"If Obama is elected, if I am invited to rejoice with the majority of Americans, the best part of me will have a chance to smile triumphantly at the worst."

Martin means the worst of herself, right, not the worst of Americans?

We are "already better"? I guess I stopped noticing as I'm trying to keep myself warm and fed this winter. It's amazing that Martin would say this as she writes on women's issues--what, sexism doesn't count now?

Could the quiet seed of joy that was planted in my heart the day I heard Barack Obama speak for the first time take root and grow without fear of the brutal storms of disappointment?

I'm pretty sure that wasn't where obama planted the, um, 'seed'...

if we're going to move on as a country. That someone smart enough to write for an entity that gets printed on actual paper wrote that, is just staggering to me. There are a lot of people who are going to need a major wake up call. Maybe we're going to have to endure Obama's horrendous choices on the Supreme Court before these people understand the lightbringer brings no light.

The right seems to be pulling its punches. I cannot say why. But I have not seen anything to equal the SBVT assault and considering the many provocations in the senator's background, I find that inexplicable. McCain's celebrity ads drew blood and then he backed away. How utterly unlike the GOP.

After the malfeasance in the caucuses, I think that something is rotten in Denmark.

... and the EV I can't see any reason to wait on holding Obama's feet to the fire starting immediately. Not that our tribunes of the people will. Plus, now there's obviously no reason to vote for him if you don't feel you can. The economy, so awful for so many of us, is Obama's friend here, as voters continue to assume he represents the Democratic brand.

This is not the Republican Party I know. Ayers is only coming out now? Swiftboating Kerry started in May. I think the fix is in, has been for awhile. Though of course...

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

Just maybe the Anti-Christ!! If some of you don't start your day with the General, http://tinyurl.com/4ytj6u

I don’t think that Obama is a “messiah.” I know that he has flaws, that he will fail in many ways, that the space between his ideals and his actions will often gape with a discomfiting hypocrisy, or at the very least, inefficiency.

But...

No, you do believe that; you do, very much, in fact. You can't have it both ways. If you truly believed him to be a person like you or me you could in no way allow your mind to see those words and them put them on paper. No, my dear, you are a true believer, and you know it.

I just don't get how people could so willingly and so fully hand themselves over to a politician of all of the people you could hand yourself over to. Has Bush really done us so badly that so many people have gotten this metaphysical? Hillary and others also have 'fans' like any politician, but the sheer volume and percentage of Obama's supporters who show themselves as fans is staggering.

What bothers me so much about this is that it degrades the abilities and the talents of the leader in the long run. There simply can't be any real accountability when you get into office the way Obama's about to.