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The Dems' Dilemma

February 4, 2008 | 11:02 am

After having heard from scores of Democratic and decline-to-state Democratic voters about their soul-searching quandaries over which bubble to Inka-Vote come Tuesday, I've ginned up a shorthand assessment of their primary dilemma:

They'll hold their noses and vote for Hillary Clinton.

Or they'll cross their fingers and vote for Barack Obama.

la


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Comments
1.

thanks alot

2.

admire Hilary Clinton. As a woman, she has inspired me. She set the example for First Spouses. I was in high school and college when we were blessed with the Clinton Presidency. We have seen what a wonderful young woman Chelsea has grown to be. And Senator Clinton has proven to be a powerhouse in the Senate. And this is the very reason I think she should remain in the Senate.
oyun

3.

Senator Obama has a history of working well with all people. He can sit down at the table with the most Conservative Republican and hammer out legislation. He can work through compromises in the best interest of the American people. He brings no baggage. He brings no sordid history. He is a clean slate

4.

SMACK IS CHEAP for the Tribune paper. Like the Kennedy's, LA Times was way off the pulse of the typical Californians. The best move would have been to stay neutral in the friendly battle of two Liberals, instead they went against their contituents and abided with the wishes of their true owners, billionaire Zell and the zealous Chicago Tribune. I have no qualms in siding with idealist Obama but for this LA paper to act as power broker misrepresenting the rainbow coalition in this melting pot territory, well LA Times and their Chicago Editorial Board failed miserably and that is a cause for celebration for the dismissed Editor and former Publisher.

Viva Los Angelinos and down with LA Times.

5.

You need to read this. Obama does not help people. I contacted him for help for his own citizens.
Why you should vote for Hillary?

Talk is cheap. Can anyone name one thing Obama has done even in IL?

I’m involved in the financial lives of so may Americans (Credit & money Management).

1. While Obama claims he did not vote for Iraq war, did anyone of you think with yourself it was because he was NOT holding ANY PUBIC OFFICE.

2. Not until 2-3 weeks ago, all you would hear Obama say was "CHANGE" nothing else. No concept or facts to back it up. Meanwhile, Hillary was repeatedly talking about the same issues and facts (Healthcare, education, children, etc).

3. FINALLY, when he decided to discuss his plans, he copycats a good portion of it from Hillary’s then he changed some (to include changing Hillary's $5 Billion to his own $10 Bill).

4. How much experience does Obama have to compare with Hillary, McCain, Romney. For god's sake he just took the senate seat a year and half ago.

5. Obama has no respect for the Flag, National Anthem, doesn’t know how to handle an opponent (State of Union). How can he deal with the head of other countries- in opposition to U.S.

6. As a consumer advocate, I call Attorney Generals, congress and Senator’s offices around the country to help senior Citizens. Guess what. I called Obama's office TWICE to get help for IL seniors and also help with Lisa Madigan (IL-AG) office; his office never even returned my calls. I’m in GA, wanted to help his citizens and he wouldn’t even lift a finger to call.

7. Hillary has been a successful senator for 7 years, 8 years very active First Lady, Years ARK First Lady and has done a lot for women. Obama, 3 years Senator (That's IT!!??).

8. Clinton years economy was great and even in AR, what changes did Obama make to even benefit IL?

9. Obama hasn’t said anything about Healthcare, Our Children’s health or education while Hillary has been on the subject the entire time.

10. I listen to NH and SC debate, it seems Obama needs Edwards to complete his sentences, plus haven’t heard any plan’s Obama's has, beside “change.”

I can go on for ever. However, I hope I did educate some of you who blindly follow any **FOOL** just because he says we need **change.""

Show me which candidate has experience, done more for you- your family and friends, and for women around the U.S. ---besides Hillary?

Among all candidates, **Obama is the least experience one** on the other hand Hillary has years fro AR to D.C.

This presidency must be won by the most qualified candidate, not **“race” or “false promises”.**

Unless proven otherwise, my family and friends votes are going to benefit millions.

**Hillary Clinton is the next President.**

6.

Why you should vote for Hillary?

Talk is cheap. Can anyone name one thing Obama has done even in IL?

I’m involved in the financial lives of so may Americans (Credit & money Management).

1. While Obama claims he did not vote for Iraq war, did anyone of you think with yourself it was because he was NOT holding ANY PUBIC OFFICE.

2. Not until 2-3 weeks ago, all you would hear Obama say was "CHANGE" nothing else. No concept or facts to back it up. Meanwhile, Hillary was repeatedly talking about the same issues and facts (Healthcare, education, children, etc).

3. FINALLY, when he decided to discuss his plans, he copycats a good portion of it from Hillary’s then he changed some (to include changing Hillary's $5 Billion to his own $10 Bill).

4. How much experience does Obama have to compare with Hillary, McCain, Romney. For god's sake he just took the senate seat a year and half ago.

5. Obama has no respect for the Flag, National Anthem, doesn’t know how to handle an opponent (State of Union). How can he deal with the head of other countries- in opposition to U.S.

6. As a consumer advocate, I call Attorney Generals, congress and Senator’s offices around the country to help senior Citizens. Guess what. I called Obama's office TWICE to get help for IL seniors and also help with Lisa Madigan (IL-AG) office; his office never even returned my calls. I’m in GA, wanted to help his citizens and he wouldn’t even lift a finger to call.

7. Hillary has been a successful senator for 7 years, 8 years very active First Lady, Years ARK First Lady and has done a lot for women. Obama, 3 years Senator (That's IT!!??).

8. Clinton years economy was great and even in AR, what changes did Obama make to even benefit IL?

9. Obama hasn’t said anything about Healthcare, Our Children’s health or education while Hillary has been on the subject the entire time.

10. I listen to NH and SC debate, it seems Obama needs Edwards to complete his sentences, plus haven’t heard any plan’s Obama's has, beside “change.”

I can go on for ever. However, I hope I did educate some of you who blindly follow any **FOOL** just because he says we need **change.""

Show me which candidate has experience, done more for you- your family and friends, and for women around the U.S. ---besides Hillary?

Among all candidates, **Obama is the least experience one** on the other hand Hillary has years fro AR to D.C.

This presidency must be won by the most qualified candidate, not **“race” or “false promises”.**

Unless proven otherwise, my family and friends votes are going to benefit millions.

**Hillary Clinton is the next President.**

7.

Senator Obama has a history of working well with all people. He can sit down at the table with the most Conservative Republican and hammer out legislation. He can work through compromises in the best interest of the American people. He brings no baggage. He brings no sordid history. He is a clean slate.

ilan
Firma
Oyun

8.

Is Obama by any other name, Perot?
The new kid on the block? The new sensation.
A clean slate to project on my future? Damn I feeling hip.
Wait, I got caught up. Swept up. The media got me
all worked up.
Anna Nicole and now this one.
O BA MA. Like a tune.
I don't want reality I want something fresh, something new. Distract me, please.
Something to make me feel young.,,hip.
What say LA Times?
O BA MA.
The one to beat McCain?
Not really. But is that the point?
Sorry, I am now sober and an adult. And I must do what is right for this country.
I VOTE HILARY CLINTON!
Oh, the sadness of a dying LA Times. This thing of the past attenpting to bridge to an imaginary future in obama land cha cha cha!

9.

SW:

I agree with almost everything you say except one minor thing. Barack did not vote to authorize the war and he did not vote against it either because he was not in the Senate at that point. I find it interesting that he keeps making it appear that this actually means something. All this fuss about Hillary not admitting it was a mistake. If she had voted against it, the media would say that proves she was soft and not a leader (read male). If she apologized they would call her a flip flopper. There's an obvious double standard here.

10.

I am so pleased and proud to read the endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States of America.

I write the United States because that is exactly how Senator Obama views us all. We are all in this together, and united we must be. He understands that there is a desperate need for fundamental change in this country. We cannot continue with the same old party bickering and two family rule . For many voters in this country, we have always been under the White House of a Bush or a Clinton. While these families have given us much (that may vary depending upon you view,) there is also much needed to be done. We, as a nation, have come to a standstill. We aren’t progressing forward. The broken isn’t getting fixed.

I admire Hilary Clinton. As a woman, she has inspired me. She set the example for First Spouses. I was in high school and college when we were blessed with the Clinton Presidency. We have seen what a wonderful young woman Chelsea has grown to be. And Senator Clinton has proven to be a powerhouse in the Senate. And this is the very reason I think she should remain in the Senate.

My vote for Senator Obama isn’t a vote against Senator Clinton. In fact, I view it as just the opposite. I truly looked hard at the two candidates. I didn’t see a woman or a Black man. I saw two candidates who are strong, qualified and fighters for the American people. In the Senate, Senator Clinton is able to push through legislation and fight hard. She has the weight of the Clinton name, the strength of President Bill Clinton and the know how to see results. What she doesn’t have, however, is what those of us supporting Obama’s Presidential nomination feel is needed in the White House.

This is a country divided. Although not as divided as our politicians may want us to believe, we are divided. I have seen the division happen in my own family. The Republicans and Democrats in the family have had some hard words expressed that time is slowly healing. I have felt for the past seven years that I did not have a President. There was indeed someone in the White House, but it was clear that he had no interest in being my president. I have been cast as unpatriotic, a traitor and treasonous for daring the question the authority of the White House. This is the current state of our union.

The nation needs a healer. We need someone who can come in and acknowledge the pain caused the past seven years and begin to see this country as one again. I do not doubt for one minute that Senator Clinton understands this and is perfectly capable of beginning the process. However, I do not believe that she would be allowed to see the process through.

While many Democrats are nostalgic for the 1990’s (I admit, I did love President Bill Clinton,) I cannot forget all the ugliness that went with the Clinton White House. Although false, there was scandal and scandal. The Republicans in office at the time and many in office today will just not let the Clinton’s alone. They are the Number One recruiting tool for the right wing. The Clinton’s energize the right wing to come to the polls… and not to vote for Democrats. I truly fear losing Congress under s Hilary Clinton White House. That is a very real probability. I see Congress shutting down and stalling every piece of legislation and program created with Hilary Clinton as President. And I do not believe for one second that the Republican Party will let bygones be bygones. This country simply can not take any more. We are collapsing from the inside out. Our infrastructure, our health, our education, our reputation… our very lives and the lives of our future generations are literally balancing on the sharp edge of a knife.

Senator Obama has a history of working well with all people. He can sit down at the table with the most Conservative Republican and hammer out legislation. He can work through compromises in the best interest of the American people. He brings no baggage. He brings no sordid history. He is a clean slate.

He is all those things. And he is more. He is brilliant. This is a man who chose to return to the very streets in which he was raised to help his community. This is where he went after law school. He didn’t sit in the huge corporate firms and in the board room of the corporations who are controlling our culture and sending our jobs overseas and making a profit from war. He served the people. He has always served the people. He is truly a man of the people.

His stance against the Iraq war was from the beginning. He made his opposition known during a time when he was the most vulnerable- when he was running in the Illinois Primary- one that he wasn’t suppose to win. He ran against a family who had been part of the Democratic Party system for years. They had more name recognition, more money and were more entrenched in the State Party. He was called too young, too inexperienced, too white, too black. He has heard it all (and it sounds so familiar to what we’re hearing now from an entrenched family in the Democratic Party.) He voiced his opposition to the Iraq war during that election and he won. He won upstate Illinois. He won downstate Illinois. He won the “red” areas and he won the “blue” areas.

He brings to the White House a powerhouse of a wife in Michelle Obama. She is brilliant. Listen to her speak sometime and you will hear the story of a woman who isn’t suppose to be where she is today. Listen to Michelle Obama tell her story and she’ll tell you, she is breaking all the expectations that were placed on here. She is from a blue-collar family of Chicago’s South Side. Her disabled father worked hard and sent two girls from the local public school to Princeton. She then went to Harvard. A girl from Chicago’s South Side isn’t suppose to go to Harvard Law School. But she went. She’ll tell you, she wasn’t suppose to do any of those things. And yet, she did. She knows what it is like to struggle and fight against the glass ceiling of low expectations. And she’ll tell you that those low expectations is what is killing our country. She gets it. She understands and moves me to tears when I hear her speak. This is a woman who will bring a life into the White House we haven’t ever seen.

The life, the vitality and the inspiration that Senator Barack Obama has brought to so many shows that this is the man of the people. He is moving the young people. He is moving those in the prime of their life. He is moving those who have never felt moved before. There was another man of the people who inspired many. And today, his family is standing beside Senator Barak Obama. Caroline Kennedy has stepped forward for the first time ever in a Primary and endorsed the candidate who inspired people as her father inspired people. Senator Ted Kennedy is standing beside Senator Barack Obama. He has endorsements from the most famous to the grassroots swell I see every day.

I proudly stand beside Senator Barack Obama. I do this for my country. For my family. For my neighbors. For my Democratic friends and for my Republican friends. I do this for the children I don’t even have yet. I stand beside Senator Barack Obama proudly and call him my next President of these United States.

11.

SENT TO THE LA TIMES FEBRUARY 3RD I am dismayed to find that the LA Times has decided to endorse Barak Obama. However it should not be a surprise—it is part of an old, familiar pattern of how women are treated. A capable, talented, woman gains experience and credentials only to find that a young hot –shot male comes a long and gets the job, the promotion, the appointment, the endorsement, the nomination….(Fill the blank—it happens over and over). And here is the LA Time admitting that on most issues the two candidates “are a hairsbreadth apart” and then endorsing Obama. A women has to be more than twice as experienced in order to be credible.

I agree that Hillary Clinton’s vote to authorize Bush to use force in Iraq IF NEEDED was a very unfortunate decision on her part. However, based on the information provided by the administration—and based on the more thoughtful approach to foreign affairs taken by George Bush the first--there was some reason to believe that force would ONLY be used as a last resort. After all, no one in Congress knew George W. very well at that time, and few believed he would abuse their trust.

I think it is laudable Barak Obama had the conviction and foresight to oppose this tragic and costly war from the beginning. However, this is only one issue among many and should not be allowed to stand alone. Furthermore, if Obama had been a true leader, he would have inspired scores of followers rather than being part of a very small minority of congress who stood up against the fear mongering that has characterized the Bush administration.

I also feel very uneasy about Obama’s repeated insistence on being RIGHT from day one. This has a chilling and familiar ring—since the current president has throughout his term been obsessively sure that he is RIGHT. No matter what the facts show or what seasoned advisors recommend, Bush goes ahead with what he deems RIGHT ignoring all other options or opinions.

I certainly do not believe that Obama would fall into this simple minded insistence on being right about everything—he is much too intelligent. However, I do find it ironic that Obama, the candidate who claims to have the copyright on change, so frequently brings up his Iraq vote made five years ago. Hillary Clinton’s more reasoned response is to go beyond the past with all its terrible consequences and find the best possible solution to bringing troops home and moving the country forward.

Finally, the myth that Hillary would somehow be more divisive than Obama has absolutely no truth to it. As senator she has not only reached across the aisle to work with Republicans, she has closely co-operated with many who were ringleaders in the effort to impeach her husband.

Hillary Clinton is a woman who can bring leadership, dynamism, and healing so badly needed in this country. She has shown courage as well as perseverance, and has proven her character by her compassion and her ability to forgive and move forward. She is one of the most remarkable leaders of her generation and deserves to be president.

Obama also has great leadership potential and strong moral conviction. He also deserves to be president--in 2016.
Mary Niles Maack

12.

If they cross their fingers they get Bush again. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts like Obama. A hollow horse.



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