Obama

One can't be blamed for hardly knowing where to begin with Barack Obama, since one hardly knows where he stands on anything. This is not entirely his fault, as it is apparent the national media give much more coverage to Clinton. However, Obama has not done himself any long-term favor by running his campaign on persona, even if it has gotten him this far. At least the negative attention which coalesces around Clinton can be tied to her policy proposals, which after all presupposes that she has some, thus rendering them positive in comparison to someone's that are not known. What does Obama have of his own besides "hope" and a desire to "change the tone" in Washington? And anyway, how is this accomplished -- or, even better, why is it desirable? Washington needs to be strung up, not coached on diction. This is just the kind of empty rhetoric which adds nothing to the debate.

Of course, Obama has policies -- good policies -- but one only learns of them by visiting his website. That is not a good thing, since he should be running on them, and making sure people know about them. For whatever reason, that is not happening. The media doubtless play their part, but so does reducing oneself to a "brand" in a presidential campaign.