Obama's prior behavior regarding healthcare -- previously voiced lofty leftist ideals but production of a pragmatic, tamer policy plan that probably lost him many votes to Hillary --  resulted in my being not-too-shocked/upset at his recent behavior.  However rising concerns make me unsure of what to think.

So, HuffPo's headline right now is about how Obama is undercutting his brand by suddenly moving to center on a number of issues, and they discuss two stories on WashPo and LA Times about this very issue.  

I did not get upset over FISA at first because my opinion has always been that Obama would explain his stance and it would make perfect sense.  I was sort of surprised by the dKos reaction but felt better when Olbermann didn't get upset, but now I am gone from Kos for a couple of days (so excuse me if my ideas are a repitition) and I come back, and I see two KO diaries and lots of comments, and I don't understand Olbermann's position anymore; he is giving a special comment on Monday and I don't know what to expect.

You know, I still don't quite know yet why Hillary said what she said.  There's all this outrage but this morning I woke up thinking, so why'd she say it exactly? 'Cos the reason her campaign is giving is kinda stupid. Though some people -- like those on CNN -- have apparently accepted it and painted her as an innocent victim.

I just watched CNN's Politics Daily Podcast and they almost sounded sorry for her, lamenting how "every little thing you say is used against you" in a campaign. The guest, and Wolffe, spoke slowly and clearly tailored their words: "Hillary got in trouble for mentioning assassination when discussing campaigns that continue until june."

Jonathan Alter from Newsweek has the review of the popular vote that I think everyone who is concerned about this popular vote argument (including myself) has been waiting for.   It debunks her current claims of leading in the popular vote -- which we all know were ridiculous -- but unfortunately it doesn't make the endgame look good.  What's glaring and worrisome to me is that  it concludes that Hillary is not ahead right now, but she could easily be ahead after PR, and yes, that's even when Obama gets the uncommitted Michigan votes and those four caucus states.  To me, he seems to shrug this glaring possibility off by saying that the popular vote is an unfair metric anyhow. Thing is, I don't think you can convince the American people of that.  

Whether this count can ever be fair is debatable -- delegates are the rules, and if popular vote were the rule everyone would ignore small states and campaign in crowded ones.  Plus, will MI and FL ever be fair, without knowing how many people stayed home, or voted republican?  Also, as another diarist has pointed out, are we sure that she will dominate PR?...  

It looks like the right-wing is rolling out the welcome mat for Hillary Clinton.

The conservative magazine  Weekly Standard has found an "exceedingly strange new respect" for Hillary. "She's running like one of our own," they say.

Click here to read the ringing praise.  Some excerpts follow.

A New York Times story that appeared in May 2007 marked the beginning of my movement away from Hillary Clinton, and I have recently been reminded of it. It's funny -- even I myself have forgotten so much about the war that I feel awkward brining it up again, wonder if it' just not a hot topic right now. Everyone knows she voted for it... but this story reminded me of the details behind her support, the eerie similarities to Bush, that I was reminded poignantly why it had made my stomach turn in a mixture of amazement and nausea.  

To those of you in North Carolina who still have undecided friends and relatives, I urge you to send them a link to this article, or a PDF to this article.  Even if you know that Hillary supported the war, you don't really know how much she did until you read this compelling narrative written by Pulitzer-prizewinners.

I sometimes have a hard time knowing what Maureen Dowd is about, but help me here: is she also interpreting Barack's comments in a distorted way? I can't tell.  She says this:

Behind closed doors in San Francisco, elitism’s epicenter, Barack Obama showed his elitism, attributing the emotional, spiritual and cultural values of working-class, “lunch pail” Pennsylvanians to economic woes.

But then she also has the line

... he has maintained a regal “What do the simple folk do to help them escape when they’re blue?” bearing, unable to even feign Main Street cred.

Which is more in line with how I interpreted Barack's comments but in a snarky insulting way meant to comment on him negatively.  So I'm like, does she get it, or does she not?

I am totally wasting my diary allotment but anyway... here are a bunch of humorous videos and articles, some of which you might have seen, some not.

You know, this is sad, but as I gathered these various articles, I thought, you know, if Obama wins, we won't have have a president we can easily make fun of.  The Obamatime U Can't Touch This video is funny and isn't about Hillary, but it's positive funny.  The Leno mock Town Hall makes fun of Barack a bit.

And yes I'm sorry but most of these are not very friendly to Hillary but hey even she can laugh at herself, right?

So it's been a rather luvly week.  Our man weathered a Wrighteous storm and came out stronger than ever.  The latest Gallup poll has him up a remarkable 10 points.  I'd say a good deal of that, 4 points or so, was due to the fabulousness of his speech of race, but I do believe we owe a good deal of that gap to Bosnia, and we need to thank people like Jed and the Kossacks who worked to make that thing viral.  The story got a lot of attention this week -- it unfortunately seems to be winding down now, and I thought I'd reflect on it somewhat.

There have been many speculations about why Hillary told such an outrageous misstatement.  No shortage of outlets have offered their thoughts.  

So, apparently, some Hillary-supporting Kossacks are holding a pity party.  A Hillary-supporting blogger has decided to go on strike because Obama-supporting Kossacks are not very nice to her candidate.  

While I too decry ad-hominem attacks, and hope that Obama supporters act politely,  I find it very easy to run down any list of most recent diaries and find entries calling Obama a liar, warning us that he might be the next Elliot Spitzer, making exaggerated claims of impending doom for his candidacy, and God knows what else.  And you know what we Obamanites do? We offer those jokers cookies. Because it's clear to us that anonymous assholes abound on the web, we don't get our knickers in a twist.  

I just want to make sure, once again, that everyone sees that I believe to be the most compelling Obama videos out there, especially the positive ones. (I'm sorry if this is diary abuse). Many of you have seen these already.

I have said and repeat that I wish Obama would buy a prime time spot, like Hillary did with Hallmark, in which he airs his move moving videos, like the Josh Stroman video, and in which he talks policy like he does on the stump.

In his stump speeches, he says quite clearly what "change" means: changing the mindset in washington, changing the kind of decision making and political point-scoring tactics that got us into the mess we're in now, a change in all the fighting and bipartisanship that keeps us from achieving things like healthcare.  

He needs to send a strong, final, documentary-style message to the country, because I still believe his message is the right one at the right time, and is a clear distinction from Billary, who want us to believe that change simply means changing the gender or color in the white house.

Barack Obama has all these great videos that practically nobody has seen. Many are too long to be turned into ads, but I wish they would at least be displayed more prominently on his website. I put up my favorite ones, plus a video ad concept I made myself out of desperation -- my first youtube vid ever. And, I took a trip down memory lane to the video that turned me into a Barackophile.

Did you know that in his short time in Washington, Obama has passed legislature that his colleagues have called "historic"?

Did you know that, unlike Hillary -- who admitted that her health plan might reach into your paycheck if you refuse to pay -- Obama believes all Americans are responsible enough to decide to pay for themselves... and that he has a plan to cover the people who might refuse to pay for care, even though they can afford it?  

Did you know that a media analysis has revealed that Obama’s speeches contain just as much specifics as his opponents’?

All these questions, and more, are explained via the link below – with links to newspaper articles, video footage, and other reliable sources to confirm the facts.  

Many Obama supporters, frustrated from last night's underperformance, are venting that it's time for him to change his hope/change message. They're tired, they're weary, and they want this to be over. I, on the other hand,   think it's time for him to emphasize that message more strongly than ever.