My question is this,  We hear that Obama is the most liberal senator.  So was John Kerry in 2004.  Doesn’t that seem coincidental?  Is Barack really the “most liberal” just like Kerry?  What is the source of this “fact”?

To answer the second question first, I learned this.  It came from a rating done by the National Journal, some sort of magazine, I take it. I believe their result was chosen simply because it rated Obama as the MOST LIBERAL Senator. So, the National Journal rates Obama as the MOST LIBERAL SENATOR OF 2007, more liberal than Ted Kennedy, more liberal than John Kerry.  And, you the television viewer, must accept this as FACT.  Is it?

I was raised in a small town in Illinois where Dagos and Pollacks were considered minorities.  There certainly weren’t any other ethnic groups to pick on.  This was a town where an African-American family tried to move in but no one would rent to them.  The man (with a Master's degree in music ed) had gotten the job of high-school music teacher mid-year because the local guy who was the current teacher had been found passed out drunk in the band room.  The smartest girls in the high school married the dumbest guys (I consider that to be the ultimate in undermining your own cause).  My father was the worst racist around (buried in some old diary of mine).  And, believe it or not, my great grandfather's parakeet hated Kennedy’s.  I am totally not joking.  When I was a little girl around 1960, I spent a lot of time on my grandparents farm (maybe this will be my Scranton someday).  My great grandfather would curse every time JFK came on the TV or radio ...  “God damn that Kennedy.  Etc. Etc. Etc”.  Great Grandpa was anti-union, anti-everything.  He hated John Kennedy so much that when my great grandfather died in 1968, the bird continued to chirp wildly every time he heard that accent.  I kid you not.  It truly was funny.

I have had it with the emotional roller coaster of this election.  I have been through enough.  From Florida in 2000, to the nauseating feeling when I realized at 10:00 PM that Kerry wasn't going to make it in 2004, to the Obama/Clinton blood-letting ... Well, let's say that I need to move on and think about something fun.  Maybe others among you are feeling the same way.  Might I suggest ...

Obama's VP choice?  This is fun and interesting and it brings a positive attitude about what has become a very unsettling situation with the current battle.

I am posting here a real-live diary, and by this I mean a personal statement that might have meaning only to me.  This is a “get it all out” moment.  If anyone gains from it, I will feel that my experience has had meaning.

I always pride myself on standing for what I believe, no matter how unpopular my opinion is.  Perhaps that is why I am haunted by something that happened to me in graduate school long, long ago.  By “long, long ago” I mean the early 1980’s.

I was in a card store in Berkeley, California, waiting for a clerk to find the exact kind of nib I needed for my special pen.  While I waited, I listened to a conversation between a blind customer and one of the clerks.  The blind person, a man, had asked for the woman to read the Mother’s Day cards to him so he could pick one for his mother.  During the exchange, he chatted about how he had had a glass of wine with lunch and was enjoying the beautiful day.  He had walked past the store, getting a bit lost until someone helped him find the store.  He used a white cane to get around.

Just a quote of the legendary Muhummad Ali who was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom on Wednesday, November 10, 2005 by President Bush. Ali was famous for his mouth as well as his boxing.

Ali was famous for his hatred of America.  One would think that a friendship or close association with him would hurt a Presidential candidate, perhaps not as much as Rev. Wright, but ... this statement alone is certainly damning.

If you are a supporter of Barack Obama, you have to be getting nervous at this point in the campaign.  Optimism will get us nowhere and spending valuable time worrying about whether nine-point-something is double digits or not borders on the ridiculous.  The view from pundits everywhere seems to be that the sheen is gone, Hillary is waxing, and it is probably time for a new strategy.  This view is pervasive and even the strongest supporters are sniping.  David Brooks, “How Obama Fell to Earth”.  John Judis, “The Next McGovern”.  Brown, “Obama Team Remains Unshaken”.  The list of articles is pretty long.  It is enough to give the most rabid Obama supporter reason for concern.  Hopefully.

denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Anger ...  I think Obama ran a piss-poor campaign in Pennsylvania.  I am really angry that he didn’t take my advice.  I am convinced that he could have done much better here and that his campaign organization wasn’t.  Living here, I kept thinking that his campaign just didn’t get off the ground.  Where is that amazing Obama ground game?  Why isn’t he here?  This is what he has won so many states with?

I have been saying for over two months that Pittsburgh is the key to Pennsylvania.  I got there by being a politics junkie, by reading, watching, and observing.  I go the whole gamut from conservative to liberal.  I want to see what both sides are thinking.  I dismiss the views that don’t fit the puzzle I work to assemble.  Don’t we all do this?  “Clinton will dominate in the conservative “Alabama” region of Pennsylvania”.  That fits with what I have seen.  That is her demographic, or at least the one she is pandering to.  “Obama will dominate Philadelphia”.  That fits.  Obama’s main demographic is the large black population.

Or life in Pennsyltucky.  Is everyone thinking about us?  I just don't know what is going to happen.  I
was at the Obama office in my town just now and met Bob Casey and Harris Wofford.  They are going around pumping the volunteers up for a last minute push in canvasing.  Bob Casey has to have an impact.  He is the only major candidate who is working hard for Obama.  He is everywhere with him, which
is significant. Casey is very popular with the blue-collar guy; he won in 2006 by 60/40 over Santorum.  As for me, I think he is the picture of calm dedication.

I watch, read, and listen to all views, just to see how the other half live.  I was listening to Laura Ingram today (wow, does she make me gag, so I can only handle a few minutes on my way home from work).  She was obsessed with the life question, "When does life begin" taken from the Compassion Forum.  She loved replaying Obama's halting response, which aggravated me all the more.

As I watched both Clinton and Obama mishandle that question, I just have to give the right answer ....  And, yes, there is one correct and satisfyingly sensible answer.

Life does not begin at any one point.  There is no beginning except at the origin, or if you will, the creation of it all.  Bad choice of words.

I had been wondering about how Obama is rated the most liberal senator.  So, I went to the American Conservative Union, which rated him liberal but not the most liberal.  Where does he come out #1?  How do they determine these ratings?

However, I did travel from the ACU to other conservative rating sites and found this gem ... Project Vote Smart.  This site allows one to choose a conservative issue and then find out how a particular candidate rates.  

Hillary Clinton on gun issues:

I have a solution to the democratic nomination that I haven’t heard ...

The DNC should meet and abolish the superdelegates lock, stock, and barrel.

Look at the supposedly insurmountable problems.  The Clinton’s will not give in until the last delegate is certified.  That is creating chaos and division in the democratic party.  The division is allowing McCain to shore up his base and wait until the dust settles to start courting the independents.  All indications point to the currently undeclared superdelegates as remaining undeclared and going with the winner of the pledged delegates.  That appears to be pretty far in the future given that Clinton seems a lock on Pennsylvania, thus delaying the inevitable.  And, yes, Obama is inevitable, it is just how beaten up the democrats get in the process.

This week and weekend has brought a cacophony of news, with the usual effect of obscuring the pure and simple.  Wright ... Race .... Speech .... Stock Market ....  Richardson .... Passport.  I think it’s important that we step back and think about Governor Richardson’s endorsement and its intentions.

Bill Richardson said that he had been thinking seriously about endorsing Obama for about a week, but decided that this was the time.  He wanted his endorsement to matter.  He wanted it to overshadow the Reverend Wright hysteria and to enhance the positive effects of the speech.  This is serious business.  Richardson has been a long-time friend and supporter of the Clintons.  He is the Western version of Governor Rendell.  Bill Richardson’s was a well-reasoned endorsement that was orchestrated to have a particular effect.  It is an endorsement that is being seen as symbolic of a change in the 2008 Democratic primary.  It may be the final nail in the Clinton candidacy.  With this endorsement, Richardson is saying ....  It is time to concede and endorse Obama.

Just a thought or two.  I think that the primary system will play into Obama’s hand at this point and he should go for it in Pennsylvania.  Apparently, 25% of Clinton’s support came from Republicans in Mississippi (the Rush Limbaugh effect) and many crossover votes were recorded for Clinton in Ohio’s election (30,000 in one county).  With Pennsylvania having a closed primary system, wouldn’t Obama have a better chance because there would be relatively few Rush Limbaugh crossover votes?  I would guess that only the most rabid Ditto-head would actually go to the extent of re-registering.

I’m in Pittsburgh, which is wall-to-wall university and medical center, and I have to ask Obama, “What are you going to do about funding for NSF and NIH?”  This is the new industry here and even the lowest lab techs would be interested in that question.

Isn't there some way to say that, once you reach the level of running for President of United States and Commander-in-chief, the W card is no longer an option?  At this point, when a candidate is claiming to have the abilities and strengths to solve America's problems at a point when there may be more problems than ever before, she cannot go back and ask for a pass because of gender.  It is a cinch that the world leaders will not say, "Oh, we can't disagree with President Clinton because she is a woman".  So, for Barack Obama to counter these latest attacks, he has to show that although crying works with American women, it won't work as Leader of the Free World.  This is my opinion but I just don't know how it could be turned into a strategy in this election.

Pertaining to what Obama needs to do to win, DHinMI is right on on most items, but  I disagree in a lot of ways (I clearly am not an authority).

As I correctly predicted, Clinton won the week, and as I suggested, did it with the Press' help.  The media was accused of having a love-in with Obama, and so, to prove that they were fair and unbiased, they decided to become very unfair and biased ... This time favoring Hillary Clinton.  The response:  Free press to the Clinton campaign and unlimited replay of the many negative sound bites for the week and a half before Texas/Ohio/VT/RI.  Constant chatter on poor pitiful Hillary, do we really want her gone?  The effect ... not a landslide by any means but a media re-interpretation of momentum.

Seven more weeks until Pennsylvania.  Seven more weeks of smears, lies, and innuendos.  Living in Pittsburgh as I do, I am not sure exactly what is coming down.  (Oh, and I will do my part).

But, my question is, how will the Press respond to this hiatus?  They have weeks to plan their strategy to keep us on the edge of our chairs.  How can they follow up on "we don't favor Obama"?  What are your thoughts?  Here are mine ...

I have to admit that I am pretty sure that Hillary will have a resurrection today.  Why?, you ask.  What happened to "hope"?  Honestly, I have good reasons.  Read on.