Skeletor lives....Hi Ann Coulter

Politics is a very dirty game. In order for someone to run for any type of political office, you have to have a thick skin. Anyone who supports a candidate also has to have a thick skin. Over the course of a campaign, many negative things by many people will be said about your candidate. You can either fight back with your emotions and not respond rationally or you can take what is being said about you, gather the facts and respond in a cool and intelligent way. If you haven't guessed by now, I am a supporter of Barack Obama and before you even say it, no it's not just because he is black. Granted, I never thought I would see a black candidate in my lifetime to actually have a chance to win the White House, so this is historical. I also agree with many of his policies and ideas on how to change the stranglehold some politicians have on our political system. Not since John F. Kennedy has a candidate sparked so much interest in politics and galvanized so many people.

This has been a long primary between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, too long. Being the first black candidate with an actual chance for the White House, Obama has met with some reservations by many in the political arena and voters, which is understandable. We knew race would be an issue in this election, but I was hoping that analysts and voters would try to stick to the issues rather than tabloid garbage. His pastor Reverend Wright, not wearing a flag pin and other problems that have popped up during this campaign. In my opinion, he has handled them extremely well. It's kind of a no win situation for him, if he doesn't respond, he is the candidate that doesn't have any toughness, if he does stand up and fight, he's the angry black politician which is something he can't afford if he wants to attract the important blue collar vote.

So, how does Ann Coulter fit into all this you ask? Well, every night I watch MSNBC or CNN to hear all the so called political analysts views on the days events that pertain to the Democratic primary race. This particular night, I turned on a program hosted by Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter was the guest. For those of you that don't know her, she is a conservative political analyst and also a best selling author who has stirred up some controversy in the recent past, but we'll get to that. Now, I have no problem with these political "experts" opinions good or bad about Obama, as long as they stick with the issues and not tabloid garbage or hearsay. Ann was asked to give her opinion on Obama and his chances for the Presidency. She had stated weeks before if McCain won the Republican nomination, even though she is a Republican, she would vote for Clinton if she was the Democratic nominee. She has very different opinions than McCain and doesn't think he represents the "true" conservative. When asked what will you do if/when Obama gets the nomination, she says that I said I would vote for Clinton, not Obama. She then goes on to bash his campaign with rhetoric that had nothing to do with the issues and the part that bothered me most is that she kept calling him Barack Hussein Obama, emphasising his middle name. When she was asked basically not to do that and it wasn't fair, she said why not, that is his name. True, it is his name, but why use it to make it seem that he has some kind of connection to terrorists or Sadam. She knew exactly what she was doing and that really bothered me. In politics, perception is everything. Obama has had to deal with this off and on during the campaign, even as recently as a couple of days ago at a diner, he went up to shake a potential voters hand and the man would not shake it. Saying that he was a Muslim and his middle name was Hussein. I guess that guy must have been Joe Redneck. Tactics like this are trying to strike fear in the minds of people who really don't follow the news and truly follow what is going on in the race and I think it's disgraceful!

Why is Ann Coulter of all people asked to be an analyst on the campaign? She has had some really cruel things to say about people and here are just a few:

1) On Senator John Edwards when he ran with John Kerry for the White House..

"I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards, but it turns out that you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I'm - so, kind of at an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards, so I think I'll just conclude here and take your questions"

2) Her comments on Muslims..

"Airports scrupulously apply the same laughably ineffective airport harassment to Suzy Chapstick as to Muslim hijackers. It is preposterous to assume every passenger is a potential crazed homicidal maniac. We know who the homicidal maniacs are. They are the ones cheering and dancing right now.
We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war"

"Not all Muslims may be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims -- at least all terrorists capable of assembling a murderous plot against America that leaves 7,000 people dead in under two hours"

3) Her comments about Jews on the show The Big Idea hosted by Donny Deutsch...

DEUTSCH: You said — your exact words were, "Jews need to be perfected." Those are the words out of your mouth.[152]COULTER: No, I'm saying that's what a Christian is.DEUTSCH: But that's what you said — don't you see how hateful, how anti-Semitic—COULTER: No!DEUTSCH: How do you not see? You're an educated woman. How do you not see that?COULTER: That isn't hateful at all.DEUTSCH: But that's even a scarier thought. OK—COULTER: No, no, no, no, no. I don't want you being offended by this. This is what Christians consider themselves, because our testament is the continuation of your testament. You know that. So we think Jews go to heaven. I mean (Jerry) Falwell himself said that, but you have to follow laws. Ours is "Christ died for our sins." We consider ourselves perfected Christians. For me to say that for you to become a Christian is to become a perfected Christian(sic) is not offensive at all.

This is the kind of person you call on to give her opinion on what is happening with Obama and the Democratic primary? Are you serious? Again, if you have valid arguments against a candidate no matter who it is, more power to you, but to take it to gutter politics and to try and strike fear into people for no reason, that is just wrong.

I think Ann needs a sandwich and a hug.

Just my opinion.

The Spin

So, it is now 12:37am and I have been watching MSNBC's coverage of the North Carolina and Indiana primaries. Heading into the primaries, Obama was to win a close one in North Carolina and Clinton would win big in Indiana. The big issue she was pushing was the gas tax relief which to me is really a smoke screen. Obama was clearly against the gas tax relief having himself voted for a similar plan in Illinois and seeing that it didn't work. Clinton thought she could definitely pick up the blue collar vote pushing the gas tax relief. Well, as of 12:37am, Obama has won North Carolina by 14 points and they are in a virtual tie in Indiana, a state Clinton was suppose to run away with. Right now, she leads him by less then 17,000 votes.

Now it is time for the spin. Obama is the first to make a speech and congratulates Clinton on winning Indiana while also debunking her idea of this primary being a game changer. He is now starting to focus on the task of taking on John McCain in the fall and it shows. Clinton comes on later and at first seems to say she will continue the fight all the way to the White House, but the second part of her speech seems to be a concession speech. Is she finally realizing that it is over? The Clinton camp obviously is trying to play down the lost in North Carolina and play up the possible win in Indiana by saying they were expected to lose North Carolina and basically a win is a win in Indiana. Every political analyst that I have listened to tonight says it is basically over...yet still her staff and supporters are trying to downplay the issue. Here is a clear indication that she is starting to realize she is done. She has cancelled all Wednesday morning television interviews and appearances which were scheduled based on her believing she was going to have a good night. Usually after a primary, the candidates send out emails asking for donations and to keep plugging away with the campaign. Her latest email to her supporters does not even mention the raising of money.

Mathematically, Clinton can not catch Obama in the popular vote nor the pledged delegates. But wait, what about Michigan and Florida Clinton wants to have counted? After tonight, even if they do count those 2 states, she will still be down by 100+ delegates and more than 200,000 popular votes...she is done. I know the Clintons want to save face and continue that legacy, but what is the point of staying in the race? Is it to continue to try and tear Obama down more? Even with all the Reverend Wright and Bittergate drama, Obama is still in the lead.

Her campaign is in debt. She's already loaned the campaign 5 million dollars and reports are she has loaned the campaign even more money. I think it is time for her to formulate an exit strategy that is graceful and helps her and the campaign save face. This has been one hell of a Democratic nomination race, nothing like I've seen in my lifetime and it has fascinated me. People ask me are you supporting Obama just because he is black? I will admit it is history that he is running and unless something horrific happens, he will be the Democratic nominee, but I do agree with many of his ideas, not all, but many. I think his idea of change is a breath of fresh air in the dirty world of politics. I think Clinton's undoing was her constant negative attacks against Obama and when she had the chance to put him away at his lowest point, she was unable to.


I would love to hear your thoughts on the campaign and who you are voting for.

Go Obama!