Clinton's Maddening Math Problem

Hillary Clinton indeed faces a maddening math problem, she may have managed to poke a few holes in the armour of fellow candidate Barack Obama and drive his favorability numbers down somewhat, but at the same time by injecting the race issue and other divisive issues such as questioning the patriotism of Obama into the nomination battle, has only managed to virtually ruin her own path to the White House should lightning strike and she somehow wrests the nomination away from Obama.

Historically, the Clintons have always had a very good reputation in the African American community on the race issue, however a late Rasmussen Poll now gives Clinton a mere 55% of African Americans who would even be willing to vote for her against John McCain. This is a complete disaster for any Democrat, who need to count on 80%+ support to have any chance of winning an election against a Republican candidate. And while Clinton's numbers have improved somewhat among Democratic voters as whole, it has only represented pretty much a small shift of some white voters towards Clinton away from Obama. And even worse, as a whole among all voters, Clinton now gets a dismal 55%-42% unfavorable rating in the latest Rasmussen Poll out just today, which are unelectable numbers. John McCain has benefitted from all of this Democratic Party discord, and not only leads both Clinton and Obama in possible November matchups, but gets a much stronger 55%-42% favorable rating, which are certainly crushing numbers in any possible matchup with Clinton. Further normally reliable Democratic leaning states like Minnesota could even fall to McCain in November, leaving Clinton with the prospect of a crushing loss similiar to the Reagan electoral landslide of 1980.

But with not only this maddening math for November, Clinton's problems with even capturing the nomination are a whole other problem for her. With 922 delegates still to be chosen, Clinton still lags behind Obama at 1,485 estimated delegates, which is far short of 2,024 needed by 539 delegates. Obama still stands far closer to the nomination at 1,622 delegates, just 402 short to capture the nomination, and more wins of states and a popular vote lead in the 700,000 voter range over Clinton.

In all reality, Clinton's continued efforts to capture the nomination have not really moved her that much closer to the nomination rather than merely hurt both the likely nominee, Barack Obama, and have sharply reduced the Democratic Party chances to retake the White House. The Clinton Campaign really needed to have some sort of a campaign strategy after Super Tuesday, but did not, and only allowed Obama to win 11 straight contests. Further her campaign continues to lag far behind Obama in fundraising as well. In all reality, Clinton has probably only managed to take a lost cause campaign that she fairly lost weeks ago, and fail to face reality to quit the race, and instead only managed to damage the most likely candidate, Barack Obama, and her party, rather than really move herself any closer to the nomination. That's not accomplishing very much.

Bush Administration And Toy Industry Work Together To Keep Toxic Toys In American Stores

The Bush Administration has actively worked along with lobbyists and toy industry retailer organizations to keep higher levels of toxic substances in toys sold in the United States than in the EU, and the Bush Administration has even worked with toy industry lobbyists to unsuccessfully pressure the EU to reduce safety standards for toys sold there as well. Bush Administration, appointee as Acting Chairman Of U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Nancy Nord, has also limited the number of federal toy safety inspectors to just one, and she has even accepted some expensive travel paid for by the toy industry.

Nord was the former head federal public relations executive at Eastman Kodak Company, a company that has been blamed for dioxin and other releases into water supplies before. In New York state, Kodak is the number one corporate polluter in the state having released more than 4.4 million tons of chemicals in the water or air. Environmentalists rate Eastman Kodak as the fifth worst corporate polluter in the entire United States. Nord's role was to give a good public image to all of this and attempt to stave off any problems with federal regulators.

Because the Bush Administration's appointee as CPSC head, Nord, has so limited the number of federal toy safety inspectors, many states or independent labs have been forced to do the federal government's work to protect children from toys containing high levels of toxic chemicals that could potentially endanger children. However, in one recent case after an independent lab found elevated levels of lead, chromium and cadmium in some of the toys sold at Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart threatened a lawsuit to quiet down the independent lab's results and attempt to stop any potential state regulation of some toys sold in some of their stores. Right now 11 states have some form of efforts to offer stronger consumer safety protection or proposals for new legislation that are stronger than the weaker consumer protection standards offered under the Bush Administration.

It is certainly a conflict of interest when the acting head of consumer protection in the U.S., Nancy Nord works along with lobbyists or organizations run by the toy industry to keep less safe toys on American store shelves in the U.S. than in Europe. In fact, it is something of a toy industry secret that many major American toy manufacturers who have manufacturing plants set up in China, have two seperate toy lines that they produce the same products. One production line produces more safe versions of a toy to be sold in the EU, while another manufacturing line in the same plants also produces a less safe version of the same toy to be sold in the United States.

Some toy importers have even sometimes replaced more expensive nontoxic chemicals found in glue such as 1,5 pentanedial which costs around $9,700 per metric ton with a much cheaper toxic chemical, 1,4 butanedial which only costs about $1,350 per metric ton. The problem with substituting the toxic chemical for the nontoxic one is only that it can result in coma and death for a child if ingested. And elevated levels of lead can cause reproductive damage and other serious injuries to children as well. Nord has been very slow to act on many consumer complaint's of lead problems in some toys, keeping many potentially unsafe toys on American store shelves.

It is sort of ironic that Mr. Bush who is also the first MBA to become president, whose main political philosophy is build on opposition to more government regulation as a way to allow business more economic freedom and to soar with profits in the U.S. is also leading this nation into a serious recession and other economic problems such as a falling currency value while the EU with much stricter safety regulations on industry is now the world's largest economy with a currency far stronger than the U.S. dollar right now. Apparently the Bush Administration efforts to allow the toy industry more profits and freedom to sometimes kill and main American children have done little to strengthen the American economy. Mr. Bush has delegated the dirty work to weaken consumer safety by appointing former executives who represent some of the worst corporate polluters such as Nord to head major agencies under his watch.

My own personal experience with the main federal consumer agency has not been very good either with the Bush Administration. Several years ago, I purchased a digital camera which had a terrific unexpected battery explosion after some strange problem suddenly developed with the battery. It caused a small fire in the house and burned my hands and clothes. I first complained to the manufacturer than I was injured by their product, but the company at first told me to shut or they'd sue me. Then after I called again, the company president spoke to me only after I promised legal action with the state attorney general, but wanted me to surrender them the camera, which was the only evidence I had to present to the federal government for possible safety testing. Under Bush, the CPSC agency took months to act, and only sent out a letter to me as a receipt of my submitted safety complaint and never sought to test or remove these dangerous and defective digital cameras from the market. I never received any compensation for the fire damage to my home or clothes, or any payment for my burns from the digital camera producer as well. Thousands more consumers were allowed to purchase the same camera with no effort by the Bush Administration's consumer agency to be sure that a serious safety defect that could cause battery explosion and fire did not exist in many more copies of these same cameras.

Based on my own personal experience, the Bush Administration simply doesn't consider a product that suddenly and unexpectedly explodes and causes fire and burns as serious enough to take some action. This is the same administration that is supposed to safeguard your children?

The Iraq War & The Collapse Of Empire America

In 1991, the old Soviet Union collapsed after overextending it's military in the Afghanistan quagmire, rampant military spending coming at the expense of social spending, and serious inflation that had destroyed the average Russian consumer's buying power. Today, under the leadership of the Bush Administration all signs are that the United States may well be on the way to joining the same scrap heap of history, and is well on the road to the eventual collapse as a major world empire.

Like the illfated Soviet war in Afghanistan, the United States military and it's NATO allies seem to be unable to defeat a resurgent weak enemy comprised of poorly equiped and trained Muslim fighters. The United States military was built around an expensive high tech effort to defeat potential opponents with expensive technology and has no real answer on how to fight and win low tech wars with weak opponents. Weapons systems costing tens of billions to develop are a useless defense against an opponent that straps on a suicide vest and walks into a crowded Iraqi market.

When Bush was elected president in November 2000, oil was a mere $28 a barrel, but has now soared to around $110 a barrel since the failed 2003 war for oil in Iraq, which Bush still stubbornly defends as a "noble" effort. For a few months, sending even more troops into this major foreign policy mistake reduced the violence somewhat, however since February both the violence against Iraqi civilians and American troops is on the rise again as the weak Al Qaeda terrorist organization and secular Shiite and Sunni fighters find new ways to adapt their warfare to any new security measures.

And the huge increase in oil has only helped to destroy many American consumer's buying power, forcing them into home heating bills costing hundreds of dollars each month, higher fuel costs approaching $4 a gallon and massive inflation of food and other essential products as the economy collapses into recession and rampant inflation eats away consumer buying power both at the same time.

As the Bush Administration struggles to pay for the massive costs of two failing wars as well as the continued huge expenses of preparing new high tech weapons, although every war since the 1950's Korean War has been largely a low tech warfare situation, former foes such as China, with now powerful banks help to bail out the American government from all the budget problems it has brought on itself by overextending it's military in long drawn-out low tech wars with small bands of terrorist fighters. Weak bands of low-tech terrorist warriors have brought America to it's knees, which certainly seems almost like a Biblical parable about the weak humiliating the once powerful.

Archaeologists always look for pottery and other goods that a civilization once produced as a sign of it's strengths and social advancements. Today, with the loss of so many manufacturing jobs to China or other labor cheap nations, the United States is no longer even considered to be a manufacturing based economy, but a service based economy, much like a giant Wal-Mart store that merely sells the goods manufactered in China almost like some cheap sovenir stand or something. Any pottery sold in the U.S. is most likely now produced in China or elsewhere these days, setting aside the United States alone as a sign of industrial and civilizational weakness like world history has never before witnessed.

And like the once powerful Roman Empire that only fell into collapse, there is real increased lack of political civility, ethics and personal moral values where even the airwaves have become polluted by angry and rude talkshows that often espouse reactionary right wing nonsense rather than offer an intelligent and civil discourse on finding the best and most workable solutions to complex problems. The Rush Limbaughs and Ann Coulters have replaced the scholars and the experts, where their rudeness and arrogance becomes more respected by legions of loyal followers than any real sense of knowledge or sense of truth.

By any defintion, the Bush years have brought such great damage to the United States that if a foreign power would have done the same thing it would no doubt be considered an act of war, yet the old and bumbling John McCain, who cannot always get his facts straight, little doubt due to advanced age, is the most likely to be elected president to continue the ruination of the United States. Whatever George Bush hasn't trashed or ruined in the United States, the old John McCain can continue to ruin with a continuation of the same old policies that haven't worked so far. Just Monday, McCain first claimed that the Sunni terrorist organization, Al Qaeda was receiving training and support in Shiite Iran. McCain's handlers urged him to retract this nonsense later in the day.... It's 3AM, and an old bumbling John McCain has his finger on the nuclear trigger.

By any real objective and measurable evaluation, the United States is on the wrong path on so many fronts and is fast becoming a declining world power in a vast number of areas including a declining currency, loss of manufacturing, overblown military budgets unable to supply an answer to low-tech wars, huge budget deficits, and citizens living on credit cards, losing their homes and unable to afford decent health care, and rising oil inflation of heating oil, gas and basic items such as food. Nero himself could not have done much worse. Mr. Bush and his party have had the keys to the kingdom for the last eight years and have only managed to squander away the empire.

All Three Candidates Have Their Political Liability Supporters

While Senator Barack Obama is the latest of the remaining three standing contenders to have to apologize for one of his supporters, both Hillary Clinton and John McCain have also attracted their share of supporters who may be a bigger liability than a help.

The Clinton campaign had to cut ties with former New York Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro acting as an advisor after a goofy racial comment about the sucess of Barack Obama and his race. For some reason, the Clinton campaign forget what a drag Ferraro once had become for the doomed 1984 campaign of Walter Mondale as her tax problems emerged as an issue during the campaign. Not only did Ferraro help to doom any chances for Mondale, but her problems seemed to cast enough of a spotlight on her family and probably led to legal problems for both her husband and son as well.

And the McCain campaign is not immune either. In an attempt to appeal to the political right, McCain has drawn in controversial Televangelists such as Rev. John Hagee of Corberstone Church of San Antonio and Rod Parsley of Ohio. Hagee remains a controversial figure not only for his extreme sermons, often peppered with attacks on Homosexuals,Catholics and Islam, but also his extremely high salary compared to nearly all televangelists. Hagee also appears to nearly lobby for an attack on Iran by the U.S. military in some of his programs as well. And although Hagee tries to appeal to the "family values" crowd, he is on his second marriage since his first ended with claims of "infidelity" in the divorce papers, and Hagee was defrocked by the Assemblies Of God, leading him to set up his nondenominational Cornerstone Church.

Unlike the Democratic candidates, who are both on their first marriages, McCain is also on his second marriage like Hagee, but likely the "family values" issue will be used by the Republicans again this year, even if this is simply hypocrisy. Ironically, Senator Obama may be the most damaged by the sermons of his former pastor at this time, however both Clinton and McCain have attracted their share of supporters who are a political liability as well.

Senator Obama Now Just 414 Delegates Short Of Victory

Senator Barack Obama is now just 414 delegates shy of the magic number of 2,025 delegates required to win the Democratic nomination at 1,611 estimated delegates, and is still the odds on favorite to capture the nomination. In the latest daily Rasmussen Poll he also holds a seven point lead among voters for the Democratic nomination over Clinton. Clinton is farther back with 1,480 estimated delegates and would need to capture 545 delegates to win the nomination. Although she is favored in the upcoming Pennsylvania contest, Clinton is still likely to lose in a number of upcoming contests such as Oregon and other states, which makes her quest virtually a mathematical impossibility to capture the nomination.

Clinton may have attempted to put a lot of "spin" on her popular vote wins in both Ohio and Texas, however both states fell far short of any broad delegate gains for Clinton. In Ohio she captured just 76 delegates compared to 69 for Obama, which is hardly any broad win. And in Texas, although she narrowly won the popular vote, her loss in the caucus actually gave her less total delegates than Obama. Clinton left Texas with 106 delegates compared to Obama's 109.

Senator Barack Obama is still in the driver's seat for the Democratic nomination with Clinton virtually too far behind to catch up unless some really big political earthquake should suddenly happen. If she loses or barely comes out ahead in delegates from Pennsyvania then her mission would be even more difficult. In fact, for the entire total of delegates awarded from the "miniSuper Tueday" contests of Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island, Clinton came out ahead by a mere 6 delegates, 208 to 202 for Obama, which is far short of any real big win needed.

Clinton may attempt to appear as a candidate on equal footing comparable to Obama. But the delegate total picture tells a whole different story. And some of the absurd racial nonsense coming from the Clinton campaign the last few days is most likely a sign of the frustration of some members of her campaign who realize the very difficult and most likely hopeless battle that she's involved in. Even if she manages a big win in Pennsylvania, it is still highly unlikely that she will capture the Democratic nomination. Clinton's back is certainly up against the wall right now. The delegate total math makes that most clear.

Iraq Mess Getting Worse Again

So far this week, 12 American soldiers have been killed in a new wave of renewed post-"Surge" violence in Iraq, as Al Qaeda and other extremist elements have found new cracks in the tightened security situation. And unfortunately all of this is only about to be as expected. In Iraq terrorist and radical Shiite and Sunni militia elements have always eventually found new ways to adapt to any new military tactics by the Americans or Iraqi security forces, and find new ways to attack with suicide bombings or other types of violence.

John McCain may have staked the entire future of his presidential ambitions on the platform that the "Surge" is working. But the history of the war since 2003 has always been that the radical elements in Iraq would always find some new way to eventually undermine any new security arrangements and continue the cycle of deadly violence. Nothing is easily solved in the MidEast ever.

Last month American deaths hit a low point of just 29. But with the renewed violence in Iraq this month as well as the 33% upswing in Iraqi civilian deaths in February, it is plain to see that any new security arrangements since the "Surge" have been compromised as the radicals have found new ways around this security to launch their deadly attacks and to plummet Iraq back into a terrible cycle of nearly uncontrolled violence once again. Further proof of the worsening cycle of violence comes from radicals sending the fingers of American hostages as proof of their crimes and the murders of more tribal leaders who oppose Al Qaeda in Sunni territory.

All of this renewed violence has yet to really catch up with the MSM. But especially the renewed violence against Americans will no doubt make Iraq a main front page and leading news story once again very soon, and will certainly put pressure on John Mccain and other "Surge" supporters who were once again all too quick to want to declare "victory" once again in Iraq.

Just like Afghanistan, where the Taliban and Al Qaeda elements have renewed their cycle of violence there over the last few months, Iraq is beginning to follow the same deadly path where no military solution seems to completely solve the violence problem before the situation seems to worsen again as the radicals always seem to find some new holes in any new security arrangements. Iraq is certainly going to be a major story in the news along with the economy at this rate by the November election and only remind the voters of the bitter Bush legacy and question whether they want to elect John McCain to continue the status quo.

America's Dangerous New Proxy War In South America

These days Washington views everything through a prism of terrorism it seems. And Washington's views on the latest and most dangerous new military tensions between Colombia, Equador and Venezuela certainly reflect this view from Washington that every conflict can be resolved by bombing away opposition movements.

In South America on March 1, Colombia launched a successful military attack within Equadorian territory to attack a guerrilla camp and kill the international spokesman, Paul Reyes, of the leftist Marxist organization, FARC, which has created serious tensions between neighboring Venezuela as well angering Equador. Certainly FARC is far from a saintly organization by any means, which has financed itself through kidnappings, drug dealing and even Human Rights Watch has condemned the sexual abuse of young girls involved in this guerilla movement by some leaders of the organization who have misused their power. As much as 30% of the 15,000 estimated fighters involved with this guerrilla organization may be under 18 years of age. Children over the age of 11 are considered to be of age to become fighters in this organization with many child soldiers. Many in Colombia are drawn to this organization as a way out of poverty rather than really drawn to the Marxist revolutionary philosophy.

It is an easy mistake for Washington to want to compare FARC to a terrorist organization such as Al Qaeda. However the cycle of poverty in Colombia as well as the lure of easy drug money seem to draw many young followers to this military outgrowth of the Columbian Communist Party. However the attack to kill the international spokesman of the organization, Paul Reyes, has ended any good efforts for the government of Colombia to work out some cease-fire or peace settlement terms with this organization. Reyes has met with the NYSE head Paul Grasso, and members of the Clinton State Department before in some attempts to bring this organization to peaceful terms.

Washington has a strong military client state stake in Colombia, providing $600 million each year in military aid to the government. Yet this government in Columbia must really resolve the serious issues of extreme poverty that influence so many to join an organization such as FARC or involvement in the drug trade. Simply bombing away opposition groups such as FARC or killing the leadership who are at least willing to take part in some peace talks is really no solution.

Colombia is unfortunately a major supplier of illegal drugs to the U.S. And it certainly serves the interests of the U.S. to put a stop to this terrible epidemic. However, a proxy war by Wahington against an organization such as FARC really does little to raise up the economy of Colombia and replace the dangerous drug trade and poverty with viable new economic opportunities. The terrible poverty in Colombia and the related problems associated with it really require a far more intelligent answer than simply attempting to bomb away poverty.

On so many levels FARC is hardly any good organization by any measurable means, however it represents the social and political frustrations of many in Colombia. Any organization that takes hostages for ransom money to finance itself or deals in drugs to finance operations cannot be admired on any level. Even many leftist leaders in Columbia are completely disgusted with FARC taking hostages for ransom. But FARC continues to represent the serious social problems within Colombia. Colombia needs to resolve many social problems and Washington must be careful not to provoke a wider new war in South America that could represent further dangerous disruptions for oil from the region. A war in South America is the last thing the troubled world oil markets need right now.

Oil November 2000: $28 A Barrel. Oil March 2008: $106 A Barrel. Replacing The Bush-Oil Industry Plutocracy: Priceless!

In the highly disputed November 2000 election, the oil industry interests which were the major supporters of buying the Bush Administration into power and creating an oil industry run plutocratic form of government in the U.S. were able to get their way on a wide range of tax and environmental issues dealing with the oil industry as well as allowed to develop the foreign policy that created the drive to war in Iraq, yet oil prices did not fall as result of all of this. Oil actually increased from $28 a barrel in November 2000 to topping $106 a barrel at one point in today's commodity trading.

The oil industry has been given every possible favor and advantage with the Bush Administration that it helped to buy into power. For example, with the EPA, the oil industry was given a special pass to delay until 2014 to remove the cancer causing benzene that is in such high quantities in Alaskan oil. Currently only BP produced oil uses a complex filtering site to filter out this dangerous cancer causing substance from the Alaskan oil. Automobile pollution control systems do not filter out this highly toxic substance that pours from car exhausts. Yet despite these special rights and costing cutting advantages by the oil industry, oil prices only continued to rise like a skyrocket.

And the oil industry attempted to secure cheaper oil by ramping up the nation to invade Iraq under absurd claims by the Bush Administration that the heavily weakened government of Saddam Hussein which was subject to both tight UN controls, sanctions and weapons inspections presented some WMD threat. Again this did not result in cheaper oil, as the U.S. only became bogged down in a protracted conflict with first hardliner supporters of Saddam Hussein such as hardcore Baathists, then caught between a civil religious sect war between rival Sunni and Shiite sects as well as Al Qaeda elements when Bush challenged them to attack U.S. forces in his "Bring it on" invitation.

The Bush Administration brought in 43 members of the oil industry, including former executives and major stockholders including Bush himself, compared to 33 members who were associated with defense contractors, and the only net result was war and war for oil that failed miserably to bring on better prices for the American consumer.

It was thought that Iraq contains 225 billion barrels of undiscovered oil, which would have constituted a 98 year supply for the U.S. Instead all of the sectarian and Al Qaeda generated violence only made the easy development of this oil very difficult and actually decreased the oil output of Iraq below that of the days of Saddam Hussein.

The oil industry formed plutocracy government of Bush did bring about better prices to the American consumer. Only huge profiteering at record levels for the oil industry has resulted, and Republican members of Congress even attempted to block a Democratic drive to tax these record profits.

The American consumer will now be looking at $4 a gallon gas very soon and outrageous heating bills for oil heated homes because the oil industry was given the control of the American government and this has only resulted in oil approaching a level nearly 4 times the price per barrel since the oil industry bought Bush into power.

Would You Buy A Used War From This Man?

If anything, a McCain term as president would only mean little more than being a third Bush term and bring in all of the prowar public policies that Bush brought in. As a war for cheap oil, Iraq was a miserable failure that only resulted in higher prices. Oil was only $28 a barrel when Bush entered office, but actually topped $104 a barrel yesterday. In any measure, the oil company driven war in Iraq only failed to bring about more supply or better prices. It was a huge failure for the old-time colonial imperialist foreign policy of the major nations using military force to invade weak developing nations to seize their mineral assets.

Iraq was thought to have 225 billion barrels of undiscovered oil, which would have been a 98 year supply of oil for the U.S. at current consumption rates. Instead the U.S. got bogged down into first a protrected battle mopping up the most hardline of Saddam's Republican Guard elements, then Al Qaeda and secular combatants from the warring Sunni and Shiite sects, and the widespread development of oil in Iraq by the very same oil companies who wanted the war to begin with soon fizzled.

John McCain means little more than years and years more of a U.S. commitment to the Iraq mistake, if not even an even worse effort to attack Iran as well. The problem is that no MidEast problem is quickly resolved, and any commitment into the MidEast ends up in decades or even centuries of problems. Do you really want to buy a used war from these men?

The Witch Strikes Back!

Just when it looked ever so likely that the voters of America might just reject the same old politics as usual and embrace the fresh new and hopeful candidacy of Senator Barack Obama, the Clinton attack machine pulled out all the claws and nails and joined in with the Republican attacks on Obama and sucker punched up his campaign ever so badly and raised a whole number of unfair and overblown attacks and cut into his 11 state win momentum. Clinton managed to pull off wins in three of four contests yesterday with her selfish tactics, in which she could care less what damage actually does to the Democratic Party in November as whole, just as long as she can win the nomination for herself is the only moral justification behind her resurgent efforts to wrest the nomination back from Obama.

Clinton apparently successfully raised some fresh voter doubts about the "experience" factor of Obama with her 11th hour "red phone" ads. However Obama appeared to be too much of a gentleman, or not really interested in party destruction to raise the real problems of any real Clinton "experience". The fact of the matter is that when Clinton was in charge of things it often ended up either in scandal or miserable failure. From her law office she helped to leave the Whitewater mess as a dangling problem dogging the early days of the Clinton White House. As First Lady, she managed to allow the White House "Travelgate" mess to happen under her leadership as well. When she took on the responsibility of promoting the Clinton Health Care plan, it not only miserably failed, but she also proved the inability to work that well with others including the Republican opposition members of Congress. Clinton also never served in the military, yet according to her "red phone" ad she claimed that America needs her military experience answering the red phone if a real crisis develops. God help the country if she's ever elected president and has to answer the red phone during a real crisis given her history of past failues. Even her campaign was in desperate condition with her back against the wall because it was not all that well managed either, with no real viable plans that extended beyond Super Tuesday, allowing Obama a wide opening to assert his candidacy to the old politics as usual Clinton machine.

Clinton didn't prove that she was the superior candidate this Tuedsday, only that she could raise a particulary nasty campaign when she's under pressure and facing possible political elimination. Maybe that sort of a nasty politics could possiby win a general election. But should it? It's morally bankrupt on so many levels. Right now Clinton has barely proven that she can even win her party nomination with her form of old style politics and personality.

The Republicans may choose their leadership by handing it to some old guard loyal party member whose time has finally come even if it is often long past their most useful years, much like the old Soviet poliburo once did. Reagan, Dole and McCain certainly seem to carve from this model. You can hardly expect to progress or advance of the social agenda under such leadership. Obama offers something fresh, a staunch progressive liberal for a change and is certainly a far better messenger than Clinton and more likely to deliver the goods in the end.

Obama also brought in millions of new or disaffected voters, including some Republicans tired of politics as usual. Unless his campaign can pick up the pieces and wrest back momentum from Clinton, then any Clinton-McCain November matchup will mean four more years of the same old politics as usual crap from either of these two. The Obama campaign is indeed standing at a crossroads today with some serious soul searching going since the dust settled on last night's results.