter who wins the nomination, you have to take back the country
with that nominee. Between Hillary and Obama, I honestly don't care which candidate the rest of your choose.
Knock yourselves out over this 5% difference but if you lose, you only get about 10 days to mope, and then it's back to work.
End of story.

Your statement accurately describes the reality. But let me add a perspective:
The Democratic primary has become an exercise in celebrity, no longer an process of nominating a candidate.
Simply put, the Media now features what non-candidates say, which forces the candidate to respond as if
what the Pastor or Betty said should be taken seriously.

The truth of most competitions, be they elections or Super Bowl games, is that no one wins;
but one competitor chooses a way to lose.

That's the position of Hillary and Barak at this time. They, as a team, are honing a configuration
which drives them toward losing.

Democrats need to step up and say that. America needs the Democratic nominee to be running a
Presidential candidacy now.

To continue with the TV soap opera of he said/she said, will lead to Republican victory in November.

Democrats need to step up and say that now. Media has transformed Barak and Hillary into celebrity wannabes,
located in the mind set of America's response to Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and Eliot Spitzer's call girl.
Americans have heard everything Hillary and Barak have to say, and so Media now talks only about what other people say
... a Betty Ferraro or a fiery Pastor in Chicago.

The ethos of the Dems' nominee cannot survive Media's need to trivialize, and to create fodder for broadcasting.
My Republican friends are laughing at the Dems because they see the Dems in self-destruct mode as usual.
If this goes on, it makes no difference who wins, because that victory will be the first step toward failure and losing.

Remember you read it here, Bill, from a registered Republican. .

[grantcart]

8. I attended a peace rally in San Diego today.

As we were standing by the side of the road the 3 dozen of us were surprised by the very friendly honks we got being rather close to Camp Pendleton. And as we were standing there we talked of past demonstrations and eventually to the upcoming election.

Somebody in the group asked the following question, "I know McCain wants to stay in Iraq because he wants to make something good out of all of the sacrifice, but it makes me wonder a little to. Who do you think will be more likely to start a brand new conflict; somebody who has witnessed first hand the horror of war or someone who is worried about appearing tough for political reasons?"

A long silence followed.

Somebody else said, "Well the only person in Bush's cabinet who wanted to slow it down and wasn't sure it was a good idea was the only guy in the administration who actually had to pick up a gun and kill somebody"

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

2. Breaking: Oregon AFSCME breaks ranks, endorses Obama

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3228600

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

3. BREAKING: IOWA STATE CONVENTION: OBAMA GAINS 7 NEW DELEGATES, CLINTON LOSES 1, O 52%, C 31%

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5100160

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

4. Obama Speaks Out Against Forces of Division Today

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5098402

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

5. It is good the race has gone on so long. We are seeing true colors.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1908

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

6. Must See: Tracy Morgan Responds to Tina Fey (Video)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x106107

[grantcart]

7. Clinton’s Saturday’s debacle in Iowa is bigger than Ohio’s win and portends future HRC problems

Caucus Delegates + Buyers Remorse + Caucus Paradigm = Why Saturday’s Iowa County Conventions have a greater impact on the campaign than Ohio and could mean even worse news ahead for the Clinton campaign.



Something very significant happened in Iowa Saturday that was ignored by most of the country but followed very closely at DU.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5100160
and
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5094080&mesg_id=5094080


Iowa took the second step in the Caucus process and had their County Nominating Conventions.

What is at stake:


The caucuses are only the first step in the process – this is how the system will work towards completion:
• Mar 15, 2008 County Convention Iowa's 99 counties are holding their county conventions on March 15th. Contact your local party to find out more!
• Apr 26, 2008 District Conventions The five district conventions will take place April 26th.
• Jun 14, 2008 State Convention The Democratic State Convention will be held June 14th in Des Moines.




The results on Saturday will have a dramatic impact on the national nominating process for three separate reasons:

1) Delegates Obama gains +7

2) The issue of Buyers Remorse - Hillary's numbers drop after the caucuses

3)Paradigm for understanding other Caucus process and other states - 14 more states are still in caucus mode

Conclusion: Soon the Clinton campaign will go on full court spin with their sights set on Pennsylvania and promoting the idea that the only important thing for determining the nominee are Big States and their Primaries they are only undermining support they have in caucus states – who are still determining who to support for President.

Question: How will such a strategy play on the 14 states still in the decision making process? Is it possible that short term Clinton spin will so antagonize small states who are still deciding who they want for President that Hillary could lose some of the 155 projected caucus delegates she now theoretically has but continues to denigrate and insult?

Today Iowa gave us a clue it could be quite a few.



Discussion of the details for the points above

1) In terms of numbers:
a)Barack Obama significantly increased his support in the process by increasing his percent by 40%. Typically County Convention results closely mirror caucus results. Not so here:


Comparison between Caucus and County Convention

. . . . Caucus . . . County Conventions

Obama 37.5% . . . . . .52.33%

Edwards 29.75% . . . . .15.64%

Clinton 29.47% . . . . . 31.68%


http://www.iowademocrats.us/draftconventionresults.pdf

These reflect about 90% returns from the 99 county conventions

b)Obama received his support from a huge split in Edwards delegates going for him and also for some slippage of Clinton supporters. The reason that Clinton had even the marginal 2% increase above is because she gained percentage in some counties where Edwards was not able to maintain the 15% threshold minimum.

c) What is very striking about these numbers, and has not been observed in the press at all, is that the 15% minimum threshold has to be maintained at each of the steps of the process. While there may be some districts he maintains 15%, it is logical to assume that since he is so close to the 15% threshold statewide that he will lose some districts on April 26th and that will mean that he will not be able to maintain the threshold thru to the statewide convention in June.

d) Based on Obama’s performance on Saturday it is logical to assume that he will continue to get support from Edwards delegates later on in the process and continue to add even more delegates.

e) Obama gained between 7-9 delegates Saturday in Iowa – Clinton’s huge win in Ohio accounted for 9 delegates



2) The Issue of Buyers Remorse has been raised by the Clinton campaign

a) The Clinton Charge:

Mark Penn -- who had predicted Clinton and Obama would be "virtually tied" after Tuesday -- wouldn't say if Clinton would remain in the race if she lost either state. But he suggested her chances improve each day as voters experience "buyer's remorse" over Obama.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/ny-ushill0302,0,1884500.story

b) The problem with this spin is that each new primary or caucus is a first vote for that particular state.

Iowa is the first state in which the process allows the participants to vote a second time. And there is clear buyers remorse – that on Hillary Rodham Clinton.

c) The Clinton campaign apparently thinking that once the caucuses were over that the decision making was also over made very conflicting remarks about the process heaping insults on the caucus process

-Before the caucuses there was the pre spin to take out the sting of defeat:
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland told The Columbus Dispatch it "makes no sense" to grant Iowa the right to hold the first presidential contest.

He called the GOP and Democratic caucuses "hugely undemocratic," because the process "excludes so many people."

-Then Senator Clinton had to reverse that and before the Primary state what a good thing it was . . .

"As she has said many times she is glad Iowans are entrusted with this responsibility because they take it so seriously. On this issue Hillary and Gov. Strickland strongly disagree."

Then afterwards the Clinton campaign made numerous negative statements about caucus states everytime they lost in one – here is a selection:

My opinion is that the Iowa caucus system should not be any kind of litmus test for our nominee. Unfortunately it is one. The campaign always knew Iowa would be tough for us – they thought it would be one of our toughest states. We have our work cut out for us, that's for sure. From my friend:
I wish there were time for the real story of Iowa to emerge.

The Iowa caucus process is a broken and flawed process. It was designed to allow for the active party Dems generally known to one another to assign delegates and was not designed to handle a flood of students and independents.

(and again after Texas)

A Clinton spokesman denied rumors of a pending legal challenge, but made no secret of Clinton's displeasure with caucuses in general.


d) After the caucuses were over Iowans had a chance for real buyers remorse:



This little spin is unlikely to be offered by the Clinton campaign again.


3) Paradigm for future states?

There are 14 other caucus states who are still going thru the process of selecting delegates, eventually to a state convention where the national delegates will be selected. None of the other states have a sizeable number of delegates pledged to a 3rd candidate like Iowa. But if there is any further buyers remorse in these states then it is possible that Clinton delegate defections could cause delegates to be lost in a particular state.

In most years of course it makes no difference as by the time this many primaries have taken place a winner is acknowledged as a winner and the losing candidates endorse the leader gracefully before state conventions take place.


The bad news for the Clinton campaign is that their incompetent handling of the caucus process can now be replicated in the

following caucus states. :
a) Washington . . . State Convention 5/17
b) Alaska . . . . . . .State 5/24
c) Am Samoa . . . . .?
d) Colorado . . . . . .State 5/17
e) Idaho . . . . . . . . .State 6/14
f) Kansas . .District 4/12 . . . .State 5/17
g) Minnesota . . .District 5/17 . .State 6/6
h) N Dakota . . . District May State April
i) Nebraska . . . . . .County June State 6/28
j) Washington . . . County 4/19 Dist 5/17 State 6/15
k) Maine . . . . . . .State 5/31
l) Hawaii . . . . . . State 5/25
m) Texas . . . . . . State 6/6

[TheDoorbellRang]

9. God Bless feisty little Iowa

:yourock:

[grantcart]

10. and all those other little feisty caucus states lol

[grantcart]

14. This thread is now posted here - to piss off Clinton supporters give it a kick

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5105540

[thevoiceofreason]

19. Add to Texas that we have district/county conventions 3/29

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

11. Inquirer: Hillary has almost no voter registration drive in PA

PA - The article was entitled "Obama's Keystone Strategy: Register Voters."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=175x13718

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

12. Obama Pennsylvania Offices open now

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=175x13695

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

13. March 15, 2008 Obama on Hannity and Colmes

The tone of the interviewer sounds like an inquisition.

Did you attend this church regularly!?? like that is a crime

Did you donate regularly!!????!?!?! like that is a crime.

Did you get married there or have your children baptized there???!!?!?!


http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video_log/2008/03/obama_on_hannity_and_colmes.html

Congratulations, folks, at Fox news - now it is a crime to be a good Christian!

They had to attack Obama some way, since they couldn't prove him to be a Muslim, as if that
matters.

Notice these asshats don't hammer McCain or McClinton about their nutty pastors.

[grantcart]

15. Kicking this silly thread will also infuriate Clinton supporters

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5094572&mesg_id=5094572

[grantcart]

16. Have we got a deal for you

Simply clicking on this thread gets you automatically entered into the Nigerian National Lottery:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5108752&mesg_id=5108752


Recommending it will give you special standing and 5 extra tickets into the special "Winners Circle"


And every time you reply to the thread your email address will be sent to the hundreds of Nigerians who desperately trying to

get your money to you.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

17. Gallup Poll 3/16: Obama 48%, Hillary 45% ... link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5108915&mesg_id=5108915

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

18. Hillary's Mission Unaccomplished

Some wonder what a second Clinton administration might look like.
If the campaign is an indication, it might look more like a third Bush administration.

Hillary's Mission Unaccomplished

When the Clintons first reacted so badly to Barack Obama’s emergence as the Democratic front-runner, I had a theory. This looked like the 1992 general election, only this time the role of the dazzling newcomer belonged to someone else. In this play, the Clintons were stuck with the much less appetizing part of George H.W. Bush.

Now, I realize that it’s actually much worse.

The Clintons aren’t just Daddy Bush. They have become a bizarre hybrid of both Bushes. Worse, they have become a melding of both Bush teams, complete with Lee Atwater and Karl Rove. Depending upon on how Florida turns out, we might have to throw Jeb in there as well.

Look at the past three months.

From the Atwater playbook, there was the 1-2 punch of race and patriotism. A subtler touch is required in 2008 than it was 20 years ago, but you can put the photo of Willie Horton next to the photo of Obama during his visit to Kenya and the political lines of ancestry are clear. In 1988, the Bushes ran on the flag and pledge of allegiance and in 1992, it was Clinton’s trip to Moscow. Now, the flag and the pledge are back, and instead of a Soviet connection, it’s a Muslim connection.

Rove’s contribution? Fear. And shamelessness. Hillary refers to terrorists “testing” new British prime minister Gordon Brown in the opening days of his administration. Bill uses 9/11 and Hillary’s status as a New York senator as justification for her vote to authorize force against Iraq. If it were a movie, I would have looked for Rove’s name in the credits.

more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

20. ABRAMOFF FIRM INDICTED OVER MARIANAS, CLINTON CAMPAIGN REFUSES TO RETURN TAINTED WILLIE TAN $$ !

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5081507&mesg_id=5081507

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

21. Is Hillary Clinton Trying to "GORE" Obama?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5109887

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

22. What Is Clinton Hiding? The Media Begins To Notice The Clintons' Secrecy. Let The Vetting Begin!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5109354

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

23. Alert: Obama About to Launch "Full Assault" on HRC's Secrecy

(UPDATE) Alert: Obama About to Launch "Full Assault" on HRC's Secrecy

by dansac Sun Mar 16, 2008

There's been a lot of discussion as to why Obama decided to fully air out his dirty laundry with the Rezko situation. Because he realized it could be used against him in the general. Because he didn't want any more surprises going out. Because he stands for transparency and full disclosure. Yes, all true.

But the real reason?:
Sen. Barack Obama is trying to air his dirty laundry -- even some items that might appear just a little wrinkled -- as he prepares a full assault on Sen. Hillary Clinton over ethics and transparency.

dansac's diary :: ::
That's right - he's finally about to go on attack of Clinton, and is going after one of her biggest Achilles heels: secrecy.

The Illinois Democrat is also expected to make public his tax returns for several years before 2006, documents he previously has provided to the Tribune and other news organizations.

I was wondering why Obama was spending so much downtime in Chicago while Hillary was out campaigning in PA every day. Now we know - he's airing absolutely everything. His earmarks. His tax returns. The full story with Rezko. It's all laying the groundwork for what I can only hope will be a full-fledged assault on Hillary Clinton.

Why is this so important? Because Hillary's team is still trying to spead that meme that Obama isn't fully vetted, that there are skeletons in his closet, and finally that Hillary herself is fully vetted. Not so fast. Where are the tax returns? Where are the presidential library records? What about Bill's business dealings?

And remember folks, this isn't just about getting the media narrative on his side, but about convincing Super Delegates that not only is he fully vetted, but Hillary isn't even close to being fully vetted.

more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

24. Partybuilding (part of what Obama brings to the table)

Partybuilding

Posted: 15 Mar 2008

Crossposted at Daily Kos (thus the focus of the first paragraph).

Back in November of 2004, kos articulated the purpose of Daily Kos. Boiled down to one sentence:
"It's a Democratic blog with one goal in mind: electoral victory."

With that in mind, it is important to have leaders in the Democratic Party who act toward providing
electoral victories at not just the presidential level, but in Congress and state and local offices throughout the nation.
That is the philosophy of DNC chair Howard Dean's 50-state strategy, and is a philosophy evident
(as the diary below the fold will explain) in the actions of the front-runner for the Democratic nomination
for president in 2008.

If you believe that getting more Democrats elected, and getting more Americans voting Democratic
is important (as the mission of this blog affirms), consider the actions of Barack Obama over the past couple of decades.

Barack Obama has spent far more time inspiring voters to register and vote as Democrats than most people realize.
His efforts go back more than a decade before his Senate run, when he led Project Vote! in Illinois in the fall of 1992.
Those efforts ensured that Gov. Bill Clinton would win Illinois and also made Carol Mosley Braun's Senate victory possible.
In January of 1993, Chicago Magazine detailed the fruits

more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

25. Obama Not Ready to Cede Pennsylvania

Obama Not Ready to Cede Pennsylvania

By Shailagh Murray Washington Post

The April 22 Pennsylvania primary poses a tricky challenge for Sen. Barack Obama. Downplay the contest and the risk is a blowout by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. But if the Illinois senator campaigns hard there and Clinton still wins handily, a loss could be tougher to spin.

David Axelrod, Obama's chief political strategist, told reporters on a conference call this morning that the campaign would go all out to win the Keystone State. "We are gong to contest vigorously in Pennsylvania," he said. "We're going to be running a full campaign."

Obama heads tomorrow to Monaca, Pa., west of Pittsburgh, and then to Scranton, where he will address an Irish women's group. Both are located in the heart of Clinton territory. The state's older, blue-collar voter base skews against Obama, but another problem is Pennsylvania's relatively strict participation rules. Primary voters must register as Democrats as of March 24, nearly a full month before election day. Obama is running radio ads in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to urge students, independents and Republicans -- three key constituencies to keep the race close -- to register as Democrats before the deadline.

"She does have a lot of advantages and we recognize that," said Axelrod." "We know we have an uphill fight there. But we're going to fight for every vote and every delegate." Obama reportedly told a group of donors earlier this week that losing Pennsylvania by 10 points or less would be a "victory."

[grantcart]

26. kick

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

27. Clinton, Obama May Debate In NC (she hasn't agreed yet) what ya afraid of Hillary?

Clinton, Obama May Debate In NC

Raleigh Chronicle, NC - Mar 14, 2008
MAR.08 RALEIGH - Although Senator Hillary Clinton has not yet agreed, Senator Barack Obama has agreed to a debate in North Carolina to be hosted by CBS News ...
http://www.raleigh2.com/link.asp?smenu=1&twindow=&sdetail=649&mad=&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

28. Obama campaign announces visits to Fayetteville, Charlotte NC (this week)

Obama campaign announces visits to Fayetteville, Charlotte NC

The Associated Press March 16, 2008

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama will bring his Democratic presidential campaign to North Carolina this week.

A statement issued by the Obama campaign on Sunday said he would be making stops in Charlotte and Fayetteville on Wednesday.

No further details were available on Obama's visit.

The fight for delegates between Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has made North Carolina's primary a crucial stop in the 2008 presidential campaign. North Carolina and Indiana have primaries on May 6, two weeks after Pennsylvania.

link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

29. David Gergen on Obama's pastor story....A voice of reason.(kick this if pastor story still in GDP)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5091981&mesg_id=5091981

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

30. WORK, CALL, DONATE. inspiring tale of Obama supporters' calls to PA

kicking this one is a great great idea. It really made me feel good
about what Obama is accomplishing.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5107861&mesg_id=5107861

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

31. Why We Need Racial Healing - eugenics in US as recently as 1974

Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study

From 1932 to 1972, 399 poor black sharecroppers in Macon County, Alabama were denied treatment for syphilis and deceived by physicians of the United States Public Health Service. As part of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, designed to document the natural history of the disease, these men were told that they were being treated for “bad blood.”In fact, government officials went to extreme lengths to insure that they received no therapy from any source. As reported by the New York Times on 26 July 1972, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study was revealed as “the longest nontherapeutic experiment on human beings in medical history.”
...
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study continues to cast its long shadow on the contemporary relationship between African Americans and the biomedical community.

Several recent articles have argued that the Tuskegee Syphilis Study has predisposed many African Americans to distrust medical and public health authorities.

The authors point to the Study as a significant factor in the low participation of African Americans in clinical trials and organ donation efforts and in the reluctance of many black people in seeking routine preventive care. As one AIDS educator put it, “so many African-American people that I work with do not trust hospitals or any of the other community health care service providers because of that Tuskegee experiment. It is like…if they did it then they will do it again.”

more at the link

Eugenics in North Carolina

Thousands Were Sterilized by the State

A five-day Winston-Salem Journal series, “Against Their Will: North Carolina’s Sterilization Programs,” provided the first in-depth account of the state’s eugenics efforts—targeting mostly the poor and people of color—and of the terrible toll, in the form of stunted lives, that those efforts wrought

The numbers reported in the Journal articles begin to tell the story. Between 1929 and 1974, state government eugenics boards authorized the surgical sterilization of more than 7,600 North Carolinians deemed to be “feebleminded,” “moronic,” “delinquent,” or “promiscuous,” as the administrative papers put it. More than 2,000 of the victims were under age 18. Ninety-nine percent were women. Tellingly

, as the civil rights movement gathered steam in the 1960s, the sterilizations, which already disproportionately targeted African Americans, were increasingly meted out against young blacks.

North Carolina, the series reveals, was a hot-bed of private and public support for such so-called “human betterment.” After California and Virginia, the state conducted the third highest number of sterilizations in the country. Enthusiasm for eugenics—even following the disclosure of the Nazis’ horrific endeavors in the field—ran high in the South after World War II. Economic elites, civic leaders, and social scientists saw an aggressive sterilization program as a means to “improve the race” while shrinking the welfare roles and reducing the black population along the way.

more at the link

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

32. Tracy Morgan Responds to Tina Fey - TM is great, you will laugh

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=106107&mesg_id=106107

[Cha]

35. I did laugh last night and it was

great to get equal time on something mainstream that hilary had been touting for a couple or more news cycles.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

33. Why won't you release your tax returns Hillary? A supporters ad to PA voters

Video this one is very informative, wish it would spread virally around Pennsylvania.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x106427

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

34. Chicago Tribune r/e Obama interview: "...a standard for candor"

Obama's Rezko narrative

Chicago Tribune Editorial Board. March 16, 2008

After sitting with the papers editorial board to answer every question asked about his relationship with Tony Rezko, the Chicago Tribune had this to say:

When we endorsed Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination Jan. 27, we said we had formed our opinions of him during 12 years of scrutiny. We concluded that the professional judgment and personal decency with which he has managed himself and his ambition distinguish him.

Nothing Obama said in our editorial board room Friday diminishes that verdict.

We said in that same editorial that Obama had been too self-exculpatory in explaining away his ties to Tony Rezko. And we've been saying since Nov. 3, 2006 -- shortly after the Tribune broke the story of Obama's house purchase -- that Obama needed to fully explain his Rezko connection. He also needed to realize how susceptible he had been to someone who wanted a piece of him -- and how his skill at recognizing that covetousness needed to rise to the same stature as his popular appeal.

Friday's session evidently fulfills both obligations. Might we all be surprised by some future disclosure? Obama's critics have waited 16 months for some new and cataclysmic Rezko moment to implicate and doom Obama. It hasn't happened....

...Barack Obama now has spoken about his ties to Tony Rezko in uncommon detail. That's a standard for candor by which other presidential candidates facing serious inquiries now can be judged.

Read the rest here

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

36. Obama's church accuses media of character assassination (this would make good OP for GDP)

Obama's church accuses media of character assassination

Politico 16 Mar 2008

The Chicago church attended by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) issued a statement Sunday contending
that coverage of his pastor’s inflammatory remarks amounted to character assassination and
"an attack on … the history of the African American church."

more at the link

[DerekJ]

37. kick

[thevoiceofreason]

38. K&R