She’s starting to tank in the polls. Gallup has her down 9 points and Rasmussen has her down 10 points. The polls are tightening in Pennsylvania, and slowly the superdelegates continue to break for Obama.
It’s only a matter of time. Obama will be the nominee by June.
Also, McCain has not been able to build on his earlier lead when Obama was dealing with the Wright issue. The polls are now basically even, which means McCain is in trouble as well.
Can a conservative former congressman who helped impeach President Clinton, is a board member of the National Rifle Association and has done contract work with the ACLU dent Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid?
That’s exactly what Mr. McCain would face if Bob Barr, the former Republican who joined the Libertarian Party two years ago, wins his adopted party’s presidential nomination.
Barr is one of many Republicans who are fed up with today’s Republican Party that has embraced the religious right and has abandoned the principles of small government and freedom. The Ron Paul candidacy showed that there is real support for traditional libertarian positions, and Barr could present a protest votes for conservatives who are fed up with the GOP.
It’s statements like this that explain I always liked Mike Huckabee and why he was able to generate so much support. I don’t agree with many of his policies, but the man is a true Christian. He has empathy for other people and tries to understand their plight. He also understands that we’re all human and we make mistakes.
And one other thing I think we’ve gotta remember. As easy as it is for those of us who are white, to look back and say “That’s a terrible statement!”…I grew up in a very segregated south. And I think that you have to cut some slack — and I’m gonna be probably the only Conservative in America who’s gonna say something like this, but I’m just tellin’ you — we’ve gotta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told “you have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie. You have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant. And you can’t sit out there with everyone else. There’s a separate waiting room in the doctor’s office. Here’s where you sit on the bus…” And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment. And you have to just say, I probably would too. I probably would too. In fact, I may have had more of a chip on my shoulder had it been me.
Reverend Wright said some very stupid things. They should be condemned and Barack Obama condemned them. But, it’s clear this man is very angry about the injustices that blacks have endured in this country. This does not justify his statements, and as Obama explained, this anger can cloud one’s judgement. Wright could not see the progress we have made.
That said, it was incredibly gracious for Huckabee to show some compassion and understanding, and to not kick Wright while he’s down. Here’s the video.
Over the past several days, John McCain has twice repeated a ridiculous statement about al Qaeda in Iraq, saying that Iran (a Shiite nation) was training al Qaeda terrorists (who are Sunnis). This is almost as ridiculous as his recent statements that al Qaeda would take over Iraq if we left, as if the majority Shiites would ever let that happen.
Now we know what we’ll hear from those like John McCain who support open-ended war. They will argue that leaving Iraq is surrender. That we are emboldening the enemy. These are the mistaken and misleading arguments we hear from those who have failed to demonstrate how the war in Iraq has made us safer. Just yesterday, we heard Senator McCain confuse Sunni and Shiite, Iran and al Qaeda. Maybe that is why he voted to go to war with a country that had no al Qaeda ties. Maybe that is why he completely fails to understand that the war in Iraq has done more to embolden America’s enemies than any strategic choice that we have made in decades.
With many prominent conservatives in open revolt over his likely nomination, John McCain needs Hillary Clinton to get the Democratic nomination to win back conservative voters. Howard Fineman just made this point on MSNBC, even mentioning that McCain staffers have acknowledged this to him.
Many of us have been saything this for months. Hillary Clinton is the only person that can unite a Republican Party that is breaking apart.
Another Republican endorses Barack Obama in an eloquent op-ed peice in the Washington Post.
I am not alone in worrying that my generation will fail to do what my grandfather’s did so well: Leave America a better, stronger place than the one it found.
Given the magnitude of these issues and the cost of addressing them, our next president must be able to bring about a sense of national unity and change. As we no longer have the financial resources to address all these problems comprehensively and simultaneously, setting priorities will be essential. With hard work, much can be done.
The biggest barrier to rolling up our sleeves and preparing for a better future is our own apathy, fear or immobility. We have been living in a zero-sum political environment where all heads have been lowered to avert being lopped off by angry, noisy extremists. I am convinced that Barack Obama is the one presidential candidate today who can encourage ordinary Americans to stand straight again; he is a man who can salve our national wounds and both inspire and pursue genuine bipartisan cooperation. Just as important, Obama can assure the world and Americans that this great nation’s impulses are still free, open, fair and broad-minded.
No measures to avert the serious, looming consequences can be taken without this sense of renewal. Uncommon political courage will be required. Yet this courage can be summoned only if something profoundly different transpires. Putting America first — ahead of our own selfish interests — must be our national priority if we are to retain our capacity to lead.
