Response to Karl Rove's 2/21/08 Op-Ed in Wall Street Journal

I watched Obama's Houston speech Tuesday night and arrived at a different conclusion than Mr. Rove. I didn't see Obama doing an about face towards leftist policies. On the contrary, he was beating the drum of political change, a campaign mantra that continues to work and sway moderates and (gasp!) on-the-fence Republicans.

The fact is Barack Obama has nothing to hide. The best Rove can do is paint Obama as "left-leaning behind the cloak of centrist rhetoric" and attack his sound bytes. To me, that doesn't signal vulnerability. It only exposes Rove's limp and faint tactics and attempts to embolden WSJ readers. Barack has a clear vision for his presidency and the lack of real smearing from both the Clinton campaign and Rove's op-eds is the reason why Obama continues to win votes. He doesn't have any juicy dirt. And Obama is more of a threat to Rove as a centrist than a liberal, hence the petty article.

I find Mr. Rove's comments on integrity and credibility quite ironic, actually. Given his political demise—TIME magazine source leaks, White House e-mail scandal, the list goes on—he still manages to get published in the WSJ. Joseph C. Wilson, retired diplomat, once said, "At the end of the day, it's of keen interest to me to see whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs." If anyone is a divider, it is Karl Rove, who continues to use members of the Christian right for partisan purposes.

So why is Obama grabbing so many converts? And why is Obama being attacked by Bush-ies, and at the tip of Rove's editorial spear? Obama's record gives us insight on the growing fears of the Far Right.

• Obama passed legislation with Senator Jim Talent (R-MO) to give gas stations a tax credit for installing E85 ethanol refueling pumps. A legislation that will gradually increase fuel economy standards and offer what the New York Times editorial page called "real as opposed to hypothetical results."

• Barack Obama and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) passed a law to create a Google-like search engine to allow regular people to approximately track federal grants, contracts, earmarks, and loans online. The Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "It would enable the public to see where federal money goes and how it is spent. It's a brilliant idea."

• There's also his championing of voter rights, Healthcare Insurance reform and the extension of child tax credits.

To me, Obama's strong start signals strength, capability and promise of cross-party productivity. That sounds like a President for all Americans. Conservatives and Liberals.