Hillary and McCain are both banking on their own delusion, that Obama can't be both inspiring and content-dense. It's a really bad miscalculation. Obama has reams of specifics. He lays them all out in a few speeches he can point to that blow that proposition out of the water, then back to inspiring oratory. I don't have a problem with the substance, and I agree with Obama that to really change things, we will need the enthusiasm and involvement of the electorate.

“Let's be clear, speeches don't put food on the table,” he said recently. “But the only way that we're going to bring about change is if all of you get excited about change.”

For my money, if Tiger Woods had a 4 point spread on Palmer to win the Masters…

For my money, I'd mortgage the house and put it all on Tiger… I would that is if I could find someone crazy enough to make that book.

Whether intentional or not casualobserver’s allegory is a perfect example of the “Then v. Now” that's going on in politics today. It's probably always been there but this is the first time many of are of an age to see it clearly AND the older we get the more “Then” we become and the more tempting it becomes to get angry or bitter.

Age wise I'm a “Then” but the “Now's” are our future and the ones to keep our eyes on. Good God, they're both exciting and optimistic two things our country has had a short supply of lately. I look forward to their victory throughout the upcoming election.

FWIW: As much as I respect / admire both Palmer and Woods, Tiger would beat Arnold by 10 strokes even if he left everything over a 4 iron at home… “Then” v. “Now” and there's nothing we can do but enjoy it… or not.

Once the general comes, with 3/4s of the public against the war, that 4% is likely to increase.

McCain: But I'd like to talk about X.

O: The War.

Mac: But….

O: The War.

It is an irony that the very high water mark of Rep power, which led to the brass to steal an election, will likely lead the the rise to power not only of a Dem, but likely a black man.

The negative blow back seems little more than those who oppose Obama trying to 'make less' of this phenomenon.”

Hey, interpret it as you wish, SK. I'm just remembering cosmoetica making emphatic hay out of the the 47-43 lead Barackstar has on the corrupt, womanizing, warmongering has-been. For my money, if Tiger Woods had a 4 point spread on Palmer to win the Masters, I'd say that Tiger still needs some work on his game.

Doma: First, Obama is as specific as Hillary in his ideas. The difference is he is more malleable because he's willing to negotiate to get things done. That is a reality Hillary's supporters seem not to care of in their thirst to denigrate.

The negative blow back seems little more than those who oppose Obama trying to 'make less' of this phenomenon.

casualobserver: I'm not trying to extrapolate to the general election. These are merely observations of activity in front of my eyes. My area, though, is pretty reliably Republican, so it's pretty interesting, generally — and judging by other comments here, it's happening in many places around the state.

It may be that the same ~11,000 people are voting in the primary this year as in 2006, they are just almost all voting in the Democrats' primary this year since it is more “interesting”. If so, it could be bad news for your Representative, Ron Paul.

One would think that those willing to forgo the opportunity to vote for (or against) the likely Democratic nominee would be those who feel strongly about others on the Republican primary roster. Historically, that group includes a large percentage who want to change the status quo. If most of the regular Republican primary voters switch this year and vote in the Democrats' primary, Ron Paul could lose his primary race, and therefore his seat.

Were there Ron Paul for Congress signs around the polling place?

It may be that the same ~11,000 people are voting in the primary this year as in 2006, they are just almost all voting in the Democrats' primary this year since it is more “interesting”. If so, it could be bad news for your Representative, Ron Paul.

One would think that those willing to forgo the opportunity to vote for (or against) the likely Democratic nominee would be those who feel strongly about others on the Republican primary roster. Historically, that group includes a large percentage who want to change the status quo. If most of the regular Republican primary voters switch this year and vote in the Democrats' primary, Ron Paul could lose his primary race, and therefore his seat.

Were there Ron Paul for Congress signs around the polling place?

It may be that the same ~11,000 people are voting in the primary this year as in 2006, they are just almost all voting in the Democrats' primary this year since it is more “interesting”. If so, it could be bad news for your Representative, Ron Paul.

One would think that those willing to forgo the opportunity to vote for (or against) the likely Democratic nominee would be those who feel strongly about others on the Republican primary roster. Historically, that group includes a large percentage who want to change the status quo. If most of the regular Republican primary voters switch this year and vote in the Democrats' primary, Ron Paul could lose his primary race, and therefore his seat.

Were there Ron Paul for Congress signs around the polling place?

The blogosphere, like the atmosphere, abhors a vacuum, so I understand the penchant to fill it up with something. But, at this point, I'm not so sure the something is really that foretelling.

Your Fort Bend numbers certainly validate more interest in the D primary, but do those same numbers really support a watershed shift in overall primary activity?

We will likely get some deterministic skinny on the Clinton/Obama thing shortly, but all this innuendo of the general election seems to me to be at best an extrapolation of the “politically activist trees” and ignoring the passive forest of the tens of millions of general election-only voters that are far from engaged (or appearing) at this point.

I don't see anyone's tshirts in the lines at the local grocery store.