We all will never forget Bush reading The Pet Goat while all hell was breaking loose on September 11th.  How could anyone forget that day?Since then we have been diluged with 'Pet Goat' moments from this administration.Over and over again we have seen Bush both figuratively and literally absent himself from any crisis in this country.He is there in body most times but he continues to leave us, as a collective, in the lurch both figuratively and literally on all levels.Here comes a breath of fresh air.  His name is Barack Obama and he practices high road politics.Jump...

Some people here on DKOS, TPM, and other Lib sites are saying that the Obama campaign is hitting McCain too late, or not hard enough.  I disagree.  

I don't profess to being an expert on international affairs, but so many of the posters here are obviously not low information voters.  Most of us (I assume) are more aware of some basic international matters than the average American is.  I'm not sure the "Russia/Georgia conflict" will affect the campaign, but I would bet that most low information voters fall into 1 of 2 camps:

American's watched in astonishment as Germans and the people of the world in utter excitement embraced Barack Obama.

The media worked to create a negative perception in our minds about this reception. Was this another negative for Obama? Be very afraid the world leaders and the people of the world like and trust him.

All over our country, folks have come out to listen to what Obama has to say. Barack is a strategist and long range thinker. I bet he would be amazing to play chess or poker with.

When Barack Obama visited the Western Wall on his trip to Israel, I could not help but be curious about what was scribbled onto the paper he placed into the wall. If you ask anyone that knows me, they would vouch for the fact that I am just naturally, um... curious. On a personal level however, I would feel extremely violated if anyone published my prayers. Prayers are very intimate and a window into our souls. If our private prayers are shared, wouldn't this disclose personal fears, cares and desires?

Knowing what Barack Obama wrote on that note and placed into the Western Wall might erase some doubts, give us an unscripted glimpse into who and what he cares about and uncover what he fears most. This note could help us identify with Barack on some personal level. Am I placing too much value on this one sliver of paper?

As a New York resident and long ago Clinton supporter for president, I could never bring myself to unsubscribe from the Clinton campaign's e-mail correspondence.

How over is it for Hillary?  Well  Dana Milbank's Washington Post column resorts to Monty Python's Parrot Sketch to describe the state of Hillary's campaign

7:30 p.m., South Hall, Charleston Convention Center: the networks declare Clinton the winner of the primary...all of 89 Clinton supporters have arrived so far. ...At the Charleston victory celebration, McAuliffe charges up to the lectern. "Hillary Clinton is in this to the end," he tells the crowd. "She's going to Denver as the nominee!"
...
Customer: "He's not pining! He's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! He's expired and gone to meet his maker! He's a stiff! Bereft of life, he rests in peace! . . . His metabolic processes are now history! He's off the twig! He's kicked the bucket, he's shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible! This is an ex-parrot!"

Not bad Dana, but I think Python's oevure is replete with even more apt analgoies for the state of  Ms. Clinton's Candidacy

I am not a golfer. Never really understood the inherent pleasure of traipsing around a long park on a hot day, stopping every once in a while to whack with a stick at a little white ball that never did you any harm and having to learn all kinds of exciting and innovative ways of expressing frustration when the shot you have hit suddenly veers left, smashes into a tree, bounces at a 90° angle and plops into an inconveniently located lake. If I want to raise my blood pressure, I've got teenagers for that; I really don't need help from a so-called entertainment.

But there is one aspect of golf that intrigues me. I've heard tell of a tradition in rounds of golf that goes by the name of "mulligan." Apparently, by invoking this tradition, with the approval of those in the round, you can actually retake a rotten shot with no penalty. Now I may have that wrong, but what a great concept! You line up for a shot, settle in, swing, and absolutely screw it up. Instead of having to deal with the consequences of your awful stroke, with a ball in the woods or the water or the rough or lying two inches from the tee, you take a "mulligan" and the shot simply never happened: you get to do it over.

A few days ago, Meghan Daum ran a column in the LA Times.  She suggested that many voters felt bad about voting for Obama, but against Hillary, and here was her rationale.  

That said, I still think of Clinton as a sofa, and here's why: Without her, we can't quite relax. Without her, something is missing. There's a strange echo in the room. There's an empty space on the floor. There's nothing for the dog to furtively leap onto as soon as we leave the house.

On the heels of a Nevada result, where she won Latinos and women -- but not African-Americans -- Hillary Clinton will go to church at one of Harlem's most important black churches Sunday morning, Abyssinian Baptist.

Her campaign is focusing on the African-American vote ...as they head toward South Carolina.

Source is First Read, MSNBC

Good strategy by Hillary.

A little over a year ago I wrote this article wrapping up the 2006 campaign season and showing how, no matter who wins electoral campaigns, the media is the ultimate winner:

"When all is said and done, The Media will have banked over $2 Billion [...] If a campaign can be analogized to a war, then the media are the war profiteers. Fox is the Halliburton of the press corps - GE (owner of NBC/Universal) is the...well, the GE. They benefit no matter who wins or loses. In fact, it is in their interest to incite division and to escalate the conflict."

At the time, the money raked in by media was a new record, but one that was destined to be short-lived.

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