A teacher friend recently told me that thanks to President Bush's No Child Left Behind mandate, by the time a child graduates from high school, he will have spent the equivalent of ONE ENTIRE SCHOOL YEAR taking tests. That equals a lot of school days when no real teaching was being done -- and no real learning taking place. I thought we were sending our kids to school so they could learn, not so they could validate the Bush administration's ill-conceived attempt to strengthen education.

It seems to me that No Child Left Behind needs to be left behind in the dustbin of failed Bush administration policies. I trust that Barack Obama agrees.

Barack Obama has a steady hand. How else to explain his grace under fire from Senator Clinton and her Pelosi-bashing cronies? He refuses to sling mud at this band of one-armed bandits. I respect that.

Senator Obama also knows how to extend a hand. He has crossed the aisle with many a colleague to get the job done. Senator Clinton's biggest chance to get the job done was her effort to establish universal health care for Americans during her husband's administration -- and what did she do? Instead of extending a hand, she said "my way or the highway." Her opponents balked and nothing got done.

It's equally inspiring to see Senator Obama hand out praise. He finds the good in most everyone and every situation. Pelted mercilessly on the Rev. Wright issue, he found it within himself to have a frank discussion on race with the American public. He can even see some good in Sen. Clinton sticking it out in the Democratic race, though I don't agree with his perspective (that the party will ultimately unite -- I see endless division).

Hands down, Barack Obama is the #1 choice for President of the United States of America.

A "March for Obama" is being organized in the five most populous cities in Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading, Erie and Allentown. The date for the marches is Sunday, April 20th, or two days before the Pennsylvania primary. Interest is strong already, as well it should be.

I'm wonderfully energized at the thought of a get-together with engaged, passionate folk committed to the betterment of our country. Let's spread the word!

Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, a first-term senator, endorsed Barack Obama today. Yay! A Pennsylvania politico not a part of the political machine. His remarks this morning at the Soldiers & Sailors Hall near the UPitt campus in Pittsburgh sound straight from the heart -- no calculation, no back-scratching. I knew I liked this guy.

Note to parents: these tips are, as MasterCard would say, priceless. And hey, once you simplify your life, you'll have more time to work on getting Obama elected!

My son is forever optimistic. He's six years old, which I'm sure helps. His world is pretty simple -- he gets to play, learn, dream and be loved, unconditionally, by Mom and Dad. He wants to be an inventor when we grows up. And a meteorologist. Oh, and a substitute teacher for HIS kindergarten teacher, in case she ever needs a day off in, say, twenty years. Anything and everything is possible for him. He's full of hope.

Hope is a good thing. It's not overrated or frivolous -- or useless. We NEED hope. We need it in our daily lives and into the future. It makes us better people, more engaged, more productive, more ALIVE. Yep, I guess you need hope to live.

When Barack Obama says he has "the audacity of hope," I get it. I just hope that everyone else gets it, too.

Here in Pittsburgh, I've talked to a great many moms who support Barack Obama. They are enthusiastic, even downright effusive, about what he will bring to our country. And then, invariably, they lean over and whisper "even my husband supports Obama! he can't STAND Hillary." or "my dad told me he's voting for Obama and he's 89 years old! he thinks McCain's too old!"

I guess the secret in these parts, maybe even all over Pennsylvania, is that while a lot of women are Democrats, their husbands and fathers are Republicans. But this election cycle is turning that stat on its weary little head. With no real prodding from their wives, these fellas are reading, watching and listening and like what they see in Obama. At the same time, it appears they really don't like what they see in Clinton and McCain. I get that it's a visceral thing for them, something in their gut that says "I need to vote differently this time."

It's too early to say whether this will translate to more votes for Obama in the upcoming April 22nd primary. Goodness knows a lot of my fellow Pennsylvanians re-registered as Democrats over the last month, so it may. But I'm convinced that come November, if the Presidential race is Obama vs. McCain, those fathers and sons, husbands and brothers, will look at the Pennsylvania ballot in front of them and place a check mark next to Obama's name as a wry smile crosses their faces.

A group of twenty megabucks Dem donors to Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign sent a letter to Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi yesterday. The full text of the letter is below. In effect, they told Pelosi that her stance on superdelegates -- that they should follow the will of the voters -- is wrong. They said superdelegates should do whatever they want, while reminding Pelosi that they had all been BIG donors to Democratic congressional candidates. Does this sound like strong-arming to you? Actually, it sounds more like a full-on threat to me, a Tony Soprano-type, whack-'em-across-the-knees job if they don't listen.

Who do these twenty fat cats think they are? Well, they're friends of Hillary for sure, some of them very good friends by their own admission (Susie Tompkins Buell). And you can bet that Hillary knew this letter was going out. The only thing scarier than Hillary Clinton being president is her being a clueless president, and no one in their right mind would call her clueless. Calculating, maybe, but never clueless.

I like that Barack Obama wants to give our country back to the people, people just like you and me. Make our voices heard. Empower us to speak up, say what we want and then collectively find a way to make that happen. Obama wants EVERYONE'S voice to be heard. Sounds like Hillary and her closes circle of friends want THEIR voices heard to the exclusion of everyone else's.

Here's the full text of the letter:

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the US House of Representatives
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Madame Speaker,

As Democrats, we have been heartened by the overwhelming response that our fellow Democrats have shown for our party's candidates during this primary season. Each caucus and each primary has seen a record turnout of voters. But this dynamic primary season is not at an end. Several states and millions of Democratic voters have not yet had a chance to cast their votes.

We respect those voters and believe that they, like the voters in the states that have already participated, have a right to be heard. None of us should make declarative statements that diminish the importance of their voices and their votes. We are writing to say we believe your remarks on ABC News This Week on March 16th did just that.

During your appearance, you suggested super-delegates have an obligation to support the candidate who leads in the pledged delegate count as of June 3rd , whether that lead be by 500 delegates or 2. This is an untenable position that runs counter to the party's intent in establishing super-delegates in 1984 as well as your own comments recorded in The Hill ten days earlier:

"I believe super-delegates have to use their own judgment and there will be many equities that they have to weigh when they make the decision. Their own belief and who they think will be the best president, who they think can win, how their own region voted, and their own responsibility.'"

Super-delegates, like all delegates, have an obligation to make an informed, individual decision about whom to support and who would be the party's strongest nominee. Both campaigns agree that at the end of the primary contests neither will have enough pledged delegates to secure the nomination. In that situation, super-delegates must look to not one criterion but to the full panoply of factors that will help them assess who will be the party's strongest nominee in the general election.

We have been strong supporters of the DCCC. We therefore urge you to clarify your position on super-delegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the National Convention in August. We appreciate your activities in support of the Democratic Party and your leadership role in the Party and hope you will be responsive to some of your major enthusiastic supporters.

Sincerely,

Marc Aronchick
Clarence Avant
Susie Tompkins Buell
Sim Farar
Robert L. Johnson
Chris Korge
Marc and Cathy Lasry
Hassan Nemazee
Alan and Susan Patricof
JB Pritzker
Amy Rao
Lynn de Rothschild
Haim Saban
Bernard Schwartz
Stanley S. Shuman
Jay Snyder
Maureen White and Steven Rattner

Sen. Barack Obama has released his tax returns for the years 2000-2006 and they can be viewed online. It's within his pledge for more transparency in government. Sen. Hillary Clinton has yet to release her tax returns, stating that she will do so a few days before the Pennsylvania primary and, at the same time, claiming that the personal disclosure forms she has filed as a Senator should suffice.

Presidential candidates have been releasing their tax returns for years now -- it's part of the vetting process. Why should things be any different for Sen. Clinton? If anything, the litmus test for Sen. Clinton should be even higher, seeing as how there are numerous questions surrounding her tax returns, among them the nature and amount of offshore tax shelter income and her and her husband's actual income, which has apparently grown exponentially in the years since he left the Oval Office.

Mark Halperin of TIME magazine sums it up well.

It's also essential that Sen. Clinton release a list of donors to her husband's Presidential Library. With numbers such as a $130 million contribution from the Saudis swirling around, it's important for the American public to get a real accounting. It will then be up to the American public to decide whether such large cash donations to Mr. Clinton's library most likely came with strings attached.

I love that Barack Obama can get things done. I'm a can-do kinda gal myself. He seems to know how to cross the aisle, extend a hand, work for the win-win. In a little over two years in the Senate, Obama has sponsored or co-sponsored more pieces of legislation that have been enacted into law than Sen. Clinton has -- and she's been in the Senate three times longer! I call that getting the job done.