She’s been the target of Republican attacks for 25 years now. They have mercilessly criticized her character, publicly questioned her patriotism, and spent a hundred million dollars of public funds to try to find something - anything, they could use to stop her progressive march towards equality and justice. And today, she still stands strong, leading the national polls, and poised to become the first female president of the United States.

Now that Senator Obama is surging in the polls it may be time to openly discuss some of the issues that have previously, at least in my observations, not been discussed here. These are issues which are critical in terms of the Democratic Party’s need to win the Whitehouse in November. I am referring to the delicate matter of Obama’s electability.

My wife is a Turkish Kurd. Her whole family lives in Istanbul and has felt firsthand the hostility and tension that exists between the Turks and the Kurds in Turkey.

We're going to Istanbul in a few months. I’m going to meet my in-laws for the first time.

I have to admit this whole situation with the genocide vote and the potential upcoming Turkish incursion into Kurdish Iraq is a bit unsettling.

On the new politics board on IMDB.com, “treebeme” made the below comment, something that sounded like music to my ears: It was an explanation about why Fred Thompson was apparently waiting so long to enter the 2008 presidential race:

Wesley Clark has again affirmed his commitment to leading America towards universal health care.

(Click on Youtube links below to see Clark explain his position on healthcare)

In a speech made in Huntsville, Alabama this week, the likely presidential candidate indicated that a Clark administration would make it a top priority to provide medical care to the uninsured.

“We need to fix the access to the healthcare system,” Clark declared, repeating a view he promoted frequently during his campaign for president in 2004.

During that campaign, Clark made the case that a citizen’s right to healthcare was equal to that of a solider or a congressman. During a memorable speech in New Hampshire in October 2003, he said:

Although he has not yet formally declared it, all signs indicate that Wesley Clark will run for president.

The former commander of NATO and teacher of economics made a campaign-style speech in Huntsville, Alabama Monday.

(Click on the link below to watch the video segment)

Some highlights:

“I believe we need to raise the minimum wage. We need to help small businesses in this country. We need to fix the access to the healthcare system. We’ve got to stop the unfunded mandates, that are running out, for the No Child Left Behind Act. We’ve got to raise and enhance teacher pay and morale and performance. We’ve got to get preschool education for every child in America.”

As we all know, if Wes declares, the recent activity and interest in Clark seen on the blogs will swell a thousand fold. I know that Clarkies can’t wait for the announcement and the momentum that will follow it if it is indeed what we all want to hear.

As the political dialogue unfolds, I think it would be helpful to determine the best way of dealing with the Nagourney article and the charge that simply will not go away, namely that Wes Clark would have voted for the war. For anyone not familiar with this, immediately after Clark entered the race in 2003, he did a 90 minute interview with Adam Nagourney of the New York Times, where he was quoted as saying he probably would have voted for the Iraq War Resolution.