At some point, in every rally, Barack asks his supporters that important question. 

"Are you ready for change?"

Judging by the comments I am reading on the blogosphere, it doesn't look like we are ready to change anything at all.

Here is a typical comment you can read on almost any thread over at Huffingtonpost...
<blockquote>i support barack obama. that said, this constant cowering down to the clintons (like not sticking up for ms. powers by saying something like... these people are calling me things and attacking me left and right.. so stop whineing) is starting to make even me feel weak.
i hate what the clintons are doing to this process, the "kitchen sink" crap. but what is starting to bother me more is the fact that obama is not even trying to deflect these constant body blows.
i understand the concept of trying to rise above it, but, there is a difference in rising above it and appearing weak.
my wife and i are staunch supporters, however, if mr. obama can't stand up and knock these clintons in thier place, given all the ammunition availalbe to do so, how is he going to handle the hardest job in the world?
i'm just saying...</blockquote>

Barack Obama is being tested alright.  We are seeing if he can be goaded into getting distracted from a fight he has in the bag to engage in a fight he cannot win.  What is at stake here is whether the illusion of strength will be allowed to usurp strength itself.  For all of the Clinton campaign's sophistry cannot change the basic facts as of today.  She is losing.

So far, Obama is showing himself to be everything I want in a Commander-in-Chief.  He is slow to anger.  He is calm in a storm of controversy.  He doesn't over react to other people's foolishness.  He doesn't fly off the handle like Hillary Clinton or John McCain.  So far, so good.  If only we had someone like that in the White House on 9/11.  But we had George Bush.  Basically, he is behaving just as he should behave if he takes his own rhetoric seriously.

He is ready for change.  He embodies change.  So, do we think his silence in the face of attacks is a result of strength and confidence?  or is it a sign of weakness. 

Is Hillary Clinton right?

Would we rather have a fighter? 

or

Are we ready for change?

Let's see...she through 'the kitchen sink'.  She went on Saturday Night Live AND The Daily Show.  She exposed his Canadian scandal!  She scared the crap out of voters with her 3:00am ad.  She had her minions out talking and spreading her message on all the news shows with an overwhelming force.  And what did she accomplish last night?

Not one thing.  Vermont trumps Rhode Island in the delegate count.  Her win in Ohio is a stunning underperformance given the effort she put into losing a twenty point lead in the state.  Yes, I know that you are all talking about how racist we are in Ohio this morning.  Believe me.  You simply are not puting last night into its proper context.  The election you need to reference is Ken Blackwell's run for governor in 2006.  As conservative a state as Ohio likes to consider itself, Blackwell, a conservative Republican with the full support of the religious right mega churches got nowhere near the support Obama recieved last night.  As conservative as Ohio white people are, Hillary Clinton should have blown Obama out of the water in Ohio last night.  But she surprisingly didn't.  Ohio is making some real progress in terms of racial politics and in terms of voters trending left if last night's results are real.

And then, of course the narrow victory in Texas.  She practically lived there and that was the best she could do?  Losing another 20 point lead with all the negative campaigning she did?  Damn!

What now?

I mean she has already endorsed John McCain.  She has already tried to make people think he is muslim and that he is best friends with people who were radicals when he was eight years old.  What's left?  Is she going to talk about his mama?  A showdown on the streets of Casper, Wyoming at noon?  The only thing left to her is to get right down in the gutter and just wallow in dirt and filth.

There are facts, and there is spin.  And facts speak louder.  And the facts are that Obama strategists have a plan for this process. The plan always took into account losing in Texas and Ohio.  The facts are that Obama's performance exceeded the plan last night in spite of the negative campaign and having the media turn against him in the last two weeks. 

Things are looking pretty good for us Obama supporters this morning.  I think I will go back and play with the delegate counter games some more!   And then send the campaign another $100.

Hillary told reporters in Texas that only she and John McCain have the experience necessary to be president.  All Obama offers is empty speeches.  I am scratching myhead trying to figure out how the party comes together to support her if she manages to prevail as the nominee.   And if she is not the nominee, won't she just have to sit this election out after some of the things she has said about the nominee this year?

I have read comment after comment dscussing the reasons Hillary Clinton should drop out of the primary race after failing to win big in Texas and Ohio on Tuesday, March 4th.  Comment after comment about the fatigue people are feeling, how ready they are for this to just...be...over.  The Hillary supporters are reading all of this as well and they are forming their strategy accordingly.

Hillary is trying to make herself appear to be a Hollywood monster like Godzilla or King Kong.  The little people keep shooting the monster and throwing everything they have at it, but it just won't die.  That is what she is trying to convince you is true about her campaign.  She sets up a false deadline of March 4th and then she moves it out again.  She lets it be known that she is prepared to fight this out on the convention floor to get her way.  She refuses to allow rank and file voters to determine the outcome of the primaries (unless the superdelegates seem to be breaking for Obama, then she wants the 'people to decide' and tries to seat Florida and Michigan delegates). 

Hillary Clinton is counting on you to give up.  She wants to force a Solomon's choice on Obama.  She is counting on you to do the noble thing and ask Obama to step aside for the sake of defeating John  McCain.  She is certain that election fatigue will set in.  That Obama is just a fad and that she can outlast you.  She is like one of those Texas Hold'em players in the World Series of Poker, trying to bluff you out with a pair of deuces.  Hillary knows what kind of human resources have been mobilized by Team Obama for this week's contests.  She is hoping that by refusing to go away, she will so demoralize Obama supporters that we will not be able to muster up the same strength for the remaining contests.

So.

Is she right?

Or can we manage to open up another can of whup ass for as long as it takes?