I have to admit I've been glued to the news and the TV lately following the debates and trying to understand the fall of my candidate ... Hillary. Yes, I'm a Hillary supporter. I voted for Bill and I was a supporter of the Clintons all through the Clinton drama in the 90's. I even ran into one of Bill's "girlfriends" on the streets of DC once. She was very tall. I passed her on the way into a hotel and all I remember is staring into her breasts. That's how tall she was.

I'm also one of those "older Americans" who saw a return to the 90's as a good thing. And I was excited about the possibility of the first woman president.

But every day Barack Obama catches more momentum. And it's not about race. It's about personality. Hillary, for all her intelligence and strength and perseverance, is not an engaging personality. She's about as exciting as Margaret Thatcher or Queen Elizabeth. And I'm not saying this to be mean. After all Hillary is my candidate of choice. I say this with an air of resignation.

Every day the news reports on some new crisis. The global warming crisis. The oil crisis. The looming recession and the return of inflation. The threat of terrorism. The senseless war in Iraq. And what Americans want now; what Americans need now is optimism and hope. Obama offers hope. He offers hope in his smile. He offers hope in his calm, noncombative demeanor. He offers hope in his calm, surfer dude approach to the world.

Of the four democratic candidates on that stage Saturday night he was the only one who protested the war in Iraq from the very beginning. This alone shows that he is capable of a calm, reasoned approach in a crisis. Edwards is not calm. Edwards is combative. Richardson ... well Richardson is just dull. And Hillary is political. I suspect that she supported the war because it looked like the best political move at the time. That's not the best reasoning.

In an era when all the forces seem to be against us, Obama gives us hope.



-Susanita