There are few things I enjoy more than dueling with the Anonymous Hawk. In that spirit, I offer you this quote from his comments on this thread from February 27, 2007:

"My guess is that you had a pet rock, a slinky, and a mood ring during your youth! Obamamania (at least this election cycle) is headed towards that same obscurity."

Maybe Obama will not get the nomination and will ultimately be crushed by the grinding, relentless machine that is known as "Billary." But in any event, Obama is not headed for the same obscurity as a pet rock in this election cycle--even if he loses to Billary, he will be remembered as the first African American candidate who had a realistic and legitimate shot to be the presidential candidate for a major US political party. For Pete's sake, he won in Iowa, which is over 90% white.

The AH knows I am right on this, but watch him try to dismantle me on technical points. He will never say "good point, XZW"...but that's part of why he's a world-class litigator and I am not.

Here's some thoughts:

1. I find it very interesting that the NY Times and LA Times have both endorsed John McCain. (Of course it was just a primary endorsement and the NYT also endorsed Hillary and the LAT also endorsed Obama). But unusual nonetheless.

Did these newspapers do it because they see (as I do) McCain's integrity, courage, and commitment to America, or did they do it to be Machiavellian? I.e., give Romney (who would ostensibly be easier for the dems to defeat in the general election) the ability to make hay of the fact that two liberal newspapers endorsed McCain, suggesting McCain is not a true conservative.

2. This is obviously not a scientific sample, but of the many people I have talked to who support Hillary, almost no one is fired up and passionate in their support. It's typically a shrug and a "well, I think she would be a good president and ready for the position on day one."

Obama, on the other hand, tends to stir deep passion among many of his supporters. That is so important, because this kind support can ultimately help effect the ability to lead the country well. It's this kind of passion that helped Kennedy lead the charge on the moon shot. It's this kind of passion that helped Reagan lead us to the end of the cold war. And it has to be widespread enough for it to matter. Huckabee, for example, has extremely passionate supporters, but they account for what, maybe 10% of the electorate on a good day?

There are lots of other important qualifications to be president to be sure, but in this election cycle, "ability to inspire a majority of Americans" on topics that are important to me is high on my list. The more I hear Obama, the more I like him...and it's not just the fiery speeches...I read both of his books and he has a deep and nuanced understanding of where we have been and where we should be going.

Of course, it's a double edged-sword: If elected, Obama will likely inspire a majority of the people to support "tax increases on the rich" which includes Holly and me, even though we don't feel rich in the financial sense. And I am guessing that almost all readers of this thread meet Obama's definition of "the rich"--it's very broad. Good grief, I have never spent more than $30 on a bottle of wine, never been on a private jet or a helicopter, and we drive a seven-year old Ford and a three-year old Prius. When we are paying for the hotel, we stay in simple places like the Courtyard by Marriott (where we stayed last weekend), and not the Ritz, not the Four Seasons, not even the Westin. Fortunate? Yes. The rich? Hah!

I would feel fine about a tax increase if it was all going to things I felt great about. But subsidies for giant agribusiness? Bridges to nowhere in Alaska? Absurd, and no president from either party is going to end that kind of spending.

3. Is anyone else out there torn between McCain and Obama? (I prefer to say that my positive thoughts on McCain and Obama indicate an open-minded and thoughtful perspective, but others might simply say that I am wishy-washy). Of course I am jumping the gun: If it's McCain vs. Hillary, that's a no-brainer for me. If it's McCain vs. Obama, I will have a difficult decision. Of course Romney could come from behind, but it's not looking good for him.