the progression of this campaign vis-a-vis Reverend Wright almost demands another sensational, awe inspiring speech by Senator Obama.

after the initial flurry of youtube & Faux News Wright's Greatest Hits....Obama gave a speech that most Americans never heard or read, but had the media tell them it was akin to a spiritual awakening, Obama became Lincoln & effusions of extremity were emmanated.

but, alas, the Reverend Wright, with his own agenda, went on the 2008 Wright Strikes Back Tour (today is is supposed to cut the ribbon at a new Walmart somewhere and expound on Zionism)...and alas and alack, the liberal media has gone bonkers, they cannot help themselves from covering the train wreck, yet they are so anguished about the horror being delievered to their guy, Obama, that they grasp at straws.

There has been a lot of hubbub this month about the primary debates.  Senator Obama was asked tough questions about his associations and beliefs that hadn't come up in previous debates.  Since his less-than-stellar performance in the Pennsylvania primary debate, he has flip-flopped on his willingness to compete in the debate format.  No amount of jabbing by Senator Clinton, nor petitions from voters have persuaded him to change his mind.

Senator Obama is ducking.  

In Obama: No More Debates Before Next Primary, at FOXNEWS.COM, an article previewing Sunday's interview with Fox's Chris Wallace, Obama was definite about not debating:

"Asked why he was repeatedly "ducking" Clinton's debate challenges before the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, Obama said, as he has before, that he just wants to spend time with voters.

"I'm not ducking. We've had 21 (debates), and so what we've said is, with two weeks, two big states, we want to make sure we're talking to as many folks possible on the ground taking questions from voters," he said, so no debates.

"We're not going to have debates between now and Indiana," he said.

We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking.
-- Mark Twain

I think any of us who retain even the smallest scrap of objectivity can agree that the above quotation is sadly relevant to the current state of the Dem primary.

If you look for the bad in people, expecting to find it, you surely will.
-- Abraham Lincoln

One manifestation of the intense feelings on all sides is the unfortunate way every slight or misstep is taken as proof of evil intent on the part of the transgressor. While I admit that evil intent is hard to disprove in many cases, as enlightened human beings, we should hold ourselves to a higher standard that that, before we break out the tar and feathers.

Let's look at a couple of recent incidents in light of the above ideas.

FifteenNineteen, the blog on politicking and electioneering, officially gets behind this important reform to our electoral process.

Today I am announcing FifteenNineteen's first official endorsement.  Not of a candidate, not even of some divisive policy issue.  Since this blog's primary concern is the electoral process and how it is used, maneuvered through, and exploited, this first endorsement is for a reform of that very process. FifteenNineteen endorses the nation-wide implementation of instant runoff voting.

Instant runoff voting (or IRV), if you haven't heard of it yet, is a voting system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference rather than selecting only one candidate.  It is actually a very simple and brilliant idea, though for me to try and explain it may make it seem complicated.  Let me give it a shot.  Keep reading...

Today, the moment we've all been waiting for:  James H. Webb, Jr. kicks off what promises to be an historic, powerful, and ultimately successful campaign for U.S. Senate from Virginia.    Why is Webb running?  According to his press release: