"So (Barack Obama) while you'll almost certainly win the nomination, Democrats are nervous about the fall. You've given them reasons to be."

And while I would replace (almost certainly) with MAY win the nominations, yes, Karl Rove (of all the people NOT on my favorites list) has indeed called it. In Newsweek, he does go on a bit long but here's the beginning ...

"Dear Senator Obama ...

Four months ago, you took the political world by storm in Iowa. The media were agog. They called your words "gorgeous," your victory "a message to the world." You "made history" and Americans could "look at ourselves with pride" in "a moment to marvel."

Times change. The six weeks leading into Pennsylvania were difficult. You excelled at raising money and gaining endorsements, but got weaker as big problems emerged. Before you can fix them, you must understand them. In Pennsylvania, you won only 30 percent among Catholics and 29 percent among white working-class voters. Defections like this elect Republicans.

Even liberal commentators who adore you warn you can't win with a McGovern coalition of college students and white-wine sippers from the party's left wing. Saying small-town voters cling to guns, faith and xenophobia because of economic bitterness hurt you; it reinforced the growing sense you don't share Middle America's values. So did asking about the price of arugula in Iowa, dismissing the "true" patriotism of people who wear a flag lapel pin, being "friendly" (as your chief strategist, David Axelrod, put it) with a violent, unrepentant '60s radical and having a close relationship with an angry pastor who expressed anti-American sentiments.

You argue the son of a single working mom can't be an elitist. But it's not where you start in life; it's where you end up. After a prestigious prep school, Columbia and Harvard, you've ended up with the values of Cambridge, San Francisco and Hyde Park. So you're doing badly in Scranton, Youngstown and Erie, where ordinary Americans live."

Rove then proceeds with 6 suggestions of what to do and they do ring quite true of Rove's vaunted win-at-any-price methods. Most if not all will never happen but I believe the most important for Hillary supporters is number 3, because it is so telling ...

"3. Your lack of achievements undercuts your core themes. It's powerful when you say America is not "Red States or Blue States but the United States." The problem is, you don't have a long Senate record of working across party lines. So build one. In the coming months, say that you'll appoint Republicans to your cabinet and get a couple to say they'd serve. Highlight initiatives Republicans can agree on. Most importantly, push for a bipartisan issue now before Congress."

Rove ends with the first paragraph printed above and you can almost feel him licking his lips over the potential victory ahead for John McCain.

Instead, I believe we women and thinking men are going to push Hillary over the finish line!

Positively,
Carolan