So lemme get this straight. Obama's supporters love him because he's post-partisan. He'll transcend Washington's partisan sniping, bridge the republican-democratic gap and we'll move forward on a wave of goodwill. However, if he doesn't get nominated, they're going to throw hissy fits and vote for a candidate they don't even like, out of spite.

We're all speaking in generalizations and I don't think it's entirely a good idea to follow this story-line but, if this is really the general sentiment among Obama supporters then he has indeed managed to change the tone of politics in the United States . . . for the worse. He's created a cult of personality full of people who are dedicated to him to the exclusion of the greater good of the country. The super-delegates may be an unnecessary nod to party insiders but if you're a progressive, you'll vote for the most progressive candidate in the general election. If not, you're part of the problem you claim to be trying to solve.

quoted on background is a non-activist, long-time Wisconsin citizen who keeps his politics pretty much to himself.

But he does like Obama, and hates the idea of the Party insiders deciding the nominee, as opposed to voters. No cultist is he, as you suggest

But that person, and others like him, are precisely whom Dems ought to be trying to reach.

We ignore this sentiment at our peril in November.

Personally, I think any process that ignores the popular vote is anti-democratic and repulsive. And I would note that Hillary Clinton, shortly after assuming office as a US Senator in 2001, called for the abolition of the Electoral College, justifiably, but I bet Hillary would be against using any popular vote and pledged-delegate count that would happen to result in her losing the nomination.

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If PG's idea of democracy is Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton then be surprised for what, to the rest of us in the middle, will be a very predictable result on November 4th.

Spare us the self-serving lectures about the greater good of the country when Clinton is the poster child for self-serving - voting for the war now against it, not voting on the bankruptcy bill while hoping it would fail, not voting against telecom immunity while hoping it would fail, voting for Bush's phoney war on Iran. At least if we have to vote for McCain - we'll know exactly where he stands, and then we can try to elect more senators like Feingold who have the moxie to oppose his most offensive policies.

I was at a DAR meeting when a Rep. woman whose husband is on the Rep. committee stated they were thrilled that the Democrats were still stupid. when asked why she rhetorically said,"They are backing Obama". The Rep. want him in because they have something on him and know if he wins obama will loose to McCain because they will use all they know against him. I have real issues with Obama myself. 1. Obama made a comment about Congress. He said on t.v. that if Congress said no to something and he disagreed that he would do it anyway. Who does that sound like? Bush. 2. He said that if the people wanted him to do something and he did not do it, not to come to him, because it was up to the people to take care of their own problems. 3. He was born in Hawaii but was raised mostly in Africa. 4. The night of the Iowa caucus, he calls Africa and has a loud speaker put up at the school he was registered as a Muslim at as a kid and over the intercom system tells them "to hold on a little bit longer and help would be on the way". That tells me he is planning on getting into a war with Africa. When a candidate's first move after a win is to talk to a country he grew up over the country he is running to become president of, that makes me wonder where his loyalties are? I urge you to look over my facts and investigate for yourself and back Hillary.
I have come across many obama supporters and they act hateful. We need to remember that WE ARE ALL AMERICANS AND WE ARE ON THE SAME SIDE. If any obama supporters were ever in trouble and I could help them, I would without hesitation. We may disagree on who is best to run our country, but we are all Americans.
while obama has been campaigning, just let me say that Arnold Schwarzenegger asked the Clinton's for their help to get the flagging economy in California out of debt. Hillary and Bill met with him and gave him some good ideas. Plus, Obama has said out his own mouth, that he has gone to Hillary asking for her advice many times. And she has always given it to him. He talks about Hillary being some of the old establishment, well, Ted Kennedy is the oldest and uses pork tax dollars.
mAntoin "Tony" Rezko, an entrepreneur who made a fortune in pizza parlors, Chinese restaurants and real estate, goes on trial next month on federal charges of extortion, influence peddling and conspiracy. There is no suggestion that Obama is involved in any of the alleged criminal activity. But the upcoming trial -- and details of Obama's relationship with its central figure -- could cast a shadow over his carefully cultivated image at a critical time.
In recent weeks, including during the debate, Obama sought to minimize the nature of that relationship. lost and is backing obama. You want to know who someone is, look at their backers. During his speech Tuesday night, Obama pushed this negative attack on Hillary:

"It's a choice between a candidate who's taken more money from Washington lobbyists than either Republican in this race and a campaign that has not taken a dime of their money."

But.....Sen. Obama's comments came on the same week Public Citizen released a report detailing ten bundlers for Sen. Obama who have registered as federal lobbyists.

It also came at the same time that his former fundraising chairman and the man Obama called his "political Godfather", Antoin "Tony" Rezko, is about to be tried on federal charges of fraud involving bribery and political corruption.

In this campaign Sen. Obama has also taken money from former lobbyists, partners of lobbyists, people who hire lobbyists, lobbyists' spouses, children of lobbyists and of course...any state lobbyists that wants to bundle up a million or so is very welcome to.

These are the facts, according to the Campaign Finance Institute: http://www.cfinst.org/pr/prRelease

"Obama, whose campaign claims to have almost 500,000 donors in 2007, raised 54% of his $97.2 million from $1,000 and over donations (mostly in $2300 checks)."

(Less than a third, only 32%, of his money in 2007 came from $200 or less contributions.)

Like the Roman figure of Janus, Obama seems quite comfortable talking out of both sides of his two faces.

But anyone who has been paying attention to the facts and not just the fluff of the Obama campaign already knows this.

An Asterisk To Obama's Policy On Donations

A presidential hopefuls refusal of lobbyist money has its limits

By Dan Morgan, LA Times Staff Writer

http://www.caclean.org/problem/latimes_2 007-04-22

Until he started running for president, Sen. Obama took money from federal lobbyists and, as a state senator, directly from corporations. (Which is LEGAL in Illinois politics!)

Obama attained the lofty mark (of leading in Presidential fundraising) even as he decried the fundraising system. In his Internet appeals for small donations, Obama played up populist themes of reform.

"It may sound strange for a presidential candidate to launch a fundraising drive that isn't about dollars. But our democracy shouldn't be about money, and it's time our campaigns weren't either," he said in one such pitch.

"We're not going to play that game," the e-mail said."

Obama said in his first-quarter financial report that he received money from 104,000 donors, twice as many as Clinton, suggesting a disproportionate number of small contributions. But the Campaign Finance Institute said Obama still received 68% of his money from donations of $1,000 or more...

Rules for lobbyists

Lobbyists generally are paid by corporations, unions and other interest groups to shape public policy by making regular contact with government officials. They must register with both houses of Congress, and make public disclosures identifying their clients and the amounts they are paid.

Some of the most influential players, lawyers and consultants among them, skirt disclosure requirements by merely advising clients and associates who do actual lobbying, and avoiding regular contact with policymakers. Obama's ban does not cover such individuals.

For example, partners from the Atlanta-based law firm Alston & Bird donated $33,000 to Obama in the first 90 days of 2007.

Alston & Bird has a large lobbying division in Washington. It billed its clients nearly $3.9 million in 2006, ranking 35th among Washington lobbyists. Alston boasts on its website that it offers clients "unique experience with how policy is made" and knows "the people who make it: government and agency officials; members of Congress and their staff."

Obama kept $2,300 donated by Alston's Tom Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader (and general chairman of the Obama for President campaign). Daschle, located in Washington, is neither a lawyer nor a lobbyist. He is a consultant.

According to Alston's website, Daschle advises "clients on issues related to all aspects of public policy with a particular emphasis on issues related to financial services, health care, energy, telecommunications and taxes."

Daschle did not return phone calls.

(Note: Daschle's wife is the head lobbyist for the Airline Industry, she was behind the Congressional airline bailout after 9/11, and has been reported to be amongst the highest paid lobbyists in town)

The Obama campaign makes a very big issue of not taking money directly from "federal lobbyists"....but he's happy to take money directly from their clients! In the first quarter of 2007 alone, Obama took in a combined $170,000 from executives from Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, two financial giants that have numerous issues pending in Washington and spent a total of $4.6 million on lobbying in 2006.

But wait...There's More!

Nuke Em! Power provider's largess

Obama's biggest single source of corporate money, over $160,000, came from executives at Exelon Corp., the nation's largest nuclear power provider, and its subsidiary, Commonwealth Edison, an Illinois utility. This includes checks from lobbyists John P. Novak and James Monk. In Springfield, Novak represents Exelon., and Monk is president of the Illinois Energy Assn., a trade group that represents Commonwealth Electric.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articl es/2007/08/09/pacs_and_lobbyists_aided_obama's_rise/
From the Boston Globe:

But behind Obama's campaign rhetoric about taking on special interests lies a more complicated truth. A Globe review of Obama's campaign finance records shows that he collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from lobbyists and PACs as a state legislator in Illinois, a US senator, and a presidential aspirant.

In Obama's eight years in the Illinois Senate, from 1996 to 2004, almost two-thirds of the money he raised for his campaigns -- $296,000 of $461,000 -- came from PACs, corporate contributions, or unions, according to Illinois Board of Elections records. He tapped financial services firms, real estate developers, healthcare providers, oil companies, and many other corporate interests, the records show.

Obama's US Senate campaign committee, starting with his successful run in 2004, had collected over $1.5 million from PACs and lobbyists, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit organization that tracks money in politics.

In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates, doors and doorways. What's always on the inside of the doorways in both the State Capital in Springfield and the US Capital in Washington? Plenty of lobbies and lobbyists. Lets look at some of Obama's...
Bundlers for Barack Obama Who Have Registered as Federal Lobbyists

From Public Citizen - 1/29/08

http://www.citizen.org/documents/Lobbyis tsFinal.pdf

Frank Clark
IL
Commonwealth Edison

www.exeloncorp.com/ExelonInternet/Templates/Standard Page

Commonwealth Edison is a subsidiary of Exelon, the nuclear energy company to whom Barack Obama is beholden. Clark is Commonwealth Edison's chief legislative strategist. Clark is also a Board member of Aetna, a health insurance company.

Scott Harris
DC
Harris Wiltshire and Grannis

www.harriswiltshire.com/whoweare

candidate, except he was planted here by Muslims and Africans.

I was at the rally at the Kohl Center Tuesday and I heard several UW-Madison students say something suspiciously identical: 'Barack Obama is the kindest, warmest, bravest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.'

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