Quotes From Around Yon Blogosphere

As someone new to the party, I have to say the awesomeness of the Democratic circular firing squad really can not be explained to outsiders. You can try to explain it, but it just doesn’t sink in until you are actually a part of it. The Bush administration and Republican rule has been an unmitigated disaster for this country, and the Clinton camp seems dead set on making sure we get four more years of it. Bush’s poll numbers are worse than syphillis, and yet the Clinton campaign and their supporters keep making me yearn for the decency and the integrity of the say-anything Romney crowd.

This primary has truly been . . . a real eye-opener. While the GOP is turning lemons into lemonade with McCain, the Democrats are showing the world they know how to turn filet mignon into a shit sandwich. Impressive work.

I think I am going to start drinking again.

-- JOHN COLE

If a politician doesn't wanna get beat up, he shouldn't run for office. If a football player doesn't want to get tackled or want the risk of an a occasional clip he shouldn't put the pads on.

-- BILL CLINTON

Did Hillary "misspeak," or did she lie, about coming under sniper fire at the airport in Tuzla, Bosnia, in 1996? Was Bill’s remark about wanting a race between two patriotic, national-interest-minded, policy-loving candidates a form of McCarthyism? Was the Obama adviser and retired general Merrill (Tony) McPeak’s charge of McCarthyism against Bill a form of McCarthyism? Was Obama’s Iowa adviser Gordon Fischer’s rejoinder—that Bill’s remark was worse than the stain on Monica’s dress— more or less offensive than Bill’s original remark? Than General McPeak’s charge? Than Hillary misspeaking about Bosnia? Than Hillary lying about Bosnia? Should Fischer be obliged to quit the campaign? Should McPeak? Should Bill? If Bill has to quit the campaign, should Michelle be required to say something that will force her removal from the campaign as well? Has Michelle already said something that could retroactively force her removal? Was the Clinton adviser James Carville’s comparison of Bill Richardson to Judas Iscariot an insult to Richardson, to Christianity, or to Judas? Should Carville be required to leave the campaign? To hang himself? Should Judas have been required to issue a public apology before hanging himself? Should Hillary and Barack simultaneously abandon the race for the Presidency in order to save the Democratic Party from self-destruction?

-- GEORGE PACKER

There is a strong case to be made that people choose their religious communities based on spiritual factors, not political ones. Most individuals have plenty of outlets for their political interests. They don't need their church or temple or small group to be yet another place where they discuss policy and politics.

-- AMY SULLIVAN

Note two things: First, Clinton has obviously written off the Black vote and feels free to pile on with regard to Wright. Second, also note how the left feels perfectly at ease defending Wright now that the controversy has faded into the background. The revulsion to his racist, anti-American comments is now consigned to being nothing more than "white backlash" – code words for white racism. In other words, criticizing racist talk from a Black preacher is in and of itself racist.

This is the kind of "conversation on race" the left wishes to have. They define the parameters. They define what is suitable to discuss. They define who transgresses and steps over the line. They are the final arbiters in this so-called "conversation" and woe betide the luckless conservative who strays from their rigid, illiberal, orthodoxy on race.

In other words, if you don’t accept their construct of anything and everything having to do with race, you are de facto, a racist.

Obama would be proud of you.

We're still a month away from the Pennsylvania primary and Hillary Clinton is beginning to throw everything at Obama within reach. Whether anything sticks is not the point. By tossing so much dirt up in the air, she obscures the fact of her own minuscule chances to win the nomination based on most delegates pledged and the popular vote while making it appear Obama is unelectable.

-- RICK MORAN

In the month of February, McCain raised just under $11 million, compared to $34 million for Clinton and $55 million for Obama.The numbers get worse when you look at the whole election cycle: in total, McCain has raised just $64 million, less than half of Clinton's $170 million, and a third of Obama's $193 million.

But what's most striking is the debt. The Clinton campaign has amassed a staggering $8.7 million worth, double McCain's $4.3 million. Obama, on the other hand, owes only $625,000. By campaign standards, he's debt free.

-- CASEY MINER

At this point in the election cycle — before any fear of the unknown has set in — challengers are often running much better against their incumbent-party opponents. In 1988, Michael Dukakis had about a 10-point lead over George Bush (the senior and then-vice-president), only to lose by around eight — an 18-point swing.

-- STEVEN STARK

Cartoon by Tony Auth/The Philadelphia Inquirer