"It's time for Hill to take the hint"

The Daily News, one of my hometown papers, has been really kicking out some nice opeds lately. The latest cut and paste worthy job comes compliments of my friend Flavia Colgan. Flavia is somewhat of a political operative here in town, and frankly, this oped piece by her, while very well done, surprised me a little.

I never thought that she would be one of the folks calling for the Ice Queen's exit.

So anyway, here goes:

"SEN. CLINTON, it's time.

While the Obama campaign and others in the Democratic Party are treading lightly and trying not to say flat out that it's time for you to end your quest for the presidency, I'm not going to mince words.

You've run an impressive campaign over the last few weeks, especially in Pennsylvania, where you scored a decisive victory.

Had you knocked Sen. Barack Obama on the ropes by performing strongly in North Carolina and winning big in Indiana, there would be every reason to further consider your argument that Obama was severely weakened by his connection with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and was unelectable. Instead, to be blunt, Obama scored a TKO.

Coming out of the worst three weeks of his campaign, he not only far exceeded the polling leading up to North Carolina and Indiana, but voters showed a new burst of confidence in him that will now carry him to the nomination.

You may say that you won't exit the race until there is a nominee.
That would seem to be saying that any candidate in any past election who read the numbers and concluded that it was best to go out with grace was somehow weak.
But candidates drop out of races all the time before their party officially has a nominee. It's not a matter of weakness, it's a matter of exiting with dignity, and not seeming to claw and cling to your quest like it was an ego trip.

Here's what you need to take a deep look at - and consider.
How do you want to be remembered? Your legacy and your husband's will be forever tarnished if you continue to run a campaign which argues that Obama is not electable, and uses Sen. John McCain's talking points to prove it.

Your husband will no longer be remembered as America's first "black president," but as part of the cabal that took down America's best shot at an actual African-American president.
You'll be remembered as the woman who was more interested in staying on the stage too long, to get a few more seconds of the spotlight than helping elect a president who has much more in common with you than the Republican nominee. From Harlem to the Senate floor, that kind of legacy will cast a dark, cold shadow on you, forever.

Everyone understands how painful it must be to have your campaign thwarted by such a newcomer to the political scene. It hurts even more knowing that for months you ran a terrible campaign, courtesy of uber-consultant Mark Penn, and just seemed to be finding your stride when it was too late.

But the fact is that it's too little, too late. The math is against you, and trusted friends like former Sen. George McGovern and former Democratic Chairman Joe Andrews have made it clear they can no longer stand with you, just as the majority of primary voters aren't with you.
You can still win West Virginia, Kentucky and Puerto Rico, sure. But what does that really get you? Certainly not the nomination. And that's the only thing that should matter."

Hillary, I am not going to tell you to get out of this race, you have every right to run. (I am sure that you and your red neck friends are going to put an ass whopping on the "O" man tomorrow) The people who support you deserve that much. But like Flavia said, you might want to start thinking about your long term goals, and your legacy.

I know the Opera ain't over until the fat lady sings, but this ain't no Opera, and Obama ain't fat.

CHANGE?

I just can't escape Obamamania no matter how hard I try.

This morning I tried to put all things Obama far behind me. But as I rode on the train and read the editorial from one of my hometown papers (The Daily News), this is what I saw:

"FROM 'WHITES ONLY' TO OBAMA'S SOUTHERN VICTORIES
WHEN SUPER TUESDAY commentators called it "no surprise" that Barack Obama had won the Democratic primaries in Georgia and Alabama, we thought that Sens. Herman Talmadge and Richard Russell, those Georgia segregationists who for so long stood in the way of civil rights, must be spinning in their graves.

A little historical perspective.

Just 50 years ago in Alabama and Georgia, or anywhere in the Old South, Barack Obama's parents, a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya, could not have wed - interracial marriage was against the law. For even flirting with a white woman, Obama's father could have been taken from his home and lynched, as were thousands of blacks in our nation's history.

A presidential campaign by a black man? Unthinkable. Blacks had a hard time even registering to vote. Mississippi Freedom Summer was years away. No Freedom Rides yet. No sit-ins. Although Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court decision desegregating public schools, was handed down in 1954, schools in Alabama and Georgia were still segregated.

Fifty years ago, Jim Crow was the law in the South. If Barack Obama were campaigning in Georgia or Alabama, he wouldn't have been served in a "white" restaurant. Couldn't have stayed in a "white" hotel.

Would've had to wait until he found a "colored" toilet. Wouldn't have been permitted to drink from a "whites only" water fountain.

Segregationists used every tactic they could, including violence, to stop the civil-rights movement. The Ku Klux Klan rode through the night spreading terror, with the tacit complicity of the local sheriff. White Citizens Councils openly retaliated against blacks suspected of even questioning segregation. Tenant farmers were kicked off the land they worked, others found themselves unemployable for the same offense.

Alabama and Georgia elected officials were virtually all segregationists. And all Democrats.
Today, blacks are a significant percent of the electorate in Georgia and Alabama. The Old South has hundreds of black elected officials - sheriffs, legislators and members of Congress.
And Barack Obama got the votes of blacks AND whites in Alabama, Georgia and elsewhere.
WE KNOW THERE'S still a long way to go in race relations in this country.

Much still needs to be done. But to say that it's "no surprise" that an African-American won state elections for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States, in Alabama and Georgia in particular, is to forget how far we've come.

For those of us who have been around long enough to know both ends of this continuum, it is awe-inspiring. Barack Obama is campaigning on the idea of "change." In many ways, he's already succeeded.* "

Now who am I to argue with the powerful editorial writers at The Daily News?

To them, the "O" man has already changed A-merry-ca, and I suppose in many ways he has.

But is he any different than Oprah, Tiger, Will, Michael, and all the other race neutral lovable blacks that A-merry-ca has embraced? Maybe. But just maybe. After all, he is a politician and not an entertainer. He has a charge to do more serious things, and the office he seeks is reserved for just a few people in a very exclusive club.

I am still cynical, and I am still not too sure about this new A-merry-can spirit that every one keeps talking about. I mean I hear all the nice speeches, and I see all the love but....

Hey, all I can say is that my Johnson is starting to move again. And I have all you damn Obamaholics, and editorial writers to thank for it.