I believe there is a debate on tonight. I believe it is also the last debate between Barack and Hillary before Texas, Ohio and RI primaries.
If so, I believe that Barack must hit back hard on the "Obama is a Muslim" or a "Militant," or whatever else Hillary and soon, McCain, will be slinging at him.
I believe Barack must put to bed the issue that he is an "unknown," "hasn't been properly vetted" or possibly not patriotic enough as CNN seemed to wonder the other day.
There's more....
Last Wednesday, after winning Wisconsin by a whopping 17% and Hawaii by 20,000+ votes, I listened to a Barack supporter from Hawaii who described with such joy at being able to vote for a native son from Hawaii, and how, for once, Hawaii actually mattered. Of course, the Clinton supporter had to belittle the oomph, or heft, of Hawaii.
I had forgotten that Barack lived in Hawaii for a period of time, and just another example of Obama's appeal. You see, so many can claim Obama as their own. That is what the beltway pundits claim not to get and why he is trouncing Hillary: that Obama is the American dream writ large. He also has built a reserve of goodwill. Obama connects to so many different voters. In fact, some could say he is a composite of America (not John Gibson's America, but the actual America): he is an Illinoisan, a Hawaiian, a child of a white, christian, single mother and a black, Muslim father. He also has worldwide appeal from the Kenyans, the Indonesians, and, yes, it appears even from Somalians. In fact, many of us on the left believe that if America can elect a guy whose name is Barack Hussein Obama in the midst of a so-called war on terra' (er, a war on Islam, er Islamists), there is hope not only for America but also the world.
I believe that is what Barack needs to tell Hillary and the nation tonight. That it is beyond the pale to question his patriotism, religion or ethnicity. Rather, those are exactly the things that should not be factors in a secular nation's election for President. In fact, he can flip it around, and reiterate how he is American as the rest of us.
Since that wonderful morning, we have seen lots of attack on the plagiarizer, the unpatriotic-non-lapel-wearing S.O.B., and the latest is the insinuation that Barack not only is a liar (i.e. "pretending" to be Christian) but actually a secret Muslim or black militant, or....I'll say it.. a Manchurian candidate, notwithstanding the US Constitution strictly prohibits religious tests for assuming any federal office.
It should also be noted that, in the past week, I haven't heard much of substance out of Hillary's camp. Rather, I have heard how Obama should be ashamed that he wants Hillary's support of NAFTA to be an issue in this campaign, and, of course, the latest insinuation that Obama wears Muslim clothes, for shame Ms. Clinton. Lee Atwater would be proud.
I had thought that once the voters in Ohio and Texas (and RI) heard that Hillary was trying to gin the system and seat Michigan delegates (even though she was the only name on the ballot) and Florida's delegates even though she not only agreed that they wouldn't count but also claimed after the primaries were held that they should count but the media has been too obsessed with the plagiarizing, unpatriotic, black man (whose wife is allegedly also a militant) who belongs to a black church that some claim is not christian or too black.
You see, the best part, is Barack has been thoroughly vetted, and they can't find anything. I actually listened to Rush Limbaugh a few weeks ago (for less than 5 minutes, I can assure you), and he was building up the fact that he had dirt-I mean real dirt-on Obama, and finally, when Limbaugh finished bellowing with all his might, the only dirt they had on Obama was that when he won his first race for state senate (?), the predecessor had lost her election for the House of Rep, so, apparently, they came to Obama and asked if he would give his seat back to the distinguished lady who had held it (I think her name is Alice Palmer) for some time. He refused and eventually, according to Rush, Obama challenged some of her signatures or something like that. That was it! Rush tried to spin it like Obama "didn't know his place" or he was "uppity" but that was it. That was the best dirt they have on Obama, except of course the fact that he dressed up in foreign garb when in a foreign country.
To sum it all up, Obama needs to go after her very hard tonight, and say that it should not be tolerated coming from a fellow Democrat; heck, we don't think it should come from Republicans either, but they hate everyone but the white guy.
As Obama's aide said, it is blatant fear-mongering, and I will add it is anti-immigrant and anti-American (not John Gibson's America, but the real America).
By the way, I also believe (at least so far) that all of these attacks have backfired. In other words, the more mud slinged at Obama, the more it seems to increase those who vote for him. It is as if the People actually see through these pathetic attacks, and they give him more credit than otherwise he would get if they kept their mouth shuts. It's like they realize that they wouldn't attacked him if he wasn't such a threat (i.e. a real agent for change). I guess we will see over the next couple of days....