I have posted a link of the best video of Barack Obama I have seen to date. It is a peak of Barack that you don't see played on the national news. Most of the time, his back is to the camera as he listens and responds to a question posed by an Indiana woman. The way he moves toward her, giving her his full attention is so respectful. His answers are inclusive of desiring input from both Republicans and Democrats. He then explains why he doesn't stoop to negative campaigning. I am impressed with his definition of toughness. These views reflect his common sense, calm approach I feel are so necessary for the President to possess.

"Some Times You Take Some Hits"

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/04/26/sot.obama.hit.back.cnn

Yeah, yesterday, the Daily Oklahoman ran my editorial! Named in this blog as "Are We Two?"  The Daily called it "Not A Game."  It is the only one of 3 letters to the editor they chose to print.  I guess they don't like letters written with Barack Obama in a positive light. What a surprise. Never the less, I will continue to send my views every 28 days as their guidelines allow. 

Feel free to email your views in 225 words or less, every 28 days, to yourviews@oklahoman.com.

Yes, she did.  In an interview last week on GMA, Hillary sounded very Republican when she made it quite clear she would not hesitate to take lethal action against Iran, if they were to launch a nuclear attack against Israel.  In response, Barack Obama said he would never let things get that far; he would make sure Iran never becomes nuclear power. Good Idea!

I kept waiting for the pundits to jump all over her for her hair-trigger response. Nothing. Does no one but me find that horrifying?  Imagine Hillary launching a nuclear strike because she needs to prove to the world she is tough. This is not "War Games" the movie. This is our future.

McCain may think he is Hamas' greatest nightmare, but my greatest nightmare is that one of those two would win the election. 

Our support of Obama is not just a vote for change, it is vote to stop allowing our government to act with out diplomacy as it did in Iraq. Barack Obama has the intelligence, the forethought, the proven ability to bring people together to solve problems.  Most important, he understands the need to communicate.

As I tell my grandchildren: Use your words, not your fists to solve problems. The old testament adage an eye for and eye was replaced by the new testament verses: remove the plank from your own eye before you attempt to remove the speck from [another's] eye; do not resist an evil person; and simply: love your neighbors.

How is it the Religious Right, the Republicans and Hillary don't understand and don't express these basic fundamentals? 

When I was the editor of the Oklahoma Women's Front Page News, using the pen name Candace St Clare, my life would have been so much easier if we had had the capability of creating such beautiful pages online.

Back in the olden days....1992, we had the ability to type in our stories on a computer, but we had to lay the newspaper out by hand. We would cut and paste columns of words;, take photos and print them small, bordering them with thin black tape. It was arduous, slow, tedious and so much fun!  To see the paper pasted up and then watch it fly through the printing presses was glorious. To produce a printed product each and every month was a satisfying accomplishment.  

Once we were able to layout the paper online, scan in the photos and move the text around with a mouse, we had a more polished paper, but the fun of the creation was lost.

I think that is why I took up scrapbooking.  Maybe I just like the smell of the glue!  Ha! Truly, it is the hands-on action of creating a thing of beauty, even if you are the only one who thinks it's beautiful!

Getting all the pages complete on this website is equally satisfying. Like the newspaper, the content will change periodically, but the joy of creating will remain the same!

Listening to long time Democrats threaten to change parties if their candidate isn't the nominee, reminds me of listening to my children fight over a toy.  This is not a game. This is real life. We have real problems. It is time for all Democrats to mend the split and promote policies rather than personalities. We need change not contention. 

I sent this to the Daily Oklahoman. We'll See if they print it! 

And by the way, kudos to Gov.Brad Henry for his endorsement of Barack Obama. It seems to me if the Chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, Ivan Holmes, himself a super delegate, is really serious about the nomination not being decided by super delegates (as he said in a press conference aired on OKC local stations yesterday) then he would encourage all super delegates to make up their minds PRIOR to the end of the primaries. What do you think?

I am writing from Oklahoma, a state that has, in its recent past, weathered many storms both fiscal and natural.  We were brought onto the national stage by drought, disasters and at the hands of a homegrown terrorist who, in 1995,  thought a strike at the heartland would bring our government tumbling down. How wrong he was. Oklahomans are as tough as our own red clay.

We have taught the world what it means to reach out to those who suffer. We have garnered a reputation as a friendly state who rise up in the face of adversity and shoulder burdens together. No one asked if it was a Republican or a Democrat trapped beneath the rubble of the Murrow building. No one cared if the houses decimated by a killer tornado were inhabited by white, black, red or yellow families. We of the Sooner state have always been ready to run straight into the face of disaster, and carry out the survivors and the casualties with love and honor.

We have stood together and given our time, our money and our votes to make our state successful. Our votes for MAPS have refaced downtown and brought an economic tidewater to our door we could never have dreamed of in 1982 when Penn Square Bank fell. Our Pride is showing and it feels good to know we may get knocked down, but we don't stay down. Why? Because we are kindred spirits. Our state is synonymous with change. We are a state because many diverse groups came, gave, compromised and learned to live together.

Today I am disheartened, but not discouraged when I read the editorials in the Daily Oklahoman that many good Democrats would rather vote for McCain than for either of our party's candidates.  If that is the case, a disaster looms on the November horizon like the grey/green wall clouds I have come to know all too well.

This is not the time to quibble. This is the time to stand together and face the disasters at the gas pump, at our banking institutions and around the world. We must stand together for our children who are being left behind in school because a good idea was poorly implemented. It is time for all good Oklahomans to stand together and say NOW is time for change. NOW!

I choose to support Senator Barack Obama because he is the candidate that best represents my goals for our nation. He represents those issues with intelligence,  a wealth of knowledge from a broad experience, and a diverse background that allows him to understand complex American sensibilities. He has a soft- spoken yet firm command of speech that allows him to speak with a homeless person as easily as he speaks to billionaires and heads of state. Most importantly: Senator Obama Listens. And he has a viable plan that will put muscle back into our American Dollar and fortify our friendships abroad while never, never, never, putting us at risk for more terrorists on our doorsteps.