The Democratic Divide

I agree with MChieco completely - inspiration alone is not going to do this country anything as far as fixing the problems we have here and abroad. Hillary may not be the most inspiring leader, but she'll get the job done well. She won't leave it to her advisors to run everything like Bush did (and look where that got him!). She'll be informed, on task, and more than capable at bringing this country out of the mire that George Bush brought us into.... I agree with MChieco: WAKE UP, AMERICA - Vote with your Head, not with your heart

It seems pretty clear that Obama is the one who can unite the Democrats. In fact he may also create a more united Congress and even the world. He certainly is the "likable" one with genuine people skills and a strong desire to use them, His experience is really more than some previous candidates and perhaps an asset to get done what needs to be done in our current broken state.

I am so encouraged when I see hope in Obama that he can unite people. We can almost feel how he could unite the Democrats, unite Congress and even help our troubled world. He does this with his "likable" way and natural abilities.

All this uniting will ot mean a hill of beans if we cant pay our bills. Hillary will be tenacious going after Big Oil and the medical industry. If we are united will we not buy gas ? Not get medical care ? Go on strike ? Big Oil and the health care industry are driven by obscene profits , that know no conscience. Hillary has the experience , and the tenacity to not take no for an answer. She knows the world leaders, has been to Iraq, Pakistan ,
China , and she is a Yale Law School graduate . Wake up , vote with your head.

Obama's faith, whatever it is or isn't, have nothing to do with how good a President he might be. This type of attack was similarly made against John F. Kennedy, saying the Pope would run the country. It didn't happen. Now the religious nuts are against Obama and Romney making new unfounded statements. Whatever these self righteous nut are for, I'm against.

National: I agree with you that nobody should have to apologize for telling the truth, and you're quite right that Senator Obama is on the record as using drugs in his youth. For someone who values honesty as you (and I) do, however, there are still several problems with Robert Johnson's comment:

1) Hillary had previously stated that this subject was off-limits for her campaign; making this commitment and then failing to abide by it is unacceptable.
2) After making his comment, Johnson said that he was actually speaking about Obama's community organizing, which was a bald-faced lie.
3) Both Bill and Hillary Clinton (even in the Nevada debate) said that they had to "take [Johnson] at his word" that he was really talking about community organizing, when both of them knew perfectly well that he was lying through his teeth.

If you feel that Obama's admitted drug use makes him a bad role model, that's certainly your prerogative. It seems clear, however, that George W. and Bill Clinton also used drugs, and the odds are that Hillary experimented as well. Personally, I see Obama's honest acknowledgment of his use, his rejection of drugs as an adult, and his accomplishments since that time as evidence of the highest character. He strikes me as a superb role for children growing up in the real world, where young people struggle to find the right path, make mistakes along the way, and hopefully grow up to be men and women with the talent and integrity Barack Obama.

Management is focused on doing things right. Leadership is making sure we are doing the right things. It???s a clich?? because it???s true. Don???t get me wrong, we need both management and leadership in this world and I have no doubt that Clinton is a competent manager, but Barack Obama has vastly superior leadership skills.

In terms of the Presidency, leadership, character and judgment are far more important than knowing how and where to file the daily briefing report, scheduling a conference room or following up to make sure that the letter you send to a Congressional office is in the correct font. Presidents hire staff people to take care of that stuff.

The idea that, admitting that keeping track of papers is a chore and having a messy desk is some sort of indicator of incompetence is completely stupid and ridiculous. Some of the most brilliant people you could ever hope to meet have messy desks and lose pieces of paper. It has nothing to do with whether they are suited to being a leader.

The complete lack of ability to admit any real flaws says more about Edwards and Clinton than Obama???s candor and authenticity says about him.

I've taken a good hard look at Edwards and as far as I know the guys a phony. First of all he stumps around Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and so on for 3 years prior to the election cycle pretending to be interested in poverty. All the while he is skiting campaign election laws which only allow a candidate to campaign starting 1 year prior to the caucus or primary. This is not honorable and neither is Edwards.

It is time the American people stand united in these times of trouble in the world. We all need to think about what the United States biggest problems are and elect someone who has the ability to steer the Congress and Senate in the direction of addressing and fixing these problems. The war, social security, the national deficit, medical insurance, etc. are all huge problems that need immediate attention but we have to get the people who are representing us to stop pointing fingers so much and try to find a way to compromise for the benefit of the American people. What kind of nation have we become when we can't even provide decent medical care for our people. If we don't start getting it together, the U.S. will no longer be a super power, but just another struggling country. Let's unite, work together and show a little respect for each other even when we disagree. The key is to UNITE AND STAND TOGETHER!

Sorry Eleanor, I can not buy your comments. Obama started this war of words. Claiming to be the ressurection of the great JFK and Dr. King. How could the Clinton's allow that comparison to be made and expect to win the elections or caucuses. If Obama wins, he should expect white and black unite around him and conversely if Clinton wins she should expect the same, because if they do not, then they deserve the next republican President..

For those who have an appetite to judge too hastily I would say that experience is far greater than a candidate whose speech moves emotions. The time for thinking in terms of what America stands for. It is said America stood for democracy at home, and later democracy far from home. Now the connection between both is similar to the great divide that separate the former first lady Ms. Hillary Clinton and her immense experience with that of the Senator Mr. Obama lack of sufficient and most probably ineffective leadership style. The skeleton needs flesh and not hopes to find flesh from a dead cow. To sum all this up: People who prefer to dream ought to listen to Senator Obama of his great promise of awakening "change" and find nothing. (Where is the Beef) I hope we have not forgotten that line. But those who prefer Clinton, which is in my opinion the lesser evil, we shall be in safer hands regarding foreign policy and the absolute determination of a famed lawyer and a bureaucrat. It is high time for us to wake up and say we need a president that knows how to walk, how to talk but above all...how to manage...However, let us not remain on the sidelines and wake up after the famed game is over...start clapping for those who stir your brain more than your heart...

Obama gave a trivial answer -- I can't manage paper. When he was pushed about his ???I'm not a COO comment??? he more or less conceded that he sees the Oval Office as simply a pulpit, a place from which to provide inspiration He named Bush as being efficient at changing the direction of government,. The reality check is that you have to be able to manage a large organization -- the government -- or you bungle the results as shown in both Katrina and Iraq.

Martin Luther King was a great man and a great strategist and would have, in my estimation made a better President than anybody running. That said, Martin Luther King himself recognized that the Nation needed to change its laws to force fair behavior rather than wait until the bigoted whites changed their minds. Getting the Civil Rights Laws through Congress in the face of Southern opposition took the knowledge of how the government works in practice and the arm-twisting skills and the toughness of LBJ to get it done. Martin Luther King could have done that part of it well, the question is whether Obama could. In effect, Hillary told Obama that he was no LBJ and he twisted this into disrespect for Martin Luther King thereby playing the race card brilliantly.

Hillary gave an honest answer about her gravest flaw: once she finds a good idea she wants to see it implemented immediately and doesn???t want to slow down long enough to take the time to convince other people that this is the right thing to do. This is her share in the debacle that developed from her health care proposal ??? she had a good idea, it was the right thing to do but she failed to sell it to the rest of the political world that needed to go along. She was also fought tooth and nail by the insurance industry so now, over a decade later, we are coming back to very similar ideas.

Edwards also gave a telling answer although he may not have intended it as such: the driving anger that both compels his campaign and that some people find overwhelming arises from the same compassion for people in trouble that drove his successful career as a trial lawyer.

For those who have an appetite to judge too hastily I would say that experience is far greater than a candidate whose speech moves emotions. The time for thinking in terms of what America stands for. It is said America stood for democracy at home, and later democracy far from home. Now the connection between both is similar to the great divide that separate the former first lady Ms. Hillary Clinton and her immense experience with that of the Senator Mr. Obama lack of sufficient and most probably ineffective leadership style. The skeleton needs flesh and not hopes to find flesh from a dead cow. To sum all this up: People who prefer to dream ought to listen to Senator Obama of his great promise of awakening "change" and find nothing. (Where is the Beef) I hope we have not forgotten that line. But those who prefer Clinton, which is in my opinion the lesser evil, we shall be in safer hands regarding foreign policy and the absolute determination of a famed lawyer and a bureaucrat. It is high time for us to wake up and say we need a president that knows how to walk, how to talk but above all...how to manage...However, let us not remain on the sidelines and wake up after the famed game is over...start clapping for those who stir your brain more than your heart...

Hillary, with '35 years of experience' can't even manage her husband let alone the United States of America.

HIllary is taking credit for things her husband did while president of the United states. Being the wife of a governor or president does not consitute experience.

I Don't see why anybody would have to give any apology to Mr. Obama. If he sayd on his book that he used drog. I don't think that Anybody have to apologyze for saying the truth. I was incline to vote for Mr. Obama or Clinton But now I'm going to vote for the Republican for the first time in my life. I think that Obama is a disgrace and a bad example for our children and I don't like how hilary is talking about the housing meltdown i think that if you lose your house for being irresponsible i don't think that the taxpayer have to carry with the bill.

My wife is a physician.....I am a lawyer. Since I have lived with my wife for over twenty years, I feel that I have enough experience to do a heart transplant on your child. What....you say that doesn't make sense? You say that being married to a doctor doesn't qualify me to BE a doctor? How true. Think about it. This time, we need real change.....and she ain't it. I'll take Obama in a heartbeat, and even Edwards. But Hillary? No thanks.

Hilary and Obama are almost rediculous they are supposed to be running on the same party and they can not seem to get it together for the sake of the party. where this rivalry is good for their campaigns in the long run they are damaging the party by fighting within the party. who needs a party representing us if they cant even get in together within themselves?