Look, for all you newbies: These early states, Iowa, NH, Nevada, SC--have very few delegates compared to the big states coming up on Feb. 5th.

Hillary is running way ahead in the major states that have tons of delegates (CA, NY, NJ, etc). In the past lots of candidates have won the early states but lost most of the big states and, as a result, did NOT win the nomination.

So, just relax, no nominee has been decided yet. But from how things are going, Hillary will win all the big states, Obama will win the black-dominated soutbern states coming up but overall, Hillary should win decisively

I am someone who was drawn to Obama at the very beginning, but after reading about his positions, many of which are not very well thought out, I switched to either Hillary or Edwards (still undecided). I also researched Obama's Iraq positions and discovered that what Bill Clinton said about his flip flops was largely true, so that takes away a major reason why I may have voted for him. His position on Iraq is really not that different from Hillary's!

Anyway, this is what I have to say to Obama supporters--I have been to lots of gatherings with many Obama supporters and have discovered that most are for him because they believe he is a "change agent" etc. BUT WHEN I ASKED THEM WHAT HE STANDS FOR AND WHAT HIS POSITIONS ARE, VERY FEW COULD DISCUSS HIS POSITIONS WITH ANY DEGREE OF UNDERSTANDING. The result has been that I have been able to "convert" many of them to either Hillary or Edwards just by educating them about where the candidates stood on important positions such as healthcare, the economy etc. (Obama's positions on some issues are more developed now as he has taken many ideas from both of his rivals--he's still playing catchup though).

To sum up--most Obama supporters react to "style," "image" and subliminal messages about change rather than substantive issues. This is what Obama is counting on--that his lofty rhetoric and image will override the lack of substance.

Some of my white liberal friends often say to me--look, we agree with you that Obama's positions are often vague and not thought out and his grasp and articulation of policy issues cannot compare with Hillary's or Edwards' grasp of important issues, but we should vote for him anyway, because of what he stands for just by virtue of being black and liberal.

My answer is: I refuse to be a racist. I have the same standard for everyone regardless of race or gender. When it comes to deciding who I will vote for, I do my own research. I go through their policy positions and their records very carefully.

Obama is every bit as smart as Edwards and Hillary but he hasn't done his homework and his track record is quite meager as he hasn't shown much leadership in his years as a legislator. If he does some hard work in the way of adding subtance, he could be a prime candidate in 4 or 8 years.

I don't want another Reagan or Bush--someone who does NOT have a grasp of issues himself/herself but claims, as Obama does, that he will gather advisors who will execute his "vision."

I want SUBSTANCE and Obama hasn't shown me much of that so far.