They are not your ordinary candidates and this will not be your ordinary campaign, the usual Republican and Democrat handbooks better served as coasters for the many drinks political strategists will be needing as we head into November and they face the changed political landscape.  The American public was previewed to the changing dynamics of the 2008 race with the comments made by President Bush in Isreal and the blowback that followed.  National security, an issue usually held captive by the GOP and a reliable weapon against Democrats, became a political boomerang as the President and McCain suggested Sen. Obama will appease terrorist regimes such as Hamas and Iran.  There was an immediate response from the Obama campaign, Democratic leaders and even some Republicans critizising the idea that Obama would be a Richard Chamberlin in a post-9/11 world.  By the end of the day there were examples of the Bush administration's own dealigs with Iran, Libya and North Korea along with clips of McCain making statements more in line with Obama's position and contradicting his statement coinciding with the Bush speech.  Online polls, although not reliable, seemed to show a public unconvinced and unreceptive to the appeasement arguement.  What this one example, all taking place in a 24 hour period, shows is how conventional wisdom has been turned on its head.

When the going gets tough for your candidate or pet issue there is always the convient punching bag of the media. As a Barack Obama supporter I have found myself shaking my head in frustration as I listen to the pundits and experts, talking back to them as if they might respond. "Wright again!?! Elitist!?! Really, are you serious?" Anyone who follows politics has had these moments which usually end with a throwing up of the hands and placing blame on the "damn media". If only they could see the truth and not play into whoever's handbook is your sworn advesary, things would be right in the universe and we could start solving the problems. It's not the heat we can't stand, it's the design of the kitchen. As convienent as this accusation might be, it underscores a larger problem which noone wants to address, let alone a politician, because it screams elitism. The fact is Americans, for the most part, are illiterate.

How could he not know what Jeremiah Wright believed after attending Trinity for twenty years? After two press confrences and much explaining, this question more than any seems to have dogged Sen. Obama as he tries to move forward in his quest to clinch the Democratic Nomination. Members of the church have been relatively silent, few coming forward to contradict or reenforce the image that has been painted of Wright by the media, Obama and Rev. Wright himself. Through this entire controversy there have been the YouTube clips of a few sermons after 9/11, the Moyers interview and the infamous Press Club/NAACP speeches, all and all a limited scope of reference to a thirty year career. Combined with these facts and using Obama's own history, speeches and books, there seems to be a disconnect between these two men and leads to a question I have yet to see explored by those who believe their relationship should raise questions in the minds of the electorate: Who is Jeremiah Wright?

In an age of google and mass information why has the media not delved deeper into Rev. Wright's past to see if the Post 9/11 Wright is in sync with the Pre 9/11 one? Have most of his sermons over the past thirty years, more importantly during the duration of Obama's attendence to Trinity, been this contradictory to Barack Obama's ideology? The answer is likely they have looked and there was little there. And if the media has failed to do so it is hard to imagine in such a tight race with so much at stake a political operative hasn't been deep in transcripts looking for more fuel to add to the Wright fire. If it is true there is not a history in Wright's past consistent with the Wright America has come to know then the answer to who is Jeremiah Wright becomes clearer and supports Barack Obama's statements that the Jeremiah Wright we know is not the one who brought him to Christ.

With the prevalence of MySpace and Facebook I joined with the hopes of making connections with people like myself with a die-hard devotion to politics. Alas, as my inbox filled with requests from beautiful women who obviously didn't read my profile and male enhancement offers, I realized the cyber-noise was too much to have the conversations and create the networking I had imagined. To my delight Politico.com reported on a new upstart in the field of social networks and here I am. I look forward to the debate, the crossing of the aisles and, hopefully, the progress this new community will achieve.