Throw some elbows, Johnny

by Lisa in Ohio

(from The Campaign To Change America)

Is it okay to hate Obama?

I'm a nice person most of the time. A church-going, happily married, mother-of-two college professor ... I've been a feminist since the age of four when I watched Gloria Steinem debate Phyllis Schlfafly on the Phil Donahue Show (honest.) I did my PhD. work in African-American and Native American literature. (I'm white, if it matters.) I can't think of a single person in the world whom I actively dislike. Usually.

So not only is it surprising, according to my friends, that I so strongly support the white guy in the race, but now after the caucus results and one too many beers I am succumbing to a growing hatred, building inside me for the past week, toward Barack Obama, who is by most reports a very nice (though seriously flawed) man. He is the obstacle between our nation and the leader it needs!

For four years I have believed that John Edwards would become the next president. He should have been the nominee last time and now, good God, he is SUCH a better candidate than he was four years ago. The man has so much substance. His policies are amazing. He is the anti-Bush ... and only 30% of us are seeing it? (Ten percent, nationally.)

If Obama had stayed the hell out of this race, JRE would have mopped the floor with Clinton tonight.
My heart breaks for John, even moreso for Elizabeth, who needs positive news and happiness so she can stave off her illness until a cure is discovered. Also for our country ... If Democrats reject the most true-blue, progressive candidate we have seen in 40 YEARS what are we good for? With Obama, our November choice will be between Republican and Republican-lite.

John Edwards is a classy guy. The irony is that the Philadelphia debate, which was supposed to be Obama's coming out party in terms of taking on Clinton since he'd run such a lackluster campaign, was the spark Obama needed ... not because he did anything but because JRE chinked away so effectively at Clinton's armor of inevitability. Only to be called "angry" by the pundits (whom I REALLY hate)
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So, John Edwards, it's time to go after BO. The next debate will be smaller. Call Obama on his hypocrisy for attacking your 527 when he has his own, for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from the HMO's, for the weaknesses of his healthcare plan, for STEALING your ideas. If the media isn't going to vet this guy, you're going to have to do it.

And talk about your policies. People know your anti-corporate message, so give us the details of how you will fight.

With more than 60 seconds to speak you'll be able to explain your superior energy and healthcare plans, your response to the Bhutto assassination, your College for Everyone idea. And we'll all pray that enough voters in NH are smart enough to see the difference between substance and style.