Just a few thoughts on this primary day ...

There is a difference, a very significant one, between our two Democratic candidates. The choice is between old Washington politics and a new politics of hope and change. Between politics of pandering and personal destruction, and a politics that seeks to lift up the country and bring us together.

Now, I don't really believe that Hillary Clinton is a bad person. At least 'not that I know of'. But her campaign has proven that she's willing to use the same dishonest tactics as we've seen in campaign after campaign, saying whatever will poll well, making promises that can't be kept, and excusing it as 'just politics'. I think it's time for politicians to tell the American people the truth.

So, the choice today for Indiana and North Carolina is more of the same or something new. We can keep doing the same old things the same old way. Or we can vote for change.

Do we really want the same old Washington politics? Hillary Clinton has shown us what she's ready for on day one:

Gas Tax 'Holiday' - This really bad old Washington idea has been tried repeatedly, and would save the average American family around $10 a month for three months IF the oil companies wouldn't raise prices in response (which they will). It would eliminate billions of dollars of highway funds needed to repair our crumbling roads and bridges. Thirty cents a day won't help much if you bend a rim on a pot hole. A gas tax 'holiday' is an environmentally unsound position, and could put 30,000 workers out of a job. Everyone, including Sen. Clinton, knows it's impossible to put this legislation in place. No one would vote for it, and if they did, Bush would veto it. It's a typical Washington campaign promise and a bad one, at that.

Obliterate - No matter how you might try to rationalize it, this is the dumbest remark to come from a presidential candidate in my memory. First, there are millions of innocent men, women and children in Iran who now think someone who wants to be the next president of the United States might obliterate them. And they know we can. Second, there was no good reason to threaten Iran except to make the candidate look tough, even though most of us learned in the school yard that acting like a bully doesn't mean you're tough. Or smart. Third, it gives the Iranians justification for nuclear weapons research. Eight years of 'cowboy diplomacy' is enough. We need to get to a place where we can all sleep soundly at 3am.

Economists - I think, by definition, these are people who are experts on the economy. We have serious problems, for anyone who hasn't noticed, with our economy, but the Clinton campaign thinks it doesn't need experts to help solve it. The Clintons, with their $109 million, believe that listening to economists is elitist. Whatever your field, if you consider yourself an expert, consider yourself insulted.

Guns - Using right wing wedge issues in a Democratic primary should be an immediate foul. I don't necessarily disagree with Sen. Clinton's overall position on guns, but if she's going to send a mailer accusing Sen. Obama of being against the second amendment, she really should disclose her own record.

Clinton's true feelings about our 2nd amendment rights became clear to all Americans on July 13, 2006. That's when the Senate took a vote on an amendment to the Homeland Security appropriations offered by Senator David Vitter, which reads: "To prohibit the confiscation of a firearm during an emergency or major disaster if the possession of such firearm is not prohibited under Federal or State law."

Look at the roll call: 84 Senators, including Barack Obama, defended gun owners. 16 Senators, including Hillary Clinton, voted against us. That says all anyone needs to know about where
the candidates really stand on guns.

Jobs, jobs, jobs and jobs - In Indiana, Sen Clinton was quoted as saying "I've gone across Indiana saying that my campaign is about jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs." But jobs for who? Mexico? China? India? Columbia?

Trade, of course, is vital to the global economy. But none of these trade deals ended up bringing jobs, jobs, jobs and jobs to Indiana, and they haven't helped the workers in the countries that did get the jobs.

There's plenty more - fabricating Tuzla, embracing Scaife, blaming activists, threatening superdelegates, demeaning Congress, dismissing states, mocking hope, promoting McCain, dividing the Democratic party - You can say it's just politics, but it doesn't have to be. Either you want more of the same, or you want change in Washington. The truth is out there, and anyone who isn't already turned off by the kitchen sink strategy, isn't going to be.

So, vote your conscience, Indiana and North Carolina. We'll wait. And hope.