A preliminary search did not flag this as a hoax, so...
An American citizen's e-mail he cc'd on to North Coast Voices.
Dear Jeremy Bird: (Field Director for Senator Obama's Campaign for President in Pennsylvania)
I searched all over the Internet looking for an email address for Senator Obama as a Presidential candidate, but I could not find one. I chose ethics concerning this email because it was the closest topic to what I would like you to pass on to the Senator ASAP. Several months ago, I emailed Mr. Obama and gave him many suggestions concerning his approach and how I thought he should become more aggressive and passionate in his speeches about certain things. He may have received the email because he seemed to become more aggressive, but unfortunately, not more passionate. I listed a number of skeletons in Senator Clinton's closet and backed them up with facts and references. This will be my last email.
I have been a supporter of Senator Obama since he first announced his candidacy. I feel strongly that he has integrity and would by far the best President in the November elections, but I think he is still leaving himself wide open for Hillary Clinton's "throw the kitchen sink at him" as she has done throughout the campaign and which took its toll on him in the Ohio election, like it now will probably take its toll on him in the Pennsylvania primary next week. I tired of the media saying that both candidates are "slinging mud" while Mrs. Clinton has slung 95% of the mud. If she wins Pennsylvania big, it will give her momentum and I can just hearing her saying "I keep getting back up after I get knocked down, while the theme to "Rocky" plays in the background. I watched the debate last night on ABC (April 16th) and I was disgusted for several reasons. The moderators were terrible and brought up long forgotten issues about Mr. Obama and good old Hillary just kept piling on, especially when she spoke about his speech in San Francisco last Friday and she used his most damaging word "clinging" over & over again. At that point Senator Obama should have become passionate and fiery (like Martin Luther King-I suggested this before to Mr. Obama) and said with fire in his voice "O.K. Senator Clinton, enough is enough. You have been beating this same dead horse for six days now. Stop the mud-slinging and the distractions and the dirty politics that has been your strategy for the last 15 months and let's talk about the real issues." I think the audience would have given him a standing ovation and been amazed to see that he does have a backbone and is strong enough to stand up to Senator Clinton, and more importantly take on John McCain, who has so many liabilities, its hard to imagine that he is neck-to-neck with both Clinton and Obama. It is unthinkable that any Republican can win the White House in 2008 (even if former Republican President Regan was healthy and running for President, and he was a great President because he was not afraid to say the things he had to say in simple tough language). As an aside, Bill Clinton's Presidency was a disgrace not only with personal issues, but also with a number of law breaking irregularities. The man should have been impeached and disbarred for committing perjury. I was surprised that Mr. Obama brought up President Clinton's pardon of 2 criminals. It was the only time that he showed any strength all night. In general he was perceived to be a human punching bag who did not know how, or would not counter punch. He is not doing himself any favors.
Please pass along these suggestions to Mr. Obama ASAP if he wants to beat Mrs. Clinton and then Mr. McCain to become our next President. If he does not already know it, and I am sure he does, Senator Clinton, like her husband is unscrupulous, secretive, polarizing and she specializes in dirty politics. What the American people want is an honest person to run this country, and person who can bring about change and follow through on their campaign promises. Also, like in 1979 when the American people lost their pride in America, they desired a strong President (like President Regan who made me and all Americans proud of our country and of him.) Mr. Obama is an eloquent speaker, now he justs needs the passion and fire of Mr. Luther King when he speaks on certain issues, or about Mrs. Clinton. He should not be so quick to gracious when he speaks of her. Our country wants a President who is strong and tough enough to deal with all of the tough issues facing the next President, like the Iraq War, nuclear armament by Iran, ElQuida in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the tension in the Middle East, the constant threats to Israel, our strongest, and probably only ally in that region of the world, the housing and foreclosure crises and the crises in America's economy. I believe that Senator Obama is the person for the job, but he must show much more strength. He doesn't have to play dirty politics, like Mrs. Clinton. He can still be a gentleman and forcefully challenge her, which he has not done. When she says that she has 35 years of experience, he should strongly ask her to do the arithmetic for Americans. She doesn't have anywhere near 35 years experience. When she portrays herself as a common person who knows what the common Americans want. He should challenge her. The Clintons made 109 million dollars last year and their net worth is between 125-150 million dollars. When was the last time her and Bill (millionaires rubbed shoulders with the common people). When she says that she will be strong enough to stand up to rich interest groups, he should challenge her about her last campaign running for re-election as Senator for New York which was largely financed by millions of dollars in contributions by special interest groups such as the insurance and drug industry, part of which she then used to fund her Presidential campaign, or he should ask her about the approximately 100 million dollars that her and her husband had invested in Wal-Mart stock (which she accumulated as a Wal-Mart Board member), oil company stock, insurance company stock, drug industry stock, etc., that was held in a blind trust so their names could not be associated with their investments and which they divested themselves of shortly before she announces her run for Presidency. The next time she talks about how she is promising millions of new jobs for Americans and how a person can go to Hillary.com (she mentioned her website so much last night it made me nauseous), he should remind her of the promise she made to the people of upstate New York during his last campaign of 50,000 new jobs, with the net result of a loss of 20,000 jobs in that region. The people of upstate New York still have not forgiven her for that, especially when she was questioned about that unfulfilled promise, she flippantly and with that raucous laugh that she has (which she always uses when she lying) answered "Oh, I guess I was a little over-exuberant." It exactly the ways she reacts about her lie about sniper fire. The next time she says that she honest and her life is an open book, he should ask her why her husband, former President Bill Clinton still refuses to this day to release the names and the contribution amounts that he took in during his last campaign for President, or why of the 2 million pages of her daily journal as the First Lady, only a fraction of them were released (1,100 pages) and why in those 1,100 pages released there were numerous deletions. The next time she uses her extensive experience, he should again remind her of her vote for our entry into the IRAQ War, and suggest that they compare apples to apples, and even use John McCain in the comparison. This long 15 month campaign that the 3 of them have been involved with is by far the most complex process that any of the 3 of them were in charge of. Senator Obama has unequivocally done the most outstanding job of the three. He has run the most efficient campaign of all 3. There has been no in-fighting like in Mrs. Clinton's camp, he has raised by far the most in campaign contributions (none from special interest groups), Mrs. Clinton had to loan her campaign fund 5 million dollars from her own personal assets because her campaign funds had run dry, and the amount of money that Senator McCain has raised is unbelievably low. Mrs. Clinton says when she's President she is going to empower her staff, while according at the same time, hew own campaign staff says that she does not provide any leadership, nor does she empower them, rather she has abdicated her authority and left them to their own designs.
Senator Obama needs to create more space between himself and Mrs. Clinton in terms of delegates and the number of votes, so that the Democratic leadership will step in by June 3rd to drop out of the race because she is only being divisive and giving Senator a huge head start in the race for the Presidency.
Please pass along these suggestions to Senator Obama because no American wants to see Mrs. Clinton close the gap between them (even though it is almost mathematically impossible for her to catch him) and then leave the Super Delegates (whose votes should never have been part of any Presidential process) choose the candidate. That is damm near un-American. Tell Mr. Obama her can still be a gentlemen and be forceful and strong and use passionate and fiery language at the same time. America wants change, but it is also looking for a strong tough person to run this country. Assure Senator Obama that he will not be playing dirty politics or using smear tackics. Rather, he will be forcefully holding Senator Clinton "accountable for the truth" in what she is saying and in what she claims she has done. Also I just finished reading an article in the April 21, 2008 edition of US News and World Reports entitled "Obama's Finishing School" which was excellent and provided details about Mr. Obama's role as a community organizer, community leader and his many achievements during his early years in politics. I was extremely surprised, but Senator Obama should provide these details when dealing his experience issue that Senator Clinton keeps harping on. I am sure that most Obama supporters do not know these details. He has got to do a better job and provide these details to the American people each opportunity the he gets. If he does, he will attract even more voters to his side. Also, please ask Mr. Obama to start wearing the Presidential Flag pin. That has been a thorn in his side for 15 months and besides he should be proud to wear the American flag. And lastly, please ask Mr. Obama not to be so gracious, forgiving ("I'm sure she didn't mean that') and so quick to compliment her and her qualifications. When he does that, he portrays himself as a lap dog. I was very sorry to hear that he has decided not to participate in the April 19th debate in North Carolina against Mrs. Clinton, especially when he is the one who suggested it and she reluctantly agreed. It makes him look like he is afraid to debate her again because he did not handle himself well last night in the Philadelphia debate. Besides, it would have given him a chance to lick his wounds and then show Americans that he can be tough and can confront her. Again, please pass along these suggestions to Senator Obama and tell him I am in his corner and I will pray for him. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert Kroner
