I feel queasy saying the words "David Brooks, correct" together but he sure has captured the zeitgeist of the Dem race right now in his column....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/opinio n/06brooks.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slo gin

As much as I am generally well disposed to the concept of both a woman president and an African American president, in as much as these people might bring a needed fresh perspective to how to govern in these confusing times, I am massively disheartened by the fact that Hillary Clinton seems to feel the need to out-macho Obama to win. What a shame to take the idea of a woman president and instead attempt to be even more and bigger of the same, a saber-rattling, elitist-bashing, "I hate egghead economists" Bush lite. Hate to say it that way but this is the kind of primary campaign she has been running since Super Tuesday.

Thoughts?

Last night conformed pretty closely to what both sides in this Democratic nominating battle expected to happen. It was a substantial but not overwhelming victory for Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania.

The Clinton supporters use this as more evidence that Obama can't win the big swing states (conveniently forgetting the home of their own campaign headquarters Virginia, Wisconsin, Missouri etc). Obama supporters, invoking "the math" retort that last night was the last chance for her to dent his lead and she didn't win big enough (conveniently forgetting that a 10 point loss is not a win). In other words nothing has changed at all following 6 weeks of a campaign that seemed to last forever and revolved around a series of non-issues that sullied both candidates.

As someone who fervently hopes that Obama wins but who has voted twice for Hillary Clinton in the senate, I feel compelled to point out that whoever wins this nominating contest will win the presidency and we have only ourselves to blame if somehow we should blow it. The energy, activity and passion on the Democratic side so far outweighs the Republican side that we need only get out of our own way to trounce them in November.

But we really need to figure out how to wrap this nominating contest up in a way that doesn't fatally wound whoever wins. Last night's analysis was full of "negative campaigning worked for Clinton" statements that made me feel ill. The NYTimes editorial this morning is a good reminder that the party, and therefore the candidates, must be mindful of the message and image that they are putting out in front of the country in this moment when all eyes are on us.

We can argue about who did what first or who made the most incendiary statements about the other but the fact of the matter is it was an unpleasant, pointless, nasty battle in PA that didn't speak to the issues of the Pennsylvania electorate and therefore not something anyone should be proud of, win or lose.

I really hope that the message that the Clinton campaign takes out of this is not lets do more of the same in Indiana. At the same time I hope that the Obama campaign doesn't take the message that they need to fight back harder and nastier. I would like Obama to pivot towards the General Election for the most part and stop getting in the mud with Clinton. He needs to get back to doing what captivated the country in the first place and he will be OK. In other words lets hope as a party that the remainder of the campaign represents us better than PA did.

It looks like now Indiana is the line in the sand for the continuation of the contest. NC should deliver a win for Obama of considerably greater margin than PA, so a win in Indiana is absolutely a must for Clinton. This should be interesting, given that the Chicago media market gives Obama a platform to over come the inherent demographic advantages that Clinton enjoys in the rural parts of the state. But also, given the way this campaign has played out nobody should be surprised if this next line in the sand is deferred just the way all the others have been.

I have given money to the Obama campaign and done some blogging  in support of Barack. I will continue to do these things in the hopes that he gets the nomination. But more than anything I am just sick of this contest now, sick of seeing Democrats sliming each other and fighting amongst ourselves. We need our nominee and fast. I think Obama, given the chance to fully engage McCain rather than having to battle a two-pronged war, is easily the stronger candidate for our side. But if Clinton wins the nomination I will be here too, because I know how important this is. As I said earlier, there is too much momentum, energy and activity on the Democratic side to be denied because of infighting.

How many people can say they will support the nominee no matter what?

I am so sick of the rec list being dominated by the divisive, Republcan talking points of the Clinton supporters in re the "Bittergate" story. There are so many levels on which their take on this non-story is wrong and damaging to our chances of winning the election.

Lets start with the statements themselves. Obama, in his original discussion in SF, was making a point that generations of Democratic candidates (including Bill Clinton--see link http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/0 4/13/historical_quote_of_the_day.html) have been making for years, namely that Republicans have managed to control the voting patterns of a majority of working class white voters with appeals to their religion, to their appreciation for the right to bear arms, to their fear of illegal immigration, all the while passing legislation on trade and taxation that makes them poorer by the day.

Try to make something of it if you will but the man was speaking a well regarded truth. For Hillary to try to paint this as condescending or elitist shows that she truly is willing to do or say anything to get elected, including adopting and propogating manipulative Republican methods to tar her opponent. I am having none of it and I call bullshit.

In fact, if this is the level in which Democratic politics has sunk to then neither candidate has a chance of winning in November because it is a certainty that the republicans will try to paint Hillary with the same kinds of things (remember the "Stand By Your Man" episode in 1992 for instance). I feel certain that Hillary Clinton has a similar analysis of the dynamics of working class white voters and is merely too chicken shit to make the same kind of statement. For her to get the nomination on the back of this kind of parroting of right wing thinking would be the death knell of our chances in the fall.

Please Obama supporters, lets get this or something like it onto the Rec list to show the outside world that this site has degenerated completely into a swamp of right wing talking points.

This is well beyond the beginning of the end of the Clinton campaign for Presidency. With Leahy and Dodd (Obama supporters no doubt, but nationally recognized Dem leaders as well) calling for her to step aside, reports of Clinton superdelegates saying they will go with the pledged delegate winner (see TPM), Bob Casey breaking his "no endorsement" stance, and the general settling in of the "Clinton can't win" theme in the MSM, the writing is well beyond being on the wall. The writing is the wall at this point. How long Hillary decides to stay in beyond May 6th could well decide what her future in the Democratic party will be. I hope that  she decides to pull out on May 7th, as that will be a date by which she will have had one last chance to pull out a miracle (winning all three of PA, NC and IN) and barring said miracle there will be no chances left for her to significantly alter the dynamics of the race (at least in a democratic and honorable way). So fight on until May 7th Hillary and then if the race is still in the current Obama vise-grip, please step aside. You have a long and illustrious senate career ahead of you and all of us democrats will be supportive of you in that role. Please don't make me (a two time Bill Clinton presidential voter and two time Hillary Clinton Senate voter) and others like me rethink our position that you in the end are a loyal democrat.

I must admit I was skeptical by the posts yesterday stating that there would be no new memberships for a week and the warnings about bannings etc, but whatever happened I must say that I am pleasantly surprised by the tenor of the debate that I have seen here today. And the front page posts have been balanced and nuanced and presenting a variety of view points. Well done admins and thanks.

It feels like every week we have a new My DD needs to change its tone type diary, but this front page diary by JErome deserves a response. I have always said that I think the tone of the comments of a blog has a lot to do with the tone set by the moderators and this excessive, weirdly gleeful rubbing it in on Jerome's part is the kind of thing that starts the incredibly negative cycle we have seen here. I would like to see Jerome defend the tone of his diary.

Also, folks, this is his OBama's pastor talking here, not him. IF everyone was judged by the inflammatory things said by reportersAs others have noted on here Clinton is a member of a secretive religious group that freaks people out, McCain has his incendiary religious supporters. There are weaknesses out there for every candidate. But tearing Obama down for the words of his pastor is playing right into the hands of the other side. It is snarky, wasteful, and downright idiotic. This man is very likely to be your nominee folks. Do you really want to make his job twice as hard with all of your crap?

The good thing for Barack Obama, if one can find a silver lining in the double teaming he is experiencing from Clinton and McCain, is that the kinds of attacks and innuendos that the Clinton campaign is leveling at him right now mirror the ones that McCain will attempt if and when Obama wins the nomination. So I think he must treat Clinton as a general election opponent at this point, directing his strategy towards the electorate as a whole and assuming that this will work against HRC as well. I just don't see how he can win if he gets down in the mud with Hillary at this point, trading accusations and personally answering all of her questions. That isn't to say that he needs to sit back and take all of her crap, but as many people have been writing on this site and others, he needs to get powerful surrogates (Dodd, Kerry, Kennedy, Sebelius, Daschle)to do the kind of defense (and occasional offense--tax returns, Norman Hsu to counter the Rezko stuff etc) that he needs to fend her off and at the same time begin crafting his GE message. Because, no matter how long it takes, it is highly likely he will be the Democratic nominee and the sooner he can begin the process of appealing to the entire nation the better off he will be. So it is my hope that the Obama campaign can use the continued presence of Clinton in the race as a testing ground for his GE message and use that extra bit of market research to come out of the convention roaring towards the presidency. I also urge all of the Obama supporters here and elsewhere to dip into the wallet one more time and provide Barack with the necessary juice to take this thing all the way!

I am so disheartened by the state of this blog right now. We have an amazingly strong candidate preparing to win the Democratic Nomination, a dynamic, forward thinking leader who is bringing untold thousands of new Democratic voters into the process and day after day we are treated to featured diaries tearing him down in a base and unpleasant way. It is obviously one thing to pick a horse in the race and fair enough to do so, but when will enough be enough. At this point if Hillary wins the nomination it will come through means so controversial that it will tear the party apart. Please, I am begging you guys in leadership on this blog, change the tone of this blog. Make it more respectful towards Obama and towards the process overall. Make it a place where people can discuss the ins and outs of how to get a democrat elected in November, not a place where we needlessly weaken our almost certain general election candidate. Anyone who agrees please respond and forward and if you don't agree let me know (try to be respectful--I know that is a stretch right now). LEts get it together people!!!!