Bring on McCain. Bring on the world.

From the New York Times:

Ségolène Royal, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Socialist rival in last year’s French presidential election, called Mr. Obama’s candidacy "a historic choice." "He embodies the America of today and tomorrow," she said Wednesday. Ms. Royal, who attended an Obama rally in Boston on Feb. 1, said his consistent opposition to the war in Iraq could help mend America’s battered image in the world. "He had a lucid judgment of the war in Iraq." ==Later in the article== That generally favorable impression was echoed in Pakistan where Mr. Obama’s speech in St. Paul, Minnesota, came on television at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning. “It should bring a good change in relations with Pakistan” should he win the presidency, said Munaway Akhtar, a prominent lawyer specializing in international arbitration in the capital, Islamabad. “Pakistan has always been friendly to the United States but the people have never benefited, the rulers have always benefited. Hopefully, that would change with Obama.” ==And later== Margherita Boniver, of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Party of Freedom, said an Obama victory in November “would be a moment of great liberation, of the overcoming of many millenary prejudices” whose impact would spread to the entire world.

I can think of no better reason to support Obama. It's not just about rhetoric. It's about what matters, at home and abroad.

It's all about 31 Million

Wow. Hillary is all about claiming her victory with Kansas voters, but the numbers show a different story. Obama managed to raise as much money in April as Hillary has gone into debt to make her case. If Hillary can continue to call these numbers optimistic, I don't want her anywhere near my federal budget. I'mnot the only one who feels this way, clearly: One commenter concluded Hillary's financial woes are reminiscent of ". . . a teenager with a credit card. Only the American public are the ones who will need to pay the bill." Add to that the latest poll showing Obama ahead of McCain in a national race, and I think the message is clear who our candidate should be. She claims Obama is getting ahead of himself, acting as the Democratic nominee before the decision has been made. Meanwhile, Obama is inspiring record numbers of Americans to get involved: 75,000 people at his rally in Oregon, record numbers of first time voters signed up, record numbers of contributors, and within sight of setting the record for most contributions raised in a campaign. Let Hillary address her empty halls. She is the ex-candidate.

Enough already.

The Washington Post has gotten it right. In his article portraying a Portrait of an ex-candidate, Dana Milbank combines an account of the Clinton Campaign with select scenes from Monty Python, to humorous and sharp effect. ". . . she is trailing Obama in the popular vote, states won, pledged delegates and, now, superdelegates." When thinking of Hillary, I can't help but hear the voice of Ivy, my favorite character to play in Soul Caliber II: "Give up already." I mean really, how is it that anyone expects a political party to nominate someone who claims to be the voice of uneducated whites? I can just see the campaign contributions rolling in now from the White Trash United coalition. Give me a break. The worst of this is that if she had stepped down quietly, last week, last month, she could have retained enough credibility to have staged another go at the oval office. As it stands now, her persistence only proves her detractors right: Hillary is out of touch with reality.

on pins and needles

I confess that the dead heat going into Super Tuesday might be the most engaging and interesting political event i have ever seen. I'm thrilled to be part of it, anxious about the income, invested in the process in a way i had given up on. Good luck, Mr. Obama.