Quip of the day?

With the candidates -- and a multitude of their surrogates -- scurrying hither and yon today, perhaps this crack from Robert De Niro will get topped. But that will be a challenge.

De Niro, in what he billed as his first speech at a political event, was on hand to help whip up support for Barack Obama at a rally in East Rutherford, N.J. The famed actor's role was to introduce Sen. Ted Kennedy, who in turn introduced Obama.

The Times' Maria La Ganga also was there, and she reports that De Niro weighed in with his own thoughts about the "I've got more seasoning" argument Hillary Clinton presses against her rival.

Said De Niro: “If this election were to be decided just on the quantity of experience, Dick Cheney would be our next president.”

Although De Niro delivered the line, it may have been inspired by this column a few weeks back by Nicholas Kristof.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[Tom J]

All the endorsements (along with the accompanying speeches) have been interesting and even entertaining. Now I'm ready to hear more about who each candidate intends to include in his/her Cabinet. - at least some thoughts, if not actual names.

Today I was just remembering that early in the campaign the Clintons were warning some heavy hitters in California that they better not support anyone else in addition to Hillary, or they'd be left out when she became President. That still bothers me.

Obama hasn't said anything even vaguely similar, and has even said he'd invite Republicans into his Cabinet.

I'm just saying....

[Steve4Obama]

I predict a big win for Obama on Super Tuesday. Just as big a surprise as the Giants winning the Super Bowl. People realize that he can unify instead of divide the country. People from the right, left and in between are supporting him..

Our troops have done their job in Iraq. We sent them there to take care of the “Weapons of Mass Destruction,” conquer Saddam Hussein and set up a democratic government… They have done their job and are victorious! Way to go! Now it’s time to go get Bin Laden. Remember him? Time for a CHANGE.”

[N. E. BodybutHillary]

Hillary put us into Iraq.

Obama will get us out of Iraq

[smokey]

Why don't we just ask Oprah, Streisand, Selleck, B.Willis, DeNiro, Chuck Norris, Clooney, Spielberg et al. to govern the country?

They live in the real world right?

Such statesman.

[suzi]

It looks like Hollywood Obama is very good at bringing celebrities together.

Just what the U.S.A. needs right now ( militant extremists wanting to get Americans, a faltering economy, people dying and sick because of no health insurance, etc. )............a celebrity administration with no experience.

Remember. Jimmy Carter made passionate speeches, and inspired millions of Americans because they wanted something "new".

[Hanksf]

Dear Mr. DeNiro,

We can judge Cheney's experience because it is there for all of us to see. We cannot judge Obama's experience because there is nothing there.

Hank

[Kathleen]

The following was posted by "Mark" as a comment on nytimes.com, if you want to argue experience... This description insures that Obama wins hands down.

N LEGISLATIVE EXPERIENCE:

Senator Clinton, who has served only one full term (6yrs.), and another year campaigning, has managed to author and pass into law, (20) twenty pieces of legislation in her first six years.
These bills can be found on the website of the Library of Congress (www.thomas.loc.gov), but to save you trouble, I’ll post them here for you.
1. Establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site.
2. Support the goals and ideals of Better Hearing and Speech Month.
3. Recognize the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
4. Name courthouse after Thurgood Marshall.
5. Name courthouse after James L. Watson.
6. Name post office after Jonn A. O’Shea.
7. Designate Aug. 7, 2003, as National Purple Heart Recognition Day.
8. Support the goals and ideals of National Purple Heart Recognition Day.
9. Honor the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton on the bicentennial of his death.
10. Congratulate the Syracuse Univ. Orange Men’s Lacrosse Team on winning the championship.
11. Congratulate the Le Moyne College Dolphins Men’s Lacrosse Team on winning the championship.
12. Establish the 225th Anniversary of the American Revolution Commemorative Program.
13. Name post office after Sergeant Riayan A. Tejeda.
14. Honor Shirley Chisholm for her service to the nation and express condolences on her death.
15. Honor John J. Downing, Brian Fahey, and Harry Ford, firefighters who lost their lives on duty. Only five of Clinton’s bills are, more substantive. 16. Extend period of unemployment assistance to victims of 9/11.
17. Pay for city projects in response to 9/11 18. Assist landmine victims in other countries.
19. Assist family caregivers in accessing affordable respite care.
20. Designate part of the National Forest System in Puerto Rico as protected in the wilderness preservation system.

There you have it, the fact’s straight from the Senate Record.

Now, I would post those of Obama’s, but the list is too substantive, so I’ll mainly categorize.
During the first (8) eight years of his elected service he sponsored over 820 bills. He introduced
233 regarding healthcare reform,
125 on poverty and public assistance,
112 crime fighting bills,
97 economic bills,
60 human rights and anti-discrimination bills,
21 ethics reform bills,
15 gun control,
6 veterans affairs and many others.

His first year in the U.S. Senate, he authored 152 bills and co-sponsored another 427. These inculded **the Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006 (became law), **The Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act, (became law), **The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, passed the Senate, **The 2007 Government Ethics Bill, (became law), **The Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill, (In committee), and many more.

In all since enter the U.S. Senate, Senator Obama has written 890 bills and co-sponsored another 1096. An impressive record, for someone who supposedly has no record according to the spin meisters and mindless twits.

[robert No longer in L.A.]

I am sooo happy; we CUT OFF our cable TV, so NO cheesy, duplicitous political ads to ANNOY us...you should try it for 90 days - what BLISS!!! Confess; when was the last time you felt blissful?

[Terri]

I am so pleased and proud to read the endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States of America.

I write the United States because that is exactly how Senator Obama views us all. We are all in this together, and united we must be. He understands that there is a desperate need for fundamental change in this country. We cannot continue with the same old party bickering and two family rule . For many voters in this country, we have always been under the White House of a Bush or a Clinton. While these families have given us much (that may vary depending upon you view,) there is also much needed to be done. We, as a nation, have come to a standstill. We aren’t progressing forward. The broken isn’t getting fixed.

I admire Hilary Clinton. As a woman, she has inspired me. She set the example for First Spouses. I was in high school and college when we were blessed with the Clinton Presidency. We have seen what a wonderful young woman Chelsea has grown to be. And Senator Clinton has proven to be a powerhouse in the Senate. And this is the very reason I think she should remain in the Senate.

My vote for Senator Obama isn’t a vote against Senator Clinton. In fact, I view it as just the opposite. I truly looked hard at the two candidates. I didn’t see a woman or a Black man. I saw two candidates who are strong, qualified and fighters for the American people. In the Senate, Senator Clinton is able to push through legislation and fight hard. She has the weight of the Clinton name, the strength of President Bill Clinton and the know how to see results. What she doesn’t have, however, is what those of us supporting Obama’s Presidential nomination feel is needed in the White House.

This is a country divided. Although not as divided as our politicians may want us to believe, we are divided. I have seen the division happen in my own family. The Republicans and Democrats in the family have had some hard words expressed that time is slowly healing. I have felt for the past seven years that I did not have a President. There was indeed someone in the White House, but it was clear that he had no interest in being my president. I have been cast as unpatriotic, a traitor and treasonous for daring the question the authority of the White House. This is the current state of our union.

The nation needs a healer. We need someone who can come in and acknowledge the pain caused the past seven years and begin to see this country as one again. I do not doubt for one minute that Senator Clinton understands this and is perfectly capable of beginning the process. However, I do not believe that she would be allowed to see the process through.

While many Democrats are nostalgic for the 1990’s (I admit, I did love President Bill Clinton,) I cannot forget all the ugliness that went with the Clinton White House. Although false, there was scandal and scandal. The Republicans in office at the time and many in office today will just not let the Clinton’s alone. They are the Number One recruiting tool for the right wing. The Clinton’s energize the right wing to come to the polls… and not to vote for Democrats. I truly fear losing Congress under s Hilary Clinton White House. That is a very real probability. I see Congress shutting down and stalling every piece of legislation and program created with Hilary Clinton as President. And I do not believe for one second that the Republican Party will let bygones be bygones. This country simply can not take any more. We are collapsing from the inside out. Our infrastructure, our health, our education, our reputation… our very lives and the lives of our future generations are literally balancing on the sharp edge of a knife.

Senator Obama has a history of working well with all people. He can sit down at the table with the most Conservative Republican and hammer out legislation. He can work through compromises in the best interest of the American people. He brings no baggage. He brings no sordid history. He is a clean slate.

He is all those things. And he is more. He is brilliant. This is a man who chose to return to the very streets in which he was raised to help his community. This is where he went after law school. He didn’t sit in the huge corporate firms and in the board room of the corporations who are controlling our culture and sending our jobs overseas and making a profit from war. He served the people. He has always served the people. He is truly a man of the people.

His stance against the Iraq war was from the beginning. He made his opposition known during a time when he was the most vulnerable- when he was running in the Illinois Primary- one that he wasn’t suppose to win. He ran against a family who had been part of the Democratic Party system for years. They had more name recognition, more money and were more entrenched in the State Party. He was called too young, too inexperienced, too white, too black. He has heard it all (and it sounds so familiar to what we’re hearing now from an entrenched family in the Democratic Party.) He voiced his opposition to the Iraq war during that election and he won. He won upstate Illinois. He won downstate Illinois. He won the “red” areas and he won the “blue” areas.

He brings to the White House a powerhouse of a wife in Michelle Obama. She is brilliant. Listen to her speak sometime and you will hear the story of a woman who isn’t suppose to be where she is today. Listen to Michelle Obama tell her story and she’ll tell you, she is breaking all the expectations that were placed on here. She is from a blue-collar family of Chicago’s South Side. Her disabled father worked hard and sent two girls from the local public school to Princeton. She then went to Harvard. A girl from Chicago’s South Side isn’t suppose to go to Harvard Law School. But she went. She’ll tell you, she wasn’t suppose to do any of those things. And yet, she did. She knows what it is like to struggle and fight against the glass ceiling of low expectations. And she’ll tell you that those low expectations is what is killing our country. She gets it. She understands and moves me to tears when I hear her speak. This is a woman who will bring a life into the White House we haven’t ever seen.

The life, the vitality and the inspiration that Senator Barack Obama has brought to so many shows that this is the man of the people. He is moving the young people. He is moving those in the prime of their life. He is moving those who have never felt moved before. There was another man of the people who inspired many. And today, his family is standing beside Senator Barak Obama. Caroline Kennedy has stepped forward for the first time ever in a Primary and endorsed the candidate who inspired people as her father inspired people. Senator Ted Kennedy is standing beside Senator Barack Obama. He has endorsements from the most famous to the grassroots swell I see every day.

I proudly stand beside Senator Barack Obama. I do this for my country. For my family. For my neighbors. For my Democratic friends and for my Republican friends. I do this for the children I don’t even have yet. I stand beside Senator Barack Obama proudly and call him my next President of these United States.

[Lynne]

Barack Obama is speaking more and more these days with the cadence of a Baptist preacher, especially when he's in front of a mostly black audience. What a smarmy phony he is. The "lion and the lamb" biblical reference in one of his recent speeches was totally out of place. Do we want a preacher or a president in the White House?

And that croaking introduction of Obama by that good-for-nothing debauched boozer Senator Ted Kennedy I just saw on CNN at a political rally was hard to watch. I wonder what he plans on getting in the deal if Obama wins.

[REASONS FOR OBAMA]

For anybody who is still undecided between C and O:

Go to Obama's website and click on LAWRENCE LESSIG's video explaining his argument for OBAMA.

It is a thorough and creative synthesis of the rationale of an Obama vote!