"Look, the only people for Hillary Clinton are the Democratic establishment and white women. The Democratic establishment -- it would be crazy for the Democratic Party to follow an establishment that's led it to defeat year after year. White women are a problem, that's, you know -- we all live with that."

~ New York Times columnist Bill Kristol on Fox News Sunday.

I'm one of those "problem" people he refers to. As much as I try to get on the Obama bandwagon ... I can't. The whole Obama movement feels too much like a cult. I get the feeling he's not so much running for President as running for Messiah. Maybe he'll get the whole country into chants and smoking weed. It did a lot for the 60's movement, but I'm not sure that's what the country needs right now. Listen to his speeches. It's all about change and change and more change. But he rarely talks specifics. They say that Republicans "get in line" and Democrats "fall in love." So what are we to do when the honeymoon wears off, when the smoke clears from the room and our hero is still chanting change but hasn't done anything substantive. Maybe the plan is to get the country so stoned out that we won't notice that he hasn't done anything. He's still trying to find that important stack of papers he left ... somewhere. A vote for Obama is a vote for style. Style over substance.

So yeah ... I went to a rally today in Annapolis. Hillary was supposed to be there but when I got there I found out she wouldn't be able to make it. But Dorothy Rodham was there, Senator Mikulski, Governor O'Malley as well as the past two Lieutenant Governors, one of which was a Kennedy. And there was a long list of Maryland government officials which had singed statements in support of Hillary.



Maryland Governor O'Malley addresses the rally at Lawyer's Mall in Annapolis. Senator Mikulski is seated ... or just very short.



A view from behind the cameras.



So white women are a "problem?" Well I guess that includes black women and brown women. There was a whole array of faces at the rally. I asked one African American woman why she didn't support Obama. She paused and took a while to think about the question then she responded, "Rock star. He's our Rock Star. Hillary's a doer. She'll get things done."

This weekend is full of real outdoor activity. This is the last of my political posts ... for now.

~ Susanita

I have to admit I've been glued to the news and the TV lately following the debates and trying to understand the fall of my candidate ... Hillary. Yes, I'm a Hillary supporter. I voted for Bill and I was a supporter of the Clintons all through the Clinton drama in the 90's. I even ran into one of Bill's "girlfriends" on the streets of DC once. She was very tall. I passed her on the way into a hotel and all I remember is staring into her breasts. That's how tall she was.

I'm also one of those "older Americans" who saw a return to the 90's as a good thing. And I was excited about the possibility of the first woman president.

But every day Barack Obama catches more momentum. And it's not about race. It's about personality. Hillary, for all her intelligence and strength and perseverance, is not an engaging personality. She's about as exciting as Margaret Thatcher or Queen Elizabeth. And I'm not saying this to be mean. After all Hillary is my candidate of choice. I say this with an air of resignation.

Every day the news reports on some new crisis. The global warming crisis. The oil crisis. The looming recession and the return of inflation. The threat of terrorism. The senseless war in Iraq. And what Americans want now; what Americans need now is optimism and hope. Obama offers hope. He offers hope in his smile. He offers hope in his calm, noncombative demeanor. He offers hope in his calm, surfer dude approach to the world.

Of the four democratic candidates on that stage Saturday night he was the only one who protested the war in Iraq from the very beginning. This alone shows that he is capable of a calm, reasoned approach in a crisis. Edwards is not calm. Edwards is combative. Richardson ... well Richardson is just dull. And Hillary is political. I suspect that she supported the war because it looked like the best political move at the time. That's not the best reasoning.

In an era when all the forces seem to be against us, Obama gives us hope.



-Susanita