I think now is as good a time as any for your humble blog-a-spondent to breakdown the candidates on both sides of the isle. This has been the most interesting election cycle in all of my life as a voter. I would advise any young person or previous non-voter, that this is the year of all years to jump in and make your vote count. It is shaping up to be a historic election and packed full of surprises.

MICHAEL DALE HUCKABEE (Republican) is the former governor of Arkansas [1996-2007] and the only candidate in the presidential primary who is "Chuck Norris Approved". Huckabee was born of modest means to a working class family and spent his early life pursuing the ministry. His years as Baptist minister has honed his skills as a speaker and his common sense approach to politics has had success in the past.

Huckabee has no chance, I believe, at becoming the next president, though. He may even screw up his vice president chances if he stays in the race too long. Mike Huckabee is an outsider, and he doesn't have the ivy league pedigree or the silver spoons one would expect from the GOP presidential candidate. What Huckabee does have is the support from moral conservatives that you would expect from a Baptist minister. The problem with him, though, is that it will take the big business, fiscal conservative support to win the nomination and the election; and he is perceived to be too weak on foreign policy, crime, immigration, and the economy. Mr. Huckabee will never unite the party, he has done a lousy job of fund raising, and he only has 217 of the 1,191 delegates it would take to win.

John Sidney McCain III(Republican) is the senior US Senator from Arizona. John McCain is the son of a navy admiral and former navy pilot. He is most remembered for being shot down over North Vietnam in 1967 and enduring a horrific stint as a prisoner of war until just after the Paris Peace accords of 1973. A real life war hero, McCain has a back-story that resonates with many Americans.

Why then, was there unrelenting vitriol aimed at McCain by all the biggest names in the conservative Talk Radio world (save Michael Medved). I'll tell you why. This goes back to the presidential primary of 2000. John McCain lost to George W. Bush and was fuming. He was boiling over the loss and resented the way president Bush's war chest was booming with dollars to the point that McCain couldn't compete. John towed the party line and campaigned for Bush, but he went right back to the senate and began working on campaign finance reform--which later passed in 2002. I would say that McCain-Feingold is one of the biggest reasons the conservative elite despise McCain. In so doing, the conservative upper crust defaulted first to Rudy G. and later to Mitt Romney as their chosen one. Try as he might, the flip-flopping, mud-slinging, millionaire mormon from Massachusetts could not cobble together enough support to warrant remaining in the race long after super Tuesday. With Ron Paul considered to be a loon by most rational thinking conservatives, John McCain is safely coasting to a victory.

The question now becomes "Can McCain solidify the base and still garner support from the middle?" The maverick senator will probably overcome his money problems now that he is the front runner; but will the straight-talk express be able to railroad past the 'gang of 14', the 'amnesty' fervor, and his opposition to the Bush tax cuts? If he could win over the base would he still be attractive to independents. Possibly, and despite our disagreements on affirmative action and the confederate flag; I think he is the only shot Republicans have at winning the Office.

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (Democrat) is the junior US Senator for New York state. She was born in Illinois, the daughter of a successful businessman. Hillary started her political career as a volunteer for conservative pioneer Barry Goldwater. Inspired by his writings, she continued her conservative career working as an intern for the party until the Republican National Convention of 1968. Fed up with the mud slinging of Richard Nixon and the racist overtones of the convention, she left the party for good.

As a true believeing lefty, Hillary went on to graduate from Yale law school and build her connections within the Democratic party. Although she was asked several times by Bill Clinton to marry him, she finally agreed in 1975 after she failed the D.C. bar exam and passed the Arkansas bar exam.

Her political life as Arkansas first lady and "co-president" has sold enough papers to make us all a personal fortune. Somewhere between law school and the White House, the Clintons have become magnets for scandal and slicker than Nixon at avoiding prosecution. We all remember Whitewater and the list of Bill Clinton's mistresses is as long as my arm. Plus, there are some pretty heavy allegations levied in Kathleen Willey's book, Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

On the issues, Hillary Clinton is not far from the positions of Barack Obama (big shocker). I find that the two agree more than they disagree. Both are very socially liberal, so I have a big disagreement with them over the abortion issue. Although, I think this is a position that will be massaged during the general election in order to win over the moderates. Her health plan, I think, is flawed in that it mandates by law that we all run out and purchase a policy without assurances of any caps or aid on the premiums. The biggest problem with Sen. Clinton, though, is the fact that polls show that about 47% of the voters would vote against Hillary no matter who the opposite candidate was. She is a polarizing figure, that would inspire strong criticism and her candidacy would help sure up the Republican base. While I personally think there are some personal integrity issues with the Clinton's, the polls right now are saying that she would most certainly lose to McCain in a general election.

Barack Hussein Obama (Democrat) is the junior US Senator from Illinois.

**Yes--his middle name is Hussein. No relation to Saddam. Idiots like Mike Gallagher are trying to make an issue of his middle name as though he were a Muslim terrorist because he inherited his father's middle name. Gallagher has got to be the most un-intelligent conservative on syndicated radio (I don't count the grumpy old racist, Michael Savage). The only time Gallagher makes any sense is when he talks about football; and I hate the cowboys! Ok. I'll save the rant about this 'nincompoop', Gallagher for another day. Back to what's important...**

Mr. Obama was born to a Kenyan father seeking a better education in the States and a free-spirited, Kansas mother--one black and one white. Obama spent most of his childhood in Honolulu. He graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School. Mr. Obama was the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review. Barack was a civil rights attorney; and a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago. He served in the Illinois State Senate from 1997 to 2004. He gave the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention; and is currently on the Senate committees for Foreign Relations, Veteran's Affairs, Labor, and Homeland Security.

On the issues of Civil Rights, the economy, education, energy, political Ethics, healthcare, Homeland security, and immigration; I believe Mr. Obama is on the right side of the road. My only concern would be a small caveat on the economy, in that, I feel we need to the lower corporate tax to encourage big businesses to keep their operations here rather than abroad. Also, I disagree with Sen. Obama on the abortion issue; but I believe he'll move closer to the middle after he secures the nomination.

What is interesting to me, my friends, is the fact that everyone lofted praise toward Barack and spoke of how great it was he was in the race--until it appeared he could actually win. Conservative pundits have re-focused their attacks to spend segment after segment on convincing people to vote against Obama; McCain has begun contrasting himself to Sen. Obama; and Hillary is throwing everything but the kitchen sink at this guy in terms of negative attacks. Yet, the Obama train keeps on moving forward. It's remarkable as well that Obama is raising a large amount of money from lots of individual voters who believe in him; while Clinton used donations from large single donors, special interests, or wealthy Arabs (allegedly). The point is that no one has electrified the voting public like this in years and drawn people to the poles. I believe that Barack Obama has the intelligence, integrity, and sound judgment to not only lead this country, but to unite it as well. The nation for some time now has been made up of feuding political parties, races, and religious groups. Call me sentimental, but I believe we can mend the nation if we had a leader brave enough to at least try.

I'm just the Average Black Man, and that's my two cents.
http://averageblackman.blogspot.com