If I Were Obama . . .

. . . I'd run television ads featuring this:

For a party that loves to hate the Clintons, Republican voters have cast an awful lot of ballots lately for Senator Hillary Clinton: About 100,000 GOP loyalists voted for her in Ohio, 119,000 in Texas, and about 38,000 in Mississippi, exit polls show.

A sudden change of heart? Hardly.

Since Senator John McCain effectively sewed up the GOP nomination last month, Republicans have begun participating in Democratic primaries specifically to vote for Clinton, a tactic that some voters and local Republican activists think will help their party in November. With every delegate important in the tight Democratic race, this trend could help shape the outcome if it continues in the remaining Democratic primaries open to all voters.

Spurred by conservative talk radio, GOP voters who say they would never back Clinton in a general election are voting for her now for strategic reasons: Some want to prolong her bitter nomination battle with Barack Obama, others believe she would be easier to beat than Obama in the fall, or they simply want to register objections to Obama.

"It's as simple as, I don't think McCain can beat Obama if Obama is the Democratic choice," said Kyle Britt, 49, a Republican-leaning independent from Huntsville, Texas, who voted for Clinton in the March 4 primary. "I do believe Hillary can mobilize enough [anti-Clinton] people to keep her out of office." * * *

Obama's ad practically writes itself. You'd start with a segment on the history of the right wing's hatred for all-things-Clinton, then cite the above-referenced numbers showing how many Republicans voted for Hillary in Ohio, Texas, and Mississippi, then conclude the ad by stating the obvious, namely, the only reason rabid Clinton haters are voting for Hillary in droves is because they know that they can beat her in a general election and they know they can't beat Obama.

By the way, here is the quote of the day:

"I think the only 'red-phone' moment was: 'Do we eat here or at the next place.'"

Comedian Sinbad said this in response to Hillary Clinton's claim that her trip to Bosnia in 1996 was something she did to prepare her to be Commander-In-Chief. Although one of Hillary's supporters described it as a "serious trip under serious circumstances," it is worth noting that accompanying Hillary and Sinbad on this very dangerous, harrowing adventure were singer Sheryl Crow and a 16-year-old Chelsea Clinton.

So you took a sixteen-year-old kid into a war zone, Hillary -- nicely done.