By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer

Posted Feb. 20, 2008 – Could former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards (D) be ready to endorse Sen. Barack Obama?   I spoke with Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) earlier today and he told me, “I know them both well, and their good friends, the issue isn’t if he’s going to do it, it’s when.”

Conyers the dean of the Congressional Black Caucus signed on early to support the freshman senator’s run for the White House.

Conyers told me, he hopes it happens before March 4, “For two reasons – Ohio and Texas.”

Do you think an Edwards endorsement would help Obama?

By Pamela Gentry

 Posted Jan. 20, 2008 – Sen. Barack Obama continues his winning streak, netting his 10th straight victory Tuesday in the  Democratic Wisconsin primary and Hawaii state caucus.  Early this morning, the results in Hawaii showed that state’s ”favorite son” won with 75 percent of the vote.  

Wisconsin had 74 national convention delegates up for grabs, and Hawaii had 20.  These wins will allow Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to keep his lead of pledged delegates over Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).

Obama went into the contest in Wisconsin and Hawaii with an estimated 1,281 delegates and Clinton with 1.218, according to Associated Press.  To secure the nomination it takes 2,025 of the party’s delegates.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) won the Republican Primary in Wisconsin, besting his only remaining rival,  former Arkansa Gov. Mike Huckabee.  McCain won with 56 percent of the vote, to Huckabee’s 36 percent.  Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.)  also on the ballot received five percent of the vote.  To seal the Republican nomination McCain with 894 will need 1,191 delegates.

Why do you think folks are backing the junior senator Obama over the more  experienced Clinton?

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer  

Posted Feb. 19, 2008 – On Monday, while delivering a speech in Madison, Wisconsin, Michelle Obama made the following statement:

“For the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction. And just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment I’ve seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic, common issues and it’s made me proud.”

Pundit and political watchers have gone crazy analyzing her comment, asking has she never been “proud” of her country?
In all fairness to the 44 year-old spouse of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (D), she wasn’t “dissing”  America, or the American people.  She’s was speaking as a proud wife, not a seasoned politician.  I saw someone genuinely touched by the response of the American people to her husband

. 
 I’ve met Michelle Obama and recently interviewed her about the trials and tribulations of a political campaign.  Born and raised on the Southside of Chicago she told me like most Americans from working class families, sometimes “hope” is all you have.
             “It is not fairytale or fantasy, it is absolutely real, but hope is also not naïve, and its not passive, so what I tell people and what Barack tells people is that reaching these dreams require a whole lot of work, being able to have somebody like Barack Obama as our president is going to require a whole lot of work and sacrifice. It doesn’t happen just because we wish it so, and it’s not something that we would fear or be cynical about. It’s something that we can achieve if it’s something we believe we can do,” she said.
               If you hear all of her comments in the Wisconsin speech, she went on to say,   “Life for regular folks has gotten worse over the course of my lifetime, through Republican and Democratic administrations.”

             The interview with Michelle Obama will be posted on bet.com later this week. 
Do you think she was dissing or praising America?