I have not yet met one person in Washington, DC or Michigan who is excited to vote for John McCain.  Can a candidate win if he doesn't inspire?  

And, has a candidate ever won the presidency by offering as his central policy a scaling back of government programs while average americans are suffering through a recession?

I don't put much stock in Robert Novak's claim that Michelle Obama has nixed the VP chances of Hillary Clinton.  However, his claim that Democratic Party insiders are pushing the candidacy of Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is intruiging.

http://www.townhall.com/...

"Support is growing in Democratic ranks for Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland as vice president. He would bring to the ticket maturity (66 years old), experience (six terms in Congress) and moderation (rated "A" by the National Rifle Association). He is very popular in Ohio, a state Republicans must carry to elect a president."

This is a link to Obama's new TV ad "Hometown" which hits the Gas Tax, the Iraq War and the issue of Trust.

http://link.brightcove.com/...

I don't think this ad is as effective as Obama's most recent ads.  I would much rather see a direct response to Hillary's "What happened to Barack?" ad.

The ad I would run would ask 'What has happened to Hillary?'

(1) Show clips of her Obliterate comment

(2) Show clips of her dissing "elite" economists and pushing the gas tax

(3) Talking about how the Magnequench Plant was taken over by the Chinese because of the Clinton administration.

- Maybe even a clip of her on O'Reilly talking about rich people, "God bless us"

(4) Show her pandering double-speak on these issues and turn the elitist comments back on her.

Just my opinion.

Politico just posted an article about Hillary hypocrisy -- essentially the baggage Barack would like to bring up, but can't.

http://www.politico.com/...

The article begins:

"Thrown off his game by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright uproar, Barack Obama’s strongest answer to Hillary Rodham Clinton is one he won’t give: Senator, do you really want to get in a contest with me over who has more unsavory personal associations?"

VandeHei and Harris explore her law firm associations, Whitewater, Mark Rich and other pardons, her brothers as well as Bill Clinton's foundation and international involvements.

They also tackle the electability arguments for Hillary in light of the above history and her current truthfulness gap.

This is a must-read article.

There are plenty of diaries that chronicle the 'win at all costs' and 'scorched earth' tactics of the Clinton campaign.  The point of this diary is much less grandiose.

Hillary Clinton did herself a disservice by not defending Barack Obama against baseless attacks against his Patriotism.  She has missed a valuable opportunity.

More after the fold.

The argument made by Hillary Clinton that experience is the sole, ultimate and all-important criteria for President is illogical.

Barack Obama should counter with this simple response:

"If experience is the sole criteria for the Presidency, the public would be clamoring for George W. Bush to have a third term.  We can all agree that the public would rather have a President with good judgment than four more years of George W. Bush."

Any other thoughts about how to combat the experience line of reasoning?

Hillary Clinton thanked Karl Rove on Fox and Friends this morning.  The context was benign, but the "Thank You" coupled with the split-screen of Clinton and Rove should be cut into an Obama ad regarding Hillary's tactics in this campaign.

http://rawstory.com/...

I imagine Obama will tie the foreign policies of Bush-McCain and Clinton together in his next round of advertisements, especially since she voted for the Iraq war, voted for the Iran resolution and has co-opted the "antagonize our friends and enemies" foreign policy of the Bush Administration.

In fact, this should be spliced together with Clinton's speech on the floor of the Senate during the Iraq war vote in which she said that she knew this was a vote that essentially authorized military action and war.

What are people doing to pass the time between now and when the polls close?  

I'm at work listening to Barack read Dreams of My Father.  It's nice and soothing -- a stark contrast to the stress-inducing news and talk-radio coverage leading up to these primaries.

Did you know that in addition to being related to Dick Cheney, Barack is also related to Jefferson Davis of the Confederacy?  This is fascinating stuff.  

Hope you're having a great primary day!