John McCain, not 5 minutes ago, told Cuban Americans living in Miami that Obama will sit down to talk to Raul Castro unconditionally. In an effort to scare up support, McCain has launched a" Scare Florida's Jewish and Spanish speaking" communities into supporting the GOP candidate this election cycle. Unless the democratic nominee really tries hard to reach out to these groups, they will vote according to their unfounded fears and insecurities. Sen. Obama needs to set up a special delegation of election workers, and make repeated visits and overtures to them. Most who harbor these old fears are already a part of an age demographic he does not do well with. There is no good reason for Obama not to be President of the United States this time next year, but there is an incredible amount of work to do yet. If we reach out to those we know and tell them what we know, and his campaign makes the attempt to inspire these people the way so many of us have been inspired, we can change their fears to hope.

 I have always admired the Clintons, especially WJ, and enjoyed rubbing his victories in the noses of my ultra-conservative co-workers, playfully anyway. However, I don't think that I am in the minority if I feel that there has been a slow deterioration of their ideals over the last 20 years. Rather than share in the hopes and dreams of millions of idealists, that this country is finally ready to be all-inclusive in gender and race, their vision has become clouded by the notion that the end justifies the means. Winning at any cost is not, I think, how they started their lives in public service. It is possibly what they may now be best remembered for. As we have watched this primary season unfold, the constant moving of goal posts has reminded me of a line from a movie, the title of which I can't remember, cynically delivered by Martin Mull; "We need to lower our standards, a little bit at a time, and only where it's important."n If you are in the fight long enough, as this  contest, and also the current administration's handling of detainees in the War on Terror has shown us, you become what you detested in the first place.