(Uncredited from TalkingPointsMemo.com) – March 22, 2008, 12:12PM
DNC: Iowa, NH, SC and NV will go before Super Tuesday. Any other state that schedules a primary before the (already absurdly early) Super Tuesday Primary will be awarded no delegates.

Michigan and Florida: Okay, makes sense. We’re on board with that.

Michigan and Florida: On second thought, we’ve now decided that we’re more important than all the other big states that are abiding by the rules we agreed to. We hate these small states because the always decide the whole thing.

DNC: Please don’t do that. You know we will not be able to award you delegates if you do that. You agreed to those rules.

Michigan and Florida: F**k you. You know you’ll never impose those rules on us. We’re too big and important.

DNC: Please, we’re begging you. We have to enforce these rules. If we lose control of this process, the first primaries next time will be in July of 2011. You are creating a nightmare scenario. Please don’t do this.

Michigan and Florida: (Flip bird.) Hah! You wouldn’t dare! We’re too big and important to have to obey your rules. You know it and we know it so just stop the posturing.

DNC: Please, please, please don’t do this. We’re on our knees here.

Obama: I’ll support whatever the DNC says.

Hillary: I’ll support whatever the DNC says. But I’m going to leave my name on the Michigan ballot, just in case, but la de da, no need to worry. Doesn’t matter anyway. I would never, ever, ever, come back and try to act like an election where I’m the only person on the ballot and no delegates are at stake meant something.

Michigan and Florida: Blah, blah, blah! Rules are for chumps.

DNC: Don’t do this.

Hillary: Man, I’m really getting my ass kicked, here. Y’know, that Michigan thing is looking really important. And didn’t that bad Obama guy break his pledge not to campaign in Florida by running ads on national cable TV? (sotto voice aside: Goddammit, Patti, why aren’t we running ads on national cable TV? Patti? Patti? We do have enough money to run ads on national cable if we wanted to, right?)

Michigan: Here we go.

DNC: Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Obama: Sigh. Hillary’s getting ready to break her promise not to campaign in Florida. She’s setting up venue and arguing that my running ads on national cable violates my promise not to campaign there even though I cleared the ads with IA, NH, NV, and SC.

Hillary: Never, never, never. He’s just telling big fat lies like the big lying coke dealing Jessie Jackson-like man he is, SC. But, la de da now that I’ve gotten my ass kicked much harder than expected in SC, for reasons I simply cannot fathom, I’m going to toddle down to Florida for a *wink*wink* fundraiser. Oh, and I’m going to schedule a little victory party too, bucause I now think Florida’s primary will show that people really really do like me (sotto voice aside: get Bill Nelson on the phone!)

DNC: Okay, we warned you, we begged you and you did it anyway. No delegates.

Michigan and Florida: WAAAHHHH!!!!! THAT’S NOT FAIRRRRR! YOU’RE DISENFRANCHISING US! NOBODY TOLD US ABOUT ANY OLD RULES!!!!!

DNC: Calm down. You still have time to schedule new primaries that will count.

Hillary: I’ve decided that since my plans have gone to crap and I need those results as they are in elections where I was pretty much the only one running, I’m going to rush to the support of the sacred right of Michigan and Florida to break the rules. I oppose a revote and demand that their delegates be seated.

Florida and Michigan: See, see, Hillary will save us! We don’t need to schedule a revote because HIllary’s on our side!

Obama: I’ll support whatever the DNC says.

DNC: Please schedule a revote while there’s still time because we’re not going to give you a pass on this.

Obama: I’ll support whatever the DNC says.

Hillary: No, no, no, millions already voted for meeeeeee! They must be given to meeee! There’s a sacred totally not opportunistic reversal of a prior pledge at stake here.

Florida and Michigan. Yeah, what she said. And, anyways, we can’t afford a revote.

DNC: Please schedule a revote while there’s still time.

Florida and Michigan: Gulp. Hillary’s sure losing a lot of races. Maybe we better schedule a revote. But we’re still not paying for it, see? This is all your fault, DNC. We’re not doing anything until you agree to pay us to clean up after ourselves.

DNC: No. We’re kinda broke right now, but you could raise unlimited soft money to finance it. But tick tock, people. Schedule the revote while there’s still time.

Hillary: No revotes! No revotes ever! Those people voted for me and I must have their delegates. It’s an important principle at stake here. Principle, principle, I say!

Obama: I’ll support whatever the DNC says.

Florida and Michigan: Maybe we better look into scheduling a revote.

Hillary: No. Okay, maybe. But only if it’s set up in a way that favors me. No. Wait, I mean yes. If it’s in favor of me.

Obama: I’ll support whatever the DNC says, but I’m not going to stand by and let Hillary rig the revote in her favor.

Florida and Michigan: We can’t afford this. We squandered all our money on the vote in January. We demand that you pay for a new vote or we’re going to be very, very mad at you and we’ll vote for McCain. How about the campaigns kicking in some dough?

Hillary: Umm, errrr, ummmm. Ahem. Oh, sure. We’ll do it. We have plenty of money. Lots and lots and lots. Boy, we have so much coming in that we just have boxes and boxes of loose cash sitting around our offices. (sotto voice aside: for God’s sake get out there and round up some of our maxed out fatcats to fund the goddam thing before we have to admit we’re broke!)

Obama: I’ll support whatever the DNC says, but I’m noticing that we’re kinda getting to the point where we may not be able to have a vote that doesn’t create more problems than it solves.

DNC: Look, here’s a bunch of Hillary’s fatcats who’ll fund it. Now submit a plan.

Florida and Michigan: We won’t submit a plan until the campaigns agree in advance to support whatever we do.

DNC and Obama: Tick tock, people. Cart before the horse.

Hillary: We demand a revote in both states. That’s what we’ve always said.

Florida: Okay, we admit it. We’re can’t hold a decent election under perfect circumstances and we’re not capable of throwing one together at the last mintues that won’t be a total disaster. We give up.

Michigan: alright, alright, here’s our hastily thrown together plan.

Obama: We feel compelled to point out that the plan submitted by Michigan is likely to be invalidated on Constitutional grounds.

Hillary: Obama’s acting like the law has some sort of legal significance. Obstructor! Thwarter of the people’s will! I’m flying in to Michigan and I’m going to use my vast Clinton clout to push this thing through.

Michigan: Geez, it looks like Obama is going to win this thing. We don’t want to be seen doing Hillary’s bidding here. And, anyway, our plan is totally unworkable. Okay, we give up too.

Hillary: This is all Obama’s fault!

Michigan and Florida voters: This is all the DNC’s fault!

MSM: Boy, that Obama sure is slick. Scuttled revotes in Florida and Michigan and isn’t even getting blamed for it. Chuckle, chuckle, chortle.

Hillary: WAAAAAAAAH!

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

Wow. The blogosphere is ablaze. Everyone is giving their two cents on what I’m convinced will go down in history as the “I Have A Dream” speech of our generation.

Unless your television or computer was carried off by a twister (Atlanta caught it in the neck from a record number of tornados last week),  you know that today, Senator Obama delivered an historic speech on race relations in this country, and the controversy that made the speech necessary – the remarks made by his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

I am utterly amazed at how eloquent some have been in their analysis of Senator Obama and the historic speech he made today in Phildelphia, and yet how utterly wrong at the same time. The thing that stands out the most to me is the many bloggers and their assertions that Senator Obama was somehow deeply conflicted, or panicked as he delivered his speech today. I find that odd, because I didn’t see conflict or panic in him at all. I saw resolution, and a bravery that is seldom seen in modern politics. Those who are busy accusing Senator Obama of tap-dancing to get out of a sticky situation missed the point of his speech entirely.

America – listen to me. The easy, political thing for Senator Obama to have done would have been to stand up, and bang the podium, and say that he forever disowns, denounces, rejects, and otherwise dismisses his relationship with Rev. Wright. That would have been the easy AND politically expedient thing to do, and I’m not sure many people would have blamed him for it. But instead, what he did, was deliver a message to the American people that was long over due, for black and white Americans alike – the message that the things that have divided us for so long will never go away unless we find the courage to confront them.

And in confronting this issue with his Pastor, he showed us by example that confronting the issue of race relations in this country can and should be done, whatever the consequences.

Check it – I am the quintessential Obama Supporter, and yet I must confess that had I been one of his advisors, I may have been tempted to ask him to take a different road than the one he took today. There had to be a burning debate amongst his strategy team, if not inside the man himself – was it more important for Senator Obama to say what was politically acceptable, say whatever would get him back in the good graces of the majority of Americans, or was it more important for him to show himself to be the truthful, profound leader that he has portrayed himself to be all along, by telling the American people the trueth, even in the face of such an ugly controversy?

This question is not as easily answerable as you might think. Certainly, there are those who desperately want to see Senator Obama as the next President of the United States who might be tempted to say that he should have said whatever would make this thing go away the fastest. These are the people who believe that the political end justifies the political means, even if the means forces someone of honor to do the dishonorable.

And they are wrong. Dead wrong.

What Senator Obama had the courage to stand up and say today, well, right now we’re all just marinating in it. The pundits are batting it around, the hard-core Clinton supporters are ringing the death knoll on Senator Obama’s continued chances, and the Republicans are just sitting back giggling at the spectacle. But I would contend that what we as a country do today in response to Senator Obama’s message hardly even matters, because so historic was his speech, so important was the message, so sweeping in its delivery of the facts of the state of race relations in this country were his ideas, that it was actually worth running the risk that it could throw us all of kilter for a bit at best, and seriously jeopardize his candidacy, at worst for the American people to hear it. Sorry for the run-on sentence.

See, the people who really love this country and want it to turn a corner, are willing to sacrifice even our selfish wishes for our country’s future in the name of truth. And what Senator Obama said today was the truth, whether we wanted to hear it, whether we liked it or not. And the most amazing thing, is that there was enough truth in his remarks to go around to everyone, blacks and whites. I felt a distinct sting when he began to talk about how blacks play the victim over racism in this country at times, because he was right. And I felt a definite discomfort at his assertions that some whites don’t seem to understand that the residual effects of slavery are still being felt by blacks in this country today, because I know he’s right about that too, but I also know that so many people are just not ready to hear it.

Some have suggested that he didn’t want to deal with the pastor’s comments until he had to.  To that I say, “Duh!” The people who believe that are absolutely right – of course he didn’t deal with it until he had to, and the reason is that he knew that it would be something just like this that would force him to have the discussion with the American people about the state of race relations in this country. And he knew that the message he would have to deliver would be hard to say and hard to hear. But I applaud him, a million times I applaud him, because what he said today was the bravest thing that any politician in recent memory has had to stand up before this nation and say, and it was probably also one of the hardest oratories a politician has ever had to deliver.

It saddens me that as a nation of intellectuals there is so much we can’t seem to agree on, whether we’re black or white. Today, I saw a man put everything on the line to tell the truth as he sees it. I saw the Senator stand up for a man who he loves - though he doesn’t agree with his more controversial remarks AT ALL – and respects for those qualities that have served he and his family well over the years. And I saw a man that in a million years would never wish this country harm. In that there is no question.

But sadly, other people like the maniacal bloggers who are ripping him to shreds even as I type saw what they wanted to see – a racist, or liar, or whatever other names they’ve chosen to call Senator Obama since he left the podium this morning.

But ask yourself this – who is it who throughout this campaign has consistently thrown mud, and distorted the truth, and used surrogates and her ex-pres husband to say or do whatever it took to cast doubt on her opponent? Who is it that has done everything possible to stoke the flames of racism in this country, just to gain political advantage? And who has consistently gone on record as not wanting to engage in gutter politics, not even to revive his candidacy or ensure victory for himself? And yes – who is it that stood up today in front of the American people and spoke from his heart about his deepest fears for our country? Who reminded us of what should have been patently obvious to anyone who has picked up an American history book – that slavery was a blot on our nation’s history that left a terrible, enduring stain? And who was it that did it possibly at his own political peril?

You know the name. Say it with me. O-B-A-M-A. This country needs the leadership and honesty that Senator Obama showed today, nothing else will do if we’re to ever leave the generations of racial division, hatred, and confusion behind. I for one long for the day when asking questions about someone’s racial motives is as passe as asking about their shoe size. I have faith that that day will come, and that when it does, Senator Obama will have lead us there.

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

I wrote a book a couple of years ago called “Duped By Love”, and in that book, I had a great time making fun of how the media here in the A.T.L. loves to walk the streets of the worst neighborhoods, looking for stuff to report on, and trying to find the least articulate person on the planet to interview about whatever newsworthy thing has taken place.
Don’t act like you don’t know what I mean.

A young black man is a witness to a drive by shooting, and describes what he saw with a heavy dirty South accent. A middle-aged black woman witnesses a domestic disturbance, and through barely decipherable English, recounts the tale to the reporter and camera man who have her framed against a background of urban desolation, eager to exploit her for the amusement of their audience. I HATE that crap.

There is no denying it – in cities and states around the country, the news media make it a point to seek out those that they feel will portray the black man, woman, and sometimes even the black voter in the worst light possible. Enter Derrick Ashong and a CNN reporter known only as “Mike”.

On January 31st, Derrick Ashong, a 32-year old musician found himself pulled into the fray of the Democratic debate being held at the Kodak Theatre. He was talked into standing outside the event and holding an Obama sign by a good friend. Now, it must be noted, that to look at Mr. Ashong is to see nothing particularly special. Outwardly, he looks like any other street kid, and if we were to be 100% honest with ourselves, he has the exact look of someone that some people might cross the street rather than confront face to face for fear of being robbed or worse. Yes – outwardly, Derrick Ashong could be the poster child for the image of young black men that the media has taught the viewing public to fear.

So I’m fairly certain it was with this (and ratings) in mind that a CNN cameraman/reporter walked up to Derrick Ashong and asked him pointedly, and rather rudely why he supports Senator Obama. I’m ashamed to admit, that when I was first told to watch the video, and the first few seconds rolled across the screen, I felt a certain discomfort over what was coming.

You see, in an age where people often amuse themselves by recording each other’s most idiotic moments and publishing them to YouTube for the entire world to see, I was certain that what I was about to be treated to was more of the same. I can distinctly recall that I felt that pang of dread that I often feel when viewing some new example of blatant black stereotyping by the media. I felt it, yes I did. But I sat there and made myself watch, and I continued to listen – and what I saw and heard brought pure joy to my heart.

Mike the CNN reporter hammered Mr. Ashong with probing question after probing question about why he was standing outside the Kodak Theatre that day in support of Senator Obama. At first, Derrick gave a few canned answers that sounded suspiciously like something you might pick up from Obama paraphernalia. And so Mike probed more deeply. He asked Derrick about the candidates’ health care plans, how they would be funded, he asked him about socialized medicine, and the likely economic impact of an Obama Health care plan – and as the questions grew more complex, Derrick Ashong proceeded to school both Mike the CNN reporter and me on the superior aspects of the Obama plan, and why it makes the most sense for the nation.

And it’s not just that he beat back an obvious attempt to make an Obama Supporter look substance-less – he did it with so much finesse, authority and in such a knowledgeable way, that the reporter had no choice but to allow himself to be drawn into an engaging conversation with a young man who was obviously his intellectual equal, and abandon what I am convinced was meant to be an opportunity to show the world that young black men, and the youth of this country in general are rallying behind Senator Obama like the unwitting victims of some pied piper, or like groupies to a rock star. Wow.

Derrick Ashong single-handedly destroyed about half-a-dozen stereo types in the space of 6 minutes during that interview. He proved, first, that young black men do much more than sit around smoking weed all day waiting for opportunities to rob and loot, as is so often portrayed in the media. Secondly, he showed that even the very young can be extremely well-versed in the issues of the day, and knowledgeable of the candidates they support. Thirdly – in casually announcing that his father was a pediatrician, he showed the reporter that young black men can be the product of good homes, headed up by educated professionals, and that not all black men standing around on a street corner come from broken homes.

Fourth – he shattered the myth that the typical Obama supporter is just somehow ‘in-love’ with the Senator, or only on the campaign’s bandwagon because Senator Obama makes good speeches. Fifth – he proved that even someone who has made a conscious decision to be a musician can still be politically engaging, and an intellectual. Sixth, he dispelled the myth that young voters don’t understand what’s at stake in this election – I could go on and on and on.

The bottom line is, it seems like lately, every day in every way, we are beginning to get the proof that our nation is turning a corner. We are beginning to really get a flavor for the power our diversity gives us as a country. You see, Derrick Ashong is an immigrant from Ghana, educated here in the states. He is young and passionate, but old enough to recall that there was a time when he lived in a land where he did not have the right to vote. His command of the issues was amazing, his enthusiasm for Senator Obama clear. The reporter repeatedly (at first) chided him about providing ‘technical’ answers, and not just ‘emotion’ to support his positions. So in the face of what most would consider to be grilling on the part of the CNN reporter, he kept a cool head, and stuck to the facts.

The video of his interview that day has been played on YouTube by hundreds of thousands of people, and has become so popular that he’s been accused of being an Obama plant, which is ridiculous when you think about it. But to answer the nay-sayers, he produced a follow-up that he calls ‘The Emotional Response’, and if the first video impresses the heck out of you, this one will move you beyond belief.

In it, he discusses his love for this country, his unique ethnic background, and his appreciation of our democracy. He talks about why it is so important that we figure out a way to get past our differences, and come together for the good of our country. Sound familiar?

The beauty and the power of what occurred outside the Kodak Theater that day cannot be overstated. Out there that day, two men, one white and one black, bridged both an age and racial chasm, to find common agreement on an important political issue. What happened out there that day? Without trying to, one young man showed America the face of yet another black man who cares more about the collective well being of our country than he does about any singular racial or socio-economic group. What happened was that Derrick Ashong validated what Senator Obama has often said in his writings and in his speeches. “I know they’re out there”, he says in the ‘Audacity of Hope’. “Those people who are tired of politics as usual, and want a different kind of politics”. He showed America that not only are they out there, but they might show up in the most surprising ways, wrapped in the most unlikely packages.

Thank you Derrick, for being the very definition of ‘representin’.

Words cannot express my joy over this video. Please just watch it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/kica8hmSdAM&hl=en]

Obama WILL change this nation.

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

This is an issue that will plague us for a long time, because there is seemingly no fair way to resolve this. Or is there?

For those of you who don’t own a television, or have been in a politics-induced coma as of late, suddenly out of nowhere, delegations from both Florida and Michigan are meeting behind closed doors to discuss what they can do to have their delegates seated at the next DNC Convention. Here’s the problem.

Months before their primary dates came up, both Michigan and Florida decided, “Hey – I think we’ll break the rules and have our primaries early like Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada, because we want some attention too!” Both states were warned by the DNC and the RNC in fact that moving their primaries would be in direct violation of the rules of both parties. The DNC threatened to invalidate the results of both states, rendering their delegates useless, and the RNC threatened to take half the states’ delegates. They both went ahead with their evil primary plots anyway.

So, in Florida, all of the then Presidential candidates, including John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama agreed not to campaign in the state, and to honor the DNC’s ruling. And though Senator Clinton cleverly held campaign fundraisers there anyway, none of the candidates actually campaigned.

Then, in Michigan, all the candidates agreed again not to campaign – John Edwards and Senator Obama had their names removed from the ballots in a show of support of the DNC’s decision. Hillary Clinton did not.

So OF COURSE, both states held their elections when they friggin’ got good and ready, and the fair Ms. Clinton won both. You’d think she’d have won by a landslide, but even though her only competition in Michigan was “uncommitted”, she still didn’t him by that wide a margin. And now (OF COURSE), the Clinton campaign is on the verge of suing everything that moves over seating the delegates that she promised not to pursue in the first place. Oy.

So what can be done? The Clinton campaign has turned this whole issue into one of disenfranchisement, and the voters are agreeing – they want their ‘voices heard’, even though clearly they were somewhere playing penuckle or voting down affirmative action when their legislators were behing closed doors pulling the plug on their ability to participate in their primaries. The Clinton campaign has managed to create such an environment of chaos and calamity that Senator Obama’s calming, hopeful message is being drowned out. And that’s precisely as she wants it.

So what to do then? We can’t seat the delegates as they are now – not fair to Senator Obama. A do-over? Also not fair to Senator Obama. Senator Clinton has skillfully somehow timed the rearing of this issues’ ugly head to coincide with her bounce back and new found momentum, or the big ‘Mo’, as the media has taken to calling it.

Split the delegates down the middle? Seems fair, but this solution would not exactly be the same as giving the voters ‘their voice’, now would it? Thanks to the Governors and legislators of both of these states, any scenario in which this could be resolved will result in bringing down the wrath of half of the Democratic party on someone’s head, be that half the Clinton supporters or the Obama supporters.

But luck you – I know the only fair way to resolve this issue, and I’m going to share it with you now. Feel free to share it with friends and loved ones.

First – we have to admit to ourselves that it’s not the voters’ fault that their legislators pulled a fast one on them. It is the leaders of the states fault however, and that means that the states should have to bear the cost of a do-over, period. They made the bitch move that got us into this mess, they should have to pay. Now I understand that this means that the tax-payers, a.k.a the voters will ultimately pay, but this is an unfortunate price that must be paid for turning a blind eye to what their legislators were doing. So the states foot the bill.

Secondly, and most importantly, the do-over primaries cannot, and must not occur until every single other primary has taken place. I’m talking after Puerto Rico, Guam, and any other outlying US province we can come up with. This is the ONLY way that both candidates can be assured a fair chance of getting their messages out to the voters, without it being unfair to either one. Or at least it will minimize the unfairness.

I see no other way out of this one. Some have called on the candidates themselves to pay for the re-do (LOUD BUZZER NOISE HERE). Hell to the naw. I’ve paid a significant amount of my hard earned money into the Obama campaign, and it wasn’t so that a bunch of bone heads in states where I don’t even have relatives could decide to spend it on a do-over. Since the leaders of these states took the plunge, they should pay up, however they can. Because it is really truly unfair to the voters of these states not to be part of the political process, we must give them that right – but not until the very end of what has turned out to be a long, dreadful process.

So yes – seat the delegates after a do-over funded by the states themselves, and at the VERY end of the primary season. So it is written, so let it be done.

By Jonathan Alter

Source: Newsweek Web Exclusive

Forget tonight. She could win 16 straight and still lose.

Hillary Clinton may be poised for a big night tonight, with wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island. Clinton aides say this will be the beginning of her comeback against Barack Obama. There’s only one problem with this analysis: they can’t count.

I’m no good at math either, but with the help of Slate’s Delegate Calculator I’ve scoped out the rest of the primaries, and even if you assume huge Hillary wins from here on out, the numbers don’t look good for Clinton. In order to show how deep a hole she’s in, I’ve given her the benefit of the doubt every week for the rest of the primaries.

So here we go: Let’s assume Hillary beats expectations and wins Ohio tonight 55-45, Rhode Island 55-45, Texas, 53-47 and (this is highly improbable), ties in Vermont, 50-50.

Then it’s on to Wyoming on Saturday, where, let’s say, the momentum of today helps her win 53-47. Next Tuesday in Mississippi—where African-Americans play a big role in the Democratic primary—she shocks the political world by winning 52-48.

Then on April 22, the big one, Pennsylvania—and it’s a Hillary blowout, 60-40, with Clinton picking up a whopping 32 delegates. She wins both of Guam’s two delegates on May 30, and Indiana’s proximity to Illinois does Obama no good on May 6, with the Hoosiers going for Hillary 55-45. The same day brings another huge upset in a heavily African-American state: enough North Carolina blacks desert Obama to give the state to Hillary 52-48, netting her five more delegates.

Suppose May 13 in West Virginia is no kinder to Obama, and he loses by double digits, netting Clinton two delegates. The identical 55-45 result on May 20 in Kentucky nets her five more. The same day brings Oregon, a classic Obama state. Oops! He loses there 52-48. Hillary wins by 10 in Montana and South Dakota on June 3, and primary season ends on June 7 in Puerto Rico with another big Viva Clinton! Hillary pulls off a 60-40 landslide, giving her another 11 delegates. She has enjoyed a string of 16 victories in a row over three months.

So at the end of regulation, Hillary’s the nominee, right? Actually, this much-too-generous scenario (which doesn’t even account for Texas’s weird “pri-caucus” system, which favors Obama in delegate selection) still leaves the pledged-delegate score at 1,634 for Obama to 1,576 for Clinton. That’s a 58-delegate lead.

Let’s say the Democratic National Committee schedules do-overs in Florida and (heavily African-American) Michigan. Hillary wins big yet again. But the chances of her netting 56 delegates out of those two states would require two more huge margins. (Unfortunately the Slate calculator isn’t helping me here.)

So no matter how you cut it, Obama will almost certainly end the primaries with a pledged-delegate lead, courtesy of all those landslides in February. Hillary would then have to convince the uncommitted superdelegates to reverse the will of the people. Even coming off a big Hillary winning streak, few if any superdelegates will be inclined to do so. For politicians to upend what the voters have decided might be a tad, well, suicidal.

For all of those who have been trashing me for saying this thing is over, please feel free to do your own math. Give Hillary 75 percent in Kentucky and Indiana. Give her a blowout in Oregon. You will still have a hard time getting her through the process with a pledged-delegate lead.

The Clintonites can spin to their heart’s content about how Obama can’t carry any large states besides Illinois. How he can’t close the deal. How they’ve got the Big Mo now.

Tell it to Slate’s Delegate Calculator.

http://www.slate.com/features/delegatecounter/

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

Who wouldn’t want to give their child two names that have such beautiful meaning: Barack means “blessed” and Hussein means “good; small handsome one”?

John Campanelli, DailyKos.com

This week’s flap over the use of Senator Barack Hussein Obama’s middle name in the media is the subject of this week’s rant.

Earlier this week, a conservative talk show host (whose name I refuse to use here) kicked up a lot of dust by yelling Senator Obama’s full birth name over and over again during a tirade disguised as an introduction of Senator John McCain at a rally. This guy swaggered back and forth in front of the cameras like a man grateful for his fifteen minutes, showboating in front of an audience of about 7 people, and spewing some of the most racist crap I’ve ever heard on the national airwaves. His goal was to remind the American people that we are in danger of electing a man to our highest office that shares a name in common with a dead dictator. He also took it upon himself to spout the normal right-wing platitudes about how the Senator would handle the economy as President, and how un-safe the nation would be.

This would have all been pretty laughable if the news media hadn’t become so transfixed on this moron for days afterward. They loved it – they ate it up! This freak of nature was featured on every national news program there is for almost a week, and each time he took a new opportunity to display his hatefulness and blatant bigotry.

The irony is, I think his lunatic ramblings did serve a purpose. It both exposed the still deeply engrained racism that still exists with many in this country, and forced us all to deal with an issue that would have eventually reared it’s ugly head anyway – whether or not to use Senator Barack Obama’s full given name when referring to him, as we have done in the case of every other President in our nation’s history.

It took me only three seconds to figure this one out. After watching this race-baiter in action, I quickly realized that we should not only use his full name, we should all counter this idiot by collectively shouting it from the rooftops!

Barack Hussein Obama! Barack Hussein Obama! Barack Hussein Obama!I want it plastered on all of his campaign signs, and I want every political pundit at CNN, and every lusty news wench at Fox News to let it fall from their lips whenever they refer to him. Why? It’s simple – because we cannot as an electorate say that we support Senator Obama as the Democratic nominee for President unless we are willing to support him in his totality, and that includes his name.

If you think about it, this is an amazing opportunity – this is, in essence, America’s big final test. So many of our fellow citizens have been able to see past the efforts of those who would have stopped Senator Obama’s candidacy in its tracks because of his name AND his race. They’ve been able to see through the veiled efforts to paint him as ‘the black candidate’, and as an inexperienced demagogue. Surely we can also live with the fact that there is more than a real likelihood that our next President coincidentally shares a name with a man who by all accounts was a murderous monster!

It’s time to face facts. Senator Obama is, as of this writing, on the brink of staging the greatest political upset in modern history, and all we have to do America is pass this one final test – all we have to do, is learn to love and respect the name, like we love and respect the man. I know I can do it, and I also know why.

My 11-year old son, David, is named after his father, David, who walked out on me when I was four months pregnant on our wedding anniversary and never looked back. At the time, I named my son David because I sincerely believed that one day I’d find a way to put my family back together. When I realized there was no hope, I begin to rue the day I’d decided to name my gorgeous, beautiful son after his father. Those early days were truly miserable.

But guess what happened? Can you guess? That’s right! My love for my son soon faded any memory of the pain his father caused me, and eventually his father became someone who just happened to be named after my son, rather than the evil owner of the name I once prayed I could forget.

Saddaam Hussein was an evil, murderous tyrrant. Jeffrey Dahmer ate people, but I don’t go running in the other direction when I meet someone named Jeffrey, no more than I hide my wallet and the weapons in the house if someone named George happens to stop by. It’s time to face it – there is a very real possibility that Senator Barack Hussein Obama will be the next President of the United States, and when that happens, those who are uncomfortable with his ancestry won’t be able to avoid his middle name any more than they can avoid his black skin. Those of us who have until now turned a blind eye to the uncomfortable realities of his birth name won’t be able to avoid it either, so it’s time to face it head on, and take it for what it is – God’s way of showing us that there can be beauty and honor even in the things that remind us so much of what’s wrong in the world, like my son’s father’s name once did. It’s an opportunity for us to tell ourselves as proud Americans, and to tell the world that we really are the fair and just nation that we so deeply want to be, capable even of lifting to the highest heights a man with arguably one of the most infamous middle names ever.

Yes – this is our final test America. We have shown that we can all push past our prejudices to embrace the hope of a different America – our prejudices about the ability of a black man to win the White House, our prejudices about whether or not a country with such a racially peppered history could accept him as a candidate at all, and yes, our fears and biases over his rich ancestry that is so different than ours, and that is so evident by his name. A complete and total acceptance of Barack Hussein Obama is the only way we can truly embrace the change that his presidency will bring to our country, and the only way we can begin to shake the racist shackles of our nation’s troubled past.