It is really disturbing to me that some democrats are blindly supporting obama, without questioning how, what, and why.  There is so much that we need to consider and many are not.  Obamas record on the Iraq war shows he didn't support it but voted for it once in a position of relevance, he backed down on nuclear regulations, and accepted $230,000.00 in donations from the nuc. corp that was able to rewrite his bill.  Rezko, guns, lobbyist and pacs buying his campaign.  People WAKE UP!

Michael which one of those states has Obama won will take him through the General Election?  Will it be KS, ID, NE, AK, IO, AL, GA, SC?  Which one? Obama hasn't won the majority of states that matter.  Washington is holding another vote, this time a Primary it is going to be interesting to see who the MAJORITY votes for, obama doesn't do well when EVERYONE gets to vote, now does he.  People really need to start looking at the racial divide and there is one, you may not want to hear it, but he won't win the general becuase of it.  WE saw it in NV, SC, FL, and LA. LA Clinton/Obama:
White Men 66 28
White Women 73 24
Black Men 19 80
Black Women 16 84
You may think obama can win these votes, maybe a few, however, then you go back to the ethnic diversity on the West Coast, the majority will go to MCCain, if you think I am wrong again you are living in LaLa Land.
The delegates won by obama yesterday were 29 more than Hillary, and we haven't even included MI and FL, which we will eventually, Hillary clearly is winning this in all ways that count.  You people better wake up and see the writing on the wall.  I am not even going into obamas lies and distortion, but the rightwing are already preparing their attacks.  4 more years of Republicans?  Thank god there is TX, OH, PA, FL, MI who will make the final decision on this primary season.

joined today to post this comment, and is almost certainly a professional with the Clinton campaign.

"States that matter?"  Why don't you ask your candidate, sjl, to list the states that don't matter, so voters in those states won't make the mistake of voting for her?

Moreover, the VOTERS, sjl, are not "blindly" supporting Senator Obama.  There are many good reasons to support him, which are thoroughly detailed elsewhere on this blog.

As for your shameless harping on the "racial divide," it will forever remain a blot on the Clinton record that the campaign is trying its best to create such a divide where it clearly doesn't exist.

We don't need "false hope" neo-Nixonites parading around pretending to be Democrats.  The more quickly these race-baiting, gender-baiting cynics are dispatched to their inevitable defeat, the better.

Why is it assumed when someone posts a dissenting view on this blog that they are automatically a paid staffer, or a troll?

I appreciated reading SJL's perspective. I tend to share the view that Obamamania is carefully staged, creating a brand that gives people a sense of emotional experience.  People who are vulnerable for the need to feel like they are part of the "in crowd" are more likely to choose Obama because of the trappings that are all around every one of his campaign appearances. It's formulaic, shallow and lacks substance.  Obamania is not about substance -- it's about feeling a sense of group euphoria, teetering on mob-mentality.

   

Are you kidding me? Here's some substance for you: Obama is stronger on ethics reform, has made his campaign's income tax returns public (unlike Clinton), is funded by the people (not like Clinton who's funded by lobbyists and PACs), opposed the Iraq war from the start (unlike Clinton), and he doesn't run a campaign based on dividing people into us or them. On top of that he's more electable than Clinton, a far better public speaker than her, and his conciliatory manner makes him far better suited to successful foreign policy than Clinton. If you'd watched the last debate you would've seen that Obama's platform has just as much substance as Clinton's, if not more. Am I emotional about Obama? Of course I'm emotional about Obama, because he's the most exciting politician this country has seen in a long time. He's a candidate I'll be proud to vote for instead of just voting to pick the lesser of two evils or mediocrities.
By the way that "mob-mentality" you're talking about has a name. It's called the will of the people taking precedence over the will of the party insider superdelegates. Better yet, it's called DEMOCRACY.

I would wager the majority of Obama supporters (like me) think he'd make a better president and offers a better chance at making a progressive shift in America.

That said, some of these ads are certainly aimed at promoting the 'group euphoria' you described.  While I certainly think Obama has substance in huge quantities, this ad ain't about that.  To illustrate: watch it on mute and softly say "join us" over the crowd shots.  It's a little creepy.

(is the site running slow for anyone else today?  some of my keystrokes aren't showing up on the first try)

why you think this poster is a paid professional with the Clinton campaign.

Do you know more than you have said in this post?

Yeah, we don't need people like you in OUR democracy, plants from the Clinton camp like you.

We want Obama supporters ONLY in our democracy.  And don't give us any of that Thomas Hobbs talk that our democracy can be an oppressive force.  That's just philosopher talk.

Better you should read tracherken's account of the Obama portion of the JJ dinner evening, the part where he said the audience went beserk.  You know, I believe THAT completely.  They are truly committed (and maybe, on reflection, they should be).