CNN

I would like to know why Hillary Clinton or Oboma thinks anyone in the South will vote for either one of them.
They are only helping the establishment of a third party which will sweep out both the Republicans and Democrats.

J. Rothman

My reaction to your blog...WOW! Can you please explain your feelings?

Castro was handicapping the U.S. Presidential Race for amusement purposes but true to Orwellian/Rove form the Consevatives turn it into an endorsement. Evil minds come up with evil ideas.

I have to question whether or not this whole little endorsement was a set up by the republicans. Because face it, support for the Clinton/Obama ticket by a communist dictator doesn't really give people warm feelings in side. I actually wrote a blog about this, check me out at http://www.myspace.com/drefilm07

Pepe, priceless comment and so true!

For one who cares what Fidel Castro thinks and secondly if either Clinton or Obama become president I without a doubt will spend every dime I have on firearms because our country will go to hell in a hand basket. I also agree with the other poster that a vote for either of them will be a vote for communism. Be smart people, think before you vote.

Maybe Fidel is just showing his gratitude for what the Clintons did for the cigar industry.

Are you people mad? The piece did not say that Fidel endorsed Clinton and Obama. It said he thinks that together they would be unbeatable. Many people in both major political parties believe this, too, regardless of whether or not they like or support either of them. But since when have the conservatives looked for the truth when they can spread empty rhetoric to stir the rubes?

For all you suggesting that endorsements from Chavez and other "dictators" will soon follow, don't worry, the administration terror alerts will be ringing so much, you'd think they were church bells in an old catholic town in some latin american country.

After reading many of these responses I worry about any election. Some people are way too ignorant and misinformed to offer their opinion here, let alone their vote for president. If you really want the best person to win, you had best be researching and not just listening to everyone else. Do not jump on an emotional issue such as gay marriage; which gave Bush the election again and continued the path of the current mess our country is in...or this emotional issue, creating a myth that a Clinton or Obama ticket would be a vote for communism. It's very disappointing hearing people say comments such as commies when describing Democrats. I personally feel that the president who has done the most damage to our freedom is Bush. He pushed for illegal wire tapping, eavesdropping on Americans, total disregard for the Geneva Convention, Abu Graib, Guantanamo Bay holding prisoners for years without charges, Valerie Plame, firing judges to help the Republican party, etc. all by using fear as pursuasion. If we get another president like this we may as well concede any freedom left. We need to let go of personal biases and THINK before spouting off and DEFINITELY before voting. Karl Rove was a genius getting Bush elected in the first place...the president with the least experience and no clear leadership ability. Karl Rove continued that genius getting Bush elected again. This combination did much damage to our reputation worldwide and our country's future generations. We totally disregard any attempt at altering the Greenhouse affect. Many republicans call it a myth created by democrats. They have no idea that the rest of the world belongs to the Kyoto Protocol. We rely heavily on middle eastern oil with barely any attempt at getting away from it. The most discouraging gift we are giving our children is a national debt that equals over 5 trillion dollars. Guess who our government owes that money to?...mostly China, communism at it's best. Please keep in mind, we had a surplus before this administration came into power. So, please stop the name calling, stop the ignorance (Castro did not say he is endorsing them as candidates, some people just cannot read), research the candidates, don't hop on the bandwagon, and make sense when it comes to electing someone.

1. Clinton and Obama will not be on the same ticket.

2. Obama is plenty experienced both on international and domestic issues. As far as I can tell from the debates has more common sense and straight forward honesty than any other candidate.

Apparantly the dumbing down of U.S. society extends to journalists. I actually read Castro's statement, and nowhere do I see him endorse or give a nod to a possible Clinton/Obama ticket...he merely acknowledges that some others are of the opinion that such a ticket would be unbeatable. My dog could write a more factually accurate headline.

Castro doesn't give a flying bleep about Democracy in Cuba or majority of brain-washed Cubans...his only insterest is having the embargo lifted so his world-wide bank lines are open!

I'm with Clinton on this Issue! However, Castro knows he can get away with lots of things, specially with a Democrat in the White House.

Oops, he'd be the fifth youngest. Great post, Antonio!

Grasping at straws? That's a good example of a republican with no grasp of reality.There's more than enough immorality to condemn republicans for a long time.Democrats need only open a newspaper to find all the ammunition they need to flush their scummy republican foes down the toilet.

Its so funny that these right wing republicans are so obsessed with Hillay-Obama that they keep on labelling them as commies. Its like some illiterate who can't argue on policy issues, call them as Liberals and Communists to show their stupidity. What if these so called communists label every republican as "Under cover Homos" living double lives? Thats of course insult to the gay community though!

It is really disappointing that so many people parrot sound bites as if they are fact. I have read numerous posts on this site that suggests that Obama is too young and inexperience. As far as being too young, I wonder how many people said the following were too young:

1. U. Grant (46)
2. T. Roosevelt (42)
3. J. Kennedy (43)
4. B. Clinton (46)

All these people were younger than Obama would be (47) if elected president.

As far as experience goes, what sort of experience must one have to be President? Unless someone has served as President, there will be a learning curve for all of the candidates. Moreover, our history is replete with Presidents with little in the way of executive or foreign policy experience. However, some of those individuals, e.g. Lincoln, Kennedy, and Reagan, performed well. Some with experience, i.e., Nixon, did not perform well. Unfortuntately, many people fail to do their own research to decide whether political rhetoric is factual or contrived. The Clinton campaign and the media has done a very effective job of convincing people that Obama lacks experience and that Clinton has experience. By throwing out the inexperience term, Clinton has gotten people to believe that inexperience disqualifies a candidate from being president. Amazingly, neither Clinton nor the media has claimed John Edwards inexperienced, even though he only spent six years in the senate after a career as a trial lawyer. I suspect they have not done so because Edwards is not seen as a threat. Keep in mind, Edwards ran for President in 2004, with even less experience, but you did not hear the same sort of comments about him being inexperienced. Nor did you hear anything about Edwards waiting until 2012 to run for President. So all the comments about Obama with respect to age and experience, leaves one asking why are some many people buying into the rhetoric? Does it provide an easy excuse not to vote for a black man? These are just questions, not indictments.

Just for the record .....so you Demo's that are grasping at straws to put down republicans ...no one tells me who to vote for. quite honestly i cant find anyone Republican or otherwise i am impressed with. But i definatly wont vote for anyone who is found in favor by any communist or Muslim, or north korean, libian Iranian,ect. i believe that if this is all we have to choose from that we as americans should have the right to cancel out all candidates on a default meaning none of the above from both sides are acceptable and both parties nominate all new candidates and they must be approved by the american people. i think that would improve our choices. and eliminate rif raf like Hillary, obama, McCain, Edwards ect. all undesireables from both parties...

Obama is 46 now and will be 47 by the time he is inaugurated. That's a year older than Clinton was, and only the fourth youngest President ever. I know he looks younger than he is, but do five seconds of research before you spout this nonsense.

Look at those who would defend Hillary – she moves from Arkansas to NY – and embraced as a New Yorker by a state that didn't care that she knew nothing of New York – Democrats need to keep something in mind – yes...we want change – but....we don't want Hillary – she is the polar left...the Republicans need to run a moderate – and they win...just that easy.....but – if they run a conservative...they will win still...people hate Hillary – for good reason....mostly because we are not illiterate (I believe you call them "disenfranchised voters" – i.e. people not intelligent enough to punch a ballot card...funny...they were all going to vote Democrat...I guess you are all in good company

I think it is just sooo funny. Even if Fidel said it, we are a long way from even having to deal with Hill/Obama. Besides, the damage done by Bush and his cronies will take years to fix and I do think Hill/Obama can do the fixing. Let's just get the bum Shrub out of office.

CASTRO ENDORSES HILLARY

This statement angers supporters of Hillary, democrats, etc. Agreed Castro did not specifically say "I endorse Hillary Clinton".

But I find it funny how you would get become acrimonious over this idea yet spout "Bush Lied". Perhaps you are beginning to understand how frustrating it can be when FACTS don't support the allegations.

To "pl, at the UN, for a while" (What does that mean anyway?!)

"Animals, in general, do not go to the attack unless they feel theatened or they are hungry."

Check your post. The pot should think twice before addressing the kettle.

And Roberto...it's "the literacy is 'abysmal'"...geez! You make it too easy.

Good job, Juan! Thank you for a statement with some perspective.

Who cares what Fidel Castro thinks. How is this even relevant???

Jonathan...
Yes, and we know that the situation is so much better for the Cuban people under Castro's regime than it was when there were jobs and opportunities under the imperialist foreigners.
I know. I was there. What happened to you? Did you get brainwashed by the American left? Take this to the bank, my friend: Castro is a Stalinist killer. Period. I would ask you to talk to my two brothers about the matter, but, as it turns out, they were imprisoned and murdered by Castro. Have a nice day.

Juan

This is baloney. But you can rest assured if Obama is on the ticket, Rove will have Bush refer to him as "Osama" at some point.

Lance below...

Before the "festering sore" of Castro's rule in Cuba, the country was run by Fulgencio Batista, and all he did was "open up" Cuba to American corporations, real estate interests, and casinos–and who got left out of the picture? The Cuban people. Your hopes for an "open" Cuba had better have Cuba truly in mind.

To "Bubba"
"Castro's dead and should keep his pie hole shut."

Seriously?!

There seems to be a physiological flaw in your logic.

The number of comments that suggest that Hillary will not be a strong leader and is just a peace-loving liberal are hilarious. She is far from that as her record and her words show. Enough with thinking she is the way you think she is – open your mind and listen. Or remain stupid with your head in the sand. Keep listening to Sean and Rush, they will tell you all about Hillary.

All candidates, BOTH REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATS have always told Cubans in Florida the day the become President, it's the day Castro will be stopped.
This, of course, has never happened. They just milk the Cuban crowd on the right spot. They have been doing it for years; it obviously works.

Fidel Castro talks about the 2000 election and the battle for Florida. As a result, he thinks that the Democratic contestants will want to portray themselves as having the sacred duty to bring change in Cuba (they want the state who has been voting red for some time now) this only to get the Cuban vote. While the truth is (like or not but Castro is right) Castro has been there for years and no president has been able to do anything about it, how will the next president (Democrat or Republican) be any different.

Please do not misjudge Senators Clinton or Obama or any other candidates (Republican or Democrat) just for what others are saying. Let's be smart voters for once. I think we all agree we need change in this government. Just because Fidel Castro MENTIONS (NO ENDORSEMENT!!!!) the names of two contestants will not mean they will not get my vote. I mean, COME ON, he just mentions their names, along with many other names for that matter. How can we just say he supports them, that's crazy.

Mike from NY

Haven't you heard? Republicans don't read...they just see headlines...why expect any different from them now?

MY GOD, THE LITERACY LEVEL HERE IS ABISMAL.

PEOPLE PEOPLE

The document reads the following: "Hoy se habla de que un ticket al parecer invencible podría crearse con el binomio Hillary presidente y Obama vice"

This translates to: "Today, people are talking about a seemingly invincible Cliton/Obama ticket…" He never says he predicts they will win. This article is mainly about how candidates always tell Cubans they will seek a democratic shift in Cuba in order to get the Cuban vote in Florida. This is what the article is about.

Shame on CNN for twisting the article. Besides, none of it is really news. Now that you know what the articles reads, you can better reach conclusions and post comments.

I hope this clarifies

Now i just cant wait to get to the polls, since i heard that a communist supports Hillary and Hussein....but i think we should wait for the rest of the worlds most RESPECTED leaders to follow up ...you know Putin, Osama,Momar. now... all of you good liberals have all the verification you need that HILLARY AND HUSSEIN are all they can be and that they will be honest and worthy of running our country just like the rest of the world wants them to ! ! !. Do ya FEEL better NOW. You go out THERE nad sock it to those republicans now boy....

Castro's dead and should keep his pie hole shut.

As the presidential debates heat up and tensions increase, the candidates need to be reminded of the critical issues that still trouble our society today. Issue such as global poverty needs to be address by our candidates to each other and to the general public. As one of the nations that has pledge to fulfill the goals of Millennium Development Project, whose goal is the elimination of world hunger and poverty, the Bush Administration has not shown any substantial action to bring this fundamental problem to a stop. According to the Borgen Project, dedicated to fighting and ending Poverty around the world, only $19 billion dollars are needed annually to stop world wide poverty, hunger and malnutrition. However, more than $340 billion dollars has been poured into this “war on terror.” And each year, our country has a military budge of $522 billion dollars. It's time for a new leader who will be addressing an issue that affects 1.2 billion people everyday worldwide.

Its so pathetic to read the minds of these right wingers who are still in the 50s when world is changing so fast. Castro has never endorsed Hillaty-Obama, but even if he did what's wrong? If these dumb FOX watchers think that by Hillary becoming president, this country will be like China, then why is Bush administration continue trade with China and Russia? When China is by far our biggest trade partner, why are these idiots quiet? No wonder these people lag so much behind listening Rush Limbaugh that they do not know what is going outside US. I doubt if they can even find US on a world map?

WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU EXPECT HIM TO SAY? Clinton-Obama would only make the U.S. weaker, which would only please Castro. If somebody asked Fidel what he thought about Gore running again he would probably say "No! Never!" Sure. Castro wouldn't want someone in there who could do the job.

I just remembered something, Castro has a "thing" for blondes. When Barbara Walters interviewed him in the 70s he was falling over himself to impress her. Hmmmm, maybe Castro is just hoping to get to meet Hillary? LOL!

Just kidding......

It's obvious that a Clinton-Obama pairing would be the direction this country needs! Let's face it, GW didn't do a good job as president and we were stuck with him for 2 terms! Why not give these two, obviously capable, individuals the chance to prove to the nation and the world that gender and race should never be a factor in electing any officials! It should be based of record, dedication, tenacity, fervor to serve and do better than the predecessors, commitment, actual management style of approach to help solve the county's problems FIRST, everyone else second! Everyone falters in the beginning, it's how you pick yourself up and move ahead that will define the position you fought hard for. GW didn't do anything that remotely distinguishes him as a president that will go down in hostory as having left a legacy of greatness! These 2 individuals have been fighting to establish what is obvious – that if given the opportunity to work together, they will help shape our nation, move it forward, and go down in history as one of its best and finest! I have been saying and thinking all along that these 2 individuals will be out country's best bet for change, hope and solution to many, not all, of the problems our nation is plagued with! Good luck to the both of them! I HOPE THEY WIN!!!

Fidel Castro is giving his blessing to a Democratic win in 2008. Of course he feels more "comfortable" with people like Jimmy Carter, Hillary Clinton and the liberal gang. Liberals are less of a threat to him and the entire Latin leftist bozos like Chavez, Ortega and Morales.
Watch out America! Think about Mr. Castro's endorsement.

$90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers.

C-ontumely N-uanced N-ews completely misinterpreted Castro's statements to accomodate whatever political biases suited them. People should read the original(English language version) before jumping in here with both barrels blasting. Frankly, I don't spend a lot of time checking out Castro's views before casting my ballot, but a dying old curmudgeon whose whole life is anchored by a lie deserves at least as much respect as Troubles can provide.

I am not American. I cannot vote.

Too many attacks on Ms Rodham Clinton and Mr Obama. Animals, in general, do not go to the attack unless they feel theatened or they are hungry.

Ms Rodham Clinton is very electable and has no downsides. Mr Obama is not electable on the merits of his family because his wife is very black. America is not ready for a complete departure from the known. Mr Obama and family become very acceptable on the ticket though.

Republicans have committed too many wrongs. Added up they are far too many. The best thing for the GOP would be for "the departed" to become also "invisible". No Republican candidate who is in the race can claim both administrative competence and unimpeacheable candor–even 3-times married is a no-no. They are all too beholden to no longer tenable domestic or international policies. They took the world for their private hunting ranch. The fallout is just beginning.

I find it interesting that many here have chosen to ignore what Fidel Castro actually said. I guess it's more convenient to misinterpret his comments as an endorsement of a Hillary/Obama ticket. Then all the nut cases can come on here and throw around those old cliches such as "Democrats are socialists", "Hillary and Obama are communists", anyone who isn't a Republican is a "communist pinko". I thought that went out with the 1960's. It seems that some never tire of displaying their stupidity for all to read here. When are some of you going to let go of that stupid refrain of communism? We never had it here, never will have it here and saying it about the Democrats just reinforces their conviction and determination to take back the White House in 2008.

When you have nothing to run on, then attack the other side as socialist or communist. I don't think the people here using those words even know what they mean. What is far worse is fascism. That is what we are in real danger of becoming, a fascist state, under this president. He has walked all over the Constitution, instituted warrantless surveillance, illegally detained supposed "terrorists" indefinitely in Guantanamo without allowing them habeas corpus, tortured at Abu Graib and Guantanamo and allowed Alberto Gonzalez to turn the Justice Department into a political arm of the White House. What more do I have to say to make the case that this administration is endangering our civil liberties and freedoms? All of those here who are shrieking about communism don't have a clue about what real democracy and patriotism is all about.

Wow, I thought the old fart was dead!

Castro is a dictator– a COMMUNIST. What was it about Clinton/Obama that appealed to him? The Socialist health care plans?

Well of course one communist is going to think highly of another group of communist. Common socialized medicine is just the tip of Hilary the communist thoughts. Vote for her and you will have an idea of what its like to live in a foreign country.

I don't know if to shake my head in desbelief or to burst out laughing!! I have read the article in both English and Spanish, but still fail to see a Castro endorsement for either candidate. He only stated the general consensus that Hillary would be the nominee (same as said by Karl Rove, sen. Lindsey Graham and some others). Declaring that most people think that a Clinton-Obama ticket is a winning formula is not an endorsement, specially after adding that he didn't like either candidate.

Some of you need to work on comprehension or to simply grow up!!!

I think the idea of a Clinton/Obama ticket is all part of the bogus "Barack is too inexperienced" argument. Obviously, they know he's the biggest threat to her winning the nomination, so they need to convince people that he needs more experience to help get him out of the way, preferably without attacking him too much and alienating too many of his supporters. Trying to paint him as needing more time and then having him serve as VP gets him the experience he supposedly lacks.

I still think Obama would refuse if asked to be the VP for Hillary, but I'm not fully convinced she would even ask him. After all, she would have spent the whole primary campaign telling everyone he's not ready, so how could she turn around and then have him be "a heartbeat away" from the Presidency?

Why, a flip-flop like that could be......okay, wait a minute, hold on. I just remembered something. We are talking about Clinton here, so I guess it is very possible she would ask him.

The fact that there are a lot of Clinton supporters saying both that Barack is too inexperienced, but also that he would be a great VP choice for Hillary helps to illustrate how little thought some people are putting into their choice of candidate.

The lack of thought/reading comprehension skills by many of the people commenting on this story is also apparent due to all the comments construing the comments made by Castro as an endorsement. It was a prediction, not an endorsement.

What do you expect from an 80 year old senial almost dead dictator who exploits his regime as the best thing that can happen to the cuban people since batista.....please anything this guy says is laughable...

"For those of you who say if Castro endorses the ticket, you will not vote for them; all I have to say is your an idiot. If your children liked something you didn't, would you disown them. Everyone has an opinion and if you let one person influence yours then I think you should stay home on election day because I don't think your mature enough to elect a leader."
Posted By RL Dallas TX

Wow, that analogy is so wrong it hurts. You're trying to compare apples and oranges. You want to refer to "children" to conjure up thoughts of a child's innocence and immaturity. Then you want to compare the decision-making of a child (with those qualities) against the knowledge, experience, and morality of a Communist leader/dictator. They are not the same thing, and you are "an idiot" to make such a comparison.

And by the way, it's "you're an idiot"–not "your an idiot". Just thought you'd like to know before you call someone else an "idiot".

I find it amazing that CNN will quote the communist media as saying Castro WROTE and said this – what proof is there that he is even able to write or speak coherently ? does CNN know for certain these words were writen by Castro ? the answer is NO – so why publish is as SO, i find this irresponsible journalism to say the least.

How appropriate is this? Hillary gets endorsement from Fidel. Next, I am sure Chavez will chime in. After all, birds of a feather, flock together. Anyone wonder why Fidel would want a Hillary victory?

Who is Castro and what influence does he even have? He thinks Obama and Hillary will do what?? For who?? Call it what you want, I call it liberal propaganda by DNN (democrat news network). Fortunately for us U.S. citizens, if Hillary is on the ticket, the GOP is certain of victory in '08. Only the libs/dems really care about poll numbers, and endorsements from idiots and you will see the true vote of AMERICA when the time matters. Until then, i'll keep my "poll votes" for Obama and Hillary just to give the "saviors of America" false hope!

Did anyone actually read the article? It's a prediction of the likelihood of winning, not an endorsement or – as many claim it is.

I'm sure Castro would like to see Obama in the White House. Lifting the travel ban to Cuba means more money for Castro. I'm glad Hillary is taking a strong stand. The Communist regime should not be rewarded unless they show changes to improve Human Rights & a move towards democracy.

First the unions endorsed Hillary (ask Detroit who no longer has jobs due to the unions) – now its Castro – I guess he read her college (socialist) views – and maybe brushed up alittle on her universal healthcare proposal – ya know – the goverment has proven that they can run cost effective programs....ya right – the only thing more ridiculous than Hillarys comments – is the fact there are some that believe them....sad really

it's funny how democrats are deemed "socialists" because of a couple social programs. wish i could say the shoe fits for conservatives, but y'all are the most wasteful "conservatives" this planet has ever seen.

Fidel is as wrong as usual.

A Clinton-Obama ticket would be another Republican win..., guaranteed.

I love how CNN has misquoted and twisted what was actually said. It gets the idiot republicans in a fury!
I also find it funny all the people that still feel we should isolate Cuba are probably also the big business men that farm out their work to China who has by far a worse human rights record.
Yup, lets make big bucks off these communists but isolate a tiny little impoverished island.
Sounds like a typical republican eh?

Anyone see The Godfather III? Remember the part about Cuba? This is what we are talking about here, people, and BIG money is behind opening up Cuba. You are naive if you think it is a humanitarian issue.

Alan,

Question: Can Republicans read?
Answer: Yes. It's comprehension they have a problem with.

Be careful, this one cuts both ways. The first thing that comes to mind is a National Intelligence Estimate that one of these candidates failed to completely read, and made, arguably the wrong decision.

The other candidate pictured above had access to less information, yet made what many believe to be the correct conclusion.

Happy Wednesday,

Chip

I love the people here that twist this to bash the Democratic party, comparing it to communism. Obviously the Republicans have done such a bang-up job over the last few years, right? Look at how we appear in the world... I think we're more hated now than before 9/11. Never have I seen how poorly we look even in the eyes of known allies. Is it possible Democrats can actually do worse than that?

This is great! Endorsements from the terrorists, Iran, and now Castro! Any Dems at all concerned that their support base comes from that of the people that want to kill you (unless you're John Edwards), radical islamic governments, and one of the last remaining communist dictators? Oh ya, must be the Presidents fault.

Thanks Fido, er, Fidel, I am now solidly behind Rudy.

For all you Illiterates out there...Fidel isn't endorsing any particular ticket, he is simply making some astute observations.
In any event with the implosion of the Republican party, any Democratic ticket is going to walk away with the election.
In the words of Theodore Donald Kerabatsos:"You guys are dead in the water"

People who liken Democrats to socialists demonstrate about as much intelligence as people who liken Republicans to Fascists – that is, none at all.

People who think Republicans are fascists should do a little reading about things that went on in Italy in the 1920s and 1930s.

People who think Democrats are socialists should do a little reading about Stalinist Russia.

Lastly, to the person who said the world would "walk all over us" if these two got elected,

It seems to me that the world is doing a pretty good job of walking all over us right now in Iraq.

Oh yea..if you think this fake comparison to democrats being "socialists", what about fascists like Mugabe, using US law on spying on its own citizens as justification to create his own law for tapping citizen emails, phone lines, and any other private media?

Nice, having a dictator use American law as justification to spy on his citizens, huh!? Where's my country?

Or how about the US supporting terrorists of other countries? Check out Chiquita banana and all the other American companies alone supporting terrorists to protect their assets..and you wonder why people hate "our way of life?" Get REAL!

CNN is sinking to new lows if it reports this as front page news. Endorsements are not the responsibility of the candidates. To somehow try to link Clinton/Obama to Castro is ludicrous. They are about as communist as Stalin was a democrat (anybody who says otherwise doesn't know what communism is). I can only interpret this as an attempt to smear the two senators (I am sure they did not ask for, nor welcome this endorsement).

CNN only mentions this to discredit the idea of. Castro was not the first to say this, who ever said it first or last is right though. Although I think it should be Obama-Clinton.

The fact that Castro said it means that it probably wont happen. Even though he said HE DOESNT REALLY LIKE EITHER ONE OF THEM. The fact that he said it mean that american's that dont like Castro (and probably have no true understanding of why, that expands past Macarthyism) will automatically change their vote.

I.E. the people on here that say "well if Castro supports them I'm not going to vote for them" How stupid is that?

I'm neither a US citizen or resident, I've just visited the US a couple of times a year, almost every year since I was 2 and I'm 39 now and I do know for a fact, that the only winning candidate the Democrats have is Hilary Clinton. As for Obama, the US is far from being ready to elect a non white president or vice president, so don't waste your time thinking about it. As for Castro, when will the average American understand that the only reason Castro still runs Cuba is because of the US trade embargo, the escape goat to blame the failures of a system widely proven to be, well, a failure: Comunism. If you don't believe me, ask any newly arrived Cuban.

I'm not sure where Castro gets the idea that Clinton-Obama are in favor of democracy in Cuba. That pair aren't even in favor of democracy in America!

From confiscating wealth through excessive taxes to socialized medicine the Clinton-Obama team are as communist as it gets.

Obama, Osama and Chelsea's momma aren't getting anywhere near the White House in 2008.

I believe Fidel Castro´s words have been "mistakenly" interpreted. Apparently, he said : "the talk nowadays is...", I don´t think it´s his opinion, he´s just mentioning the opinion of others.

And guess who put him up this? Karl Rove. I'm sure he's behind all of this as part of his newest scheme to mess up next year's election...

kp smith..'crumble under democratic control'

Are you asleep at the wheel? What exactly do you think is occuring right this MINUTE?!

Tons of debt owned by China, to support this illegitimate war (what war? there's no standing army we're fighting!) Businesses emboldened by republican greed to offer loans of questionable merit to people without documented income, EPA lowering pollution standards across the board (Blue Skies act?! haha) poor job growth, and the jobs we do have are in retail...niiiice! Gas at 3.00 a gallon, while income has stagnated, food costs are up, mom's having issues with medicare, the govt can't mediate drug prices, ted nugent's waving guns around threatening obama clinton and feinstein, he's not being condemned, while the dixie chicks are kicked out of the country for saying they're sorry bush is from texas. YOU people are fascists, authoritarian minded bed wetters who shed a tear and scared the country after you allowed only 19 men to bring our whole country to its knees!!!

Clinton Obama would definately be unstoppable. Thats one ticket that would get a wide spectrum of voters in.

Although he is a vicious and bad dictator he is right about them being unbeatable and the two are better than Bush in my opinion.

James, don't forget larry craig's endorsement of Romney, paul alan's running of mccain's campaign, glen murphy jr, young republican's leader in indiana, mark foley, ted klaudt republican from south dakota, ted hagard, conservative "minister" who spoke with bush every week via conference call.."jeff gannon" gay hooker hired to ask bush softball questions, under a fake name (approved by the secret service) These men were all involved in homosexual escapades (except klaudt, who sexually molested little girls)

At least the people supporting the dems have their flaws public, instead of being hypocrites. Think on that.

Great! Castro and American Politics! Has Castro ever supported or spoke about any American candidate before? I doubt it unless of course they were Hillary and Obama two people who would like to rip up the constitution and strip all Americans rights and lock us in a prison we call America, yes! We spent 40+ years fighting Communism and a vote of these two is a vote for Communism!!!! You decide!!!

This will surely help them win Dade county Florida. /sarcasm

Isn't Castro supposed to be dead from choking on his cigar? I mean his incessant prattling must be a sign of a postmortem spasm.

We've been a nation for 330 years!!! and income tax is wealth redistribution????? huh???? Income tax goes to pay for things like police officers and fire departments and basically keeps goverment functioning ( I use that term lightly). I don't like to pay taxes anymore than you but I understand that it is a necessary evil to keep our society running.

You say there is no way that you would vote Democrat...I think I speak for all Democrats when I say "thank you, we appreciate that" if you don't even know how long we've been a country we really don't need your vote.

If our politicians would concentrate on making "friends" instead of enemies, perhaps we wouldn't be in that mess in the middle east.Our politicians have long ago abandoned the "statesmen" philosophy. They need to learn that because of the differences in education and religions, all countries "will not" be democratic, nor should they be. People are different and require different forms of government.By passing negative comments publicly,it only serves to distance relations with other countries. WHEN WILL WE HAVE "STATESMEN" RUNNING OUR GOVERNMENT, WE BADLY "NEED" THAT!

Having Clinton and Obama team up will never happen. It is apparent which one of them lacks the people skills and neither one of them will take a backseat (VP roll) to the other!
Biorn

Oh my gosh!! I had no idea that Republican's were so weak. They are actually going to let Castro decide who they shold vote for??????? I have a theory that they probably weren't going to vote for Hillary or Obama anyways.
Here's an idea...why not listen to how each of the candidates stand on issues that are most important to you and then decide for yourself who you will vote for...aahhhh thinking for yourself what an idea....

Oh, one more thing...we have not been a nation for 330 years..try reading a history book once in a while or if that is too difficult there is always the history chanel. You should not be able to vote if you don't know the basic history of this country.

Read the article people! I have no idea where you're pulling the idea of an endorsement out of. The post, which a majority of you seem to be to lazy to read, explicitly says that Castro does not endorse them. Wow.

I find this suspect. I mean Maliki has thrown his two cents in as well suggesting that Americans vote for a Republican. Fidel Castro, should he alive and able to communicate, has said that Clinton/Obama ticket would be good. This is funny that other groups are weighing in our process where their process is limited or suspect.

If I were a candidate, I would challenge Castro to appear in person with someone everyone would respect and believe to show that he is alive. The next item would be to challenge Castro to have open, free and fair elections with people from all political parties to run for everything including his job; have this election run by a group that could not be intimidated by Castro; maybe the British, the Swiss, South Africans or the Israelis. It could not be run by anyone from the Americas.

This country was founded 400 years ago this year with settling of Jamestown, VA.

Not until the past 70 years have we had so much taxes "wealth distribution" and dependence on government. People were self-reliant. That is 330 years without massive government in our lives. The Past 70, too much government intervention. Castro is wrong. I'll not vote for any Democrat.

"There you have it, folks: a vote for Clinton or Obama is a vote for communism."

That is exactly disinformation that CNN plans to introduce by this article. Instead of doing real analysis of issues, Republican-biased CNN goes after emotions. Shame on you!

Scary that one of the biggest enemies of the US throughout history wants Clinton/Obama to run together. I hear they are Al Qaeda's and North Korea's choice too. The real question is: Are the American people as dumb as I think they are and think that this is a good thing?

Anyone foolish enough to throw away all ethical and moral considerations by voting for a republican is obviously a person of very low character.Please stay home.This county is now a democracy and overthrowing our government is not an American value.If you want a representative republic(republican),you can accomplish that by just giving up your vote to a real American.That is the republic for which you stand,just like China.What a coincidence!

CNN needs help translating from Spanish...allow me:

OBAMA/Clinton ticket would be unbeatable.

While Castro may be dead, senile, or otherwise crazy - his world-wide popularity is much more than Bush can say for himself these days.

OBAMA 08!!

Gore-Edwards would have a shot, but not Clinton-Obama. Even women dislike her, and Obama is still far to green to have a shot. She has too much baggage from her first presidency, and he's too young, too black, and too muslim to get the nod from the voting public other than minorities.

All candidates, BOTH REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATS have always told Cubans in Florida the day the become President, it's the day Castro will be stopped.

This, of course, has never happened. They just milk the Cuban crowd on the right spot. They have been doing it for years; it obviously works.

He talks about the 2000 election and the battle for Florida. As a result, he thinks that the Democratic contestants will want to portray themselves as having the sacred duty to bring change in Cuba (they want the state who has been voting red for some time now) this only to get the Cuban vote. While the truth is (like or not but Castro is right) Castro has been there for years and no president has been able to do anything about it, how will the next president (Democrat or Republican) be any different.

Please do not misjudge Senators Clinton or Obama or any other candidates (Republican or Democrat) just for what others are saying. Let's be smart voters for once. I think we all agree we need change in this government. Just because Fidel Castro mentions the names of two contestants will not mean they will not get my vote. I mean, COME ON, he just mentions their names, along with many other names for that matter. How can we just say he supports them, that's crazy. Besides, like some other posts I have seen today "Who care what Castro thinks".

PEOPLE PEOPLE

The document reads the following: "Hoy se habla de que un ticket al parecer invencible podría crearse con el binomio Hillary presidente y Obama vice"

This translates to: "Today, people are talking about a seemingly invincible Cliton/Obama ticket..."

He never says he predicts they will win. This article is mainly about how candidates always tell Cubans they will seek a democratic shift in Cuba in order to get the Cuban vote in Florida. This is what the article is about.

Shame on CNN for twisting the article. Besides, none of it is really news. Now that you know what the articles reads, you can better reach conclusions and post comments.

I hope this clarifies

It's not an endorsement, but a prediction. Duh? Are you guys clueless?

Is there anyone here who knows the difference?

Indeed, Castro has you removed if you are Cuban and you disagree, and that is unacceptable by any standards.

Then again, Bush has your country bombed back to the Middle Ages if it annoys Israel or the White House (in that order).

Oh well...

"American Socialism"... I will take that over any of the fascism we've got going on right now.

Hillary Clinton Presidential Nominee for the democratic ticket, and Bill Clinton as the Vice President running mate. I don't think there is no prohibition in the Constitution to do that either.

To all the democrats getting upset because of the neo-conservatives and hardcore right wing republicans posting idiotic comments, let them have their fun...They need to vent after the realization that their republican senators and congressmen are corrupt/hypocrites and/or sexually confused...It's hurting their feelings and they need this article to let it out!

I am not completely surely about the possiblity of this being an actual ticket while on paper it seems like a good idea there are certain things that have happend in real life that would make me reluctant to support this ticket. But instead of speculating I will just wait and see the outcome.

I love the 'now I know who not to vote for' comments. If you think Castro is such a vile, evil "commie" why would you allow him to sway you?

To the person who 1st brought up the number 330 where on earth did you get that number from you add 99 yrs to our existance a country.

To all the people who are actually influenced by what some other person is rumored to have said you should not have the right to vote because you just proved that you cannot think for yourself. I thought people were supposed to vote for who they believe could best represent the country and get the job done.

And if God and the Devil joined forces, they'd overrun everyone in their path. Except Brad and Angelina.

I wonder how many posters here pose as "concerned Democrats" who are in fact activist Republicans trying to skew the dialog and poison this debate?
It can the go the other way, and that is the point!
When will we put the business of the Nation at the pinnacle of effort and relegate the business of Party Politics to the minor role it xhould have.

That's quite insulting if you think about it.

Would Osama campaign for them as well?

I'm sure Fidel will support anyone who will make Michael Moore the Surgeon General.

It was obvious that the the strongest ticket for the Democrats was Clinton/Obama from the beginning of this process. Let's hope that reason prevails and the team we present to the voters reflects the best hope we have to recapture the White House and the House and the Senate.

Fidel Castro's Cuba is a corrupt insignificant nation that is self absorb and unable to provide any positive national influence towards the creation of a peaceful and free world. The dictator's political observation is inconsequential and should be consider as such by our free press.

Wow.. looking through the comments like I see up above, I start to understand how Bush got elected in the first place.

If you are dim enough to let this article persuade you away from voting for Clinton-Obama.. I got news for you, you always were a right winger.

For the record.. the following are staunch republican supporters..

Britney Spears... proven genius
Jessica Simpson... another genius
Marilyn Manson... great moral compass
50 Cent... nice guy actually
Mel Gibson... unless they're jewish
Audra Lynn... Playboy R's get porn too
Mary Carey... porn star

And with all the trouble they've had in the last year or tow, I'm guessing Michael Jackson is a fan too.

CNN didn't only get it wrong but Reuters did it worse. Thanks at least to CNN for posting an actual link. What is this a "create a headline" day? Castro said: "Today, talk is about the seemingly invincible ticket that might be created with Hillary for President and Obama for Vice President." and "They are not making politics: they are playing a game of cards on a Sunday afternoon." Certainly does not sound like an endorsement to me. Not like I care much for either Hilary or Obama ... but I don't like the facts getting skewed to sell news.

I think these 2 would be a great ticket. I would vote for them. We need a positive change for a better future.

Hillary and Obama is a winning ticket and I think would certainly be a better choice for the White House than what's been in there the past seven years or anything the Republicans have to offer.

Why do so many people misunderstand this article? It doesn't say that Castro endorses a Clinton-Obama ticket, it just says that he thinks that it would be a strong ticket. Maybe it's this lack of reading comprehension skills that allowed us to end up with a president like Bush in the first place. There also seems to be a complete lack of understanding about foreign politics as well, for instance Venezuela is not and has never been a communist country and none of you seem to understand Castro's presidency in the context of Cuban history, you just eat up almost 50 years of anti-Castro propaganda without even questioning it. As to the current presidential race, I do not support Clinton or Obama. I'm a lifelong Republican, but am changing my party affiliation to vote for Kucinich. Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel and Ron Paul are the only credible candidates.

Interesting side-note to the Clinton/Obama story – the domain name clintonobama.com is registered to someone named Michael Grizzi. You can't tell who/where he is. But there is a Hollywood attorney with that name who works for one of the studios. Interestingly, the domain was registered in July 2004!

I am baffled by the inaccuracy of this article. If you speak Spanish and you read the article in Spanish you'll realize that Castro is not calling the Hillary-Obama ticket invincible, like CNN suggests. In the first place his essay is not about Obama and Hillary, the article mostly speaks about some of his past experiences with previous US presidents. Almost at the end of the article he mentions Obama and Hillary and the especulation that exists in the US that such a ticket would be hard to defeat by the Republicans. Castro is not saying that "he believes" the ticket is invincible.
Shame on CNN.

Hilarious. That's all I can say. I can't even believe that CNN dignified this by printing it. Oh wait..I can. And for all those who believe that Bush should address and work with all the insane dictators in the world, who made you foreign policy experts. How have some of you become so stupid?

Wow something so blatantly obvious even Castro sees it. If only Obama would take vice pres. Then he could learn from Clintons experience and they would be the perfect team to clean up Washington, and that is what the republicans are afraid of. run piggies run

I do not believe she will be president. There are a lot of people, including me, who states that we will vote for her but will not. Why should I show my hand before the date?

Also what is this Big Source of funds from the Paw family. This is suspect to me and it was in 1995 which no one could explain...(I believe that was the year). I won't vote for anyone who takes funds from suspicious sources. I guess CNN does not believe it is important enough to report and let their readers make up their own minds.

Besides, I am just tired of her whining. Come on men, would you want to wake up to whining and men bashing every morning from your wife? This is what is going to happen if she gets into office.

Let's put all this aside. She does not have the experience on foreign affairs, she has never run a business and she wants to tax us to death.

All other countries do not have better medical care than we do. We have the best medicine because the government is not involved. Good luck if it ever happens....we will be equal to all the other countries where stroke victims do not live through their first couple of months.

Ahhh...it never fails. The reliably stupid American public weighs in. These comments again show the criminal idiocy that is rampant in America. Did any of you clowns even READ the article??? If you did, then please cut and paste the paragraph that shows Castro "endorsing" Obama and Hillary.

And those making the claim that Fidel Castro's opinion of an American presidential candidate has affected how they will vote...wow...that's breathtakingly moronic.

A political endorsement from a dictator that has not allowed elections in his own country for 48 years.

Nice job CNN = Castro News Network

Castro will not vote for President, why you guys worry so much? Clinton-Obama ticket is not going to happen because Obama is lack of experience, he couldn't support President Hillary Clinton. Also he told us he is not running for VP clearly and he is not qualified for VP yet either, he needs serious trainning of political career over 10 more years. He needs to learn the Presidential manner and attitude first, his wife needs a good qualification of assistance of her husband too.
I am sure Hillary will pick a gentle, humble, experienced, well educated and dignified person for her running mate.

Yes I agree with Lance. Is the intention some how to make Clinton and Obama look bad because Castro said favorable things about them?

It is completely moot...Castro does not have any more political influence now that the Cold War is over and the Soviets no longer exist.

Whatever he says is irrelevant at this point in his life.

To the anti democrats mocking Obama and Clinton because Castro "endorses" them. What is your answer. Rudy, Fred, Mitt? I love your McCarthyismesque taunts...comparing a Democratic administration to communism. That just shows your age, the red scare began in the 50's and ended in the 80's. Keep up the fear mongering. You guys are so predictable, come up with something fresh.

Who cares what Castro thinks????? We're all going to "melt" under Global Warming anyway, so what difference does it make??
Next thing you know someone will print "Michael Vick says he wants to run for Mayor", and there you have it.... It's called "blogs"
You've got to vote, or you can't complain!!!!

Hello, an endorsement? Castro for the democratic ticket? Support for Obama and Clinton is support for communism? How dumb can you be! Did you people even read the article? He doesn't support them, only thinks they will win. This is awful of CNN to lead with such a headline. Republicans will see whatever they want and CNN will give it to them. Watch them try to turn this into the next "I invented the internet." Shameful just Shameful CNN.

Hillary 2008!

Viva Fidel!!

I liked Cuba better when the mafia ran it.......

Here we go again. Associate Castro, America's sworn but brain dead enemy, with Obama / Clinton. A brilliant propaganda move – make it look like the communist evil-doer endorses the legimately democratic, pro-American candidates and, voila, they MUST be communist, too.

I'm very glad to see that Sen Obama is gaining grounds as we have observed so far in his various campaigns. However i honestly believe that his best option at this moment will be to run as Sen Clinton's vice. As we all know that the democrats are bound to win the election 2008,that will give him a chance to prove himself and at the same time give him an opportunity to run for presidency at a later period.

"I don't imagine they're coming here to bring greetings from Castro. We're living in the era of the suitcase bomb" – Fred Thompson on Cuban refugees.

"I was appalled when one of the people running for or about to run for the Republican nomination talked about Cuban refugees as potential terrorists. Apparently he doesn't have a lot of experience in Florida or anywhere else, and doesn't know a lot of Cuban-Americans." – Hillary Clinton responding to Thompson’s remarks.

Commies for commies. Now they just need the endorsements from Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela.

Has any one seen "Moon over Parador"? Sometimes you just don't know if the dictator is really an actor...

The question Castro should be addressing is When Will There be Democratic Elections in Cuba? When will he release all the political prisoners? When will there be a Free Press in Cuba?

Most posters here are severing lacking in reading comprehension skills. This article says nothing about Castro endorsing Clinton-Obama, and rather just a recognition that such a ticket would do well in a general election. He even complains about their policies!

Castro is slow ! Everyone already knows this is their plan in both parties . Its know as the 16 year plan in the streets . God help us all !

Vive, Obama for 08 with vp Cliton.

Obama is not old enough to be president. He doesn't have enough experience in life. If he is going to be vice-president, I have to be able to think he could do,(in case), I can not think that. He is not old enough. Obama in 2016! Yes, I can totally see that. This Clinton administration could groom him for that. He could be in a extremely responsible position 2012-2016 and we could have at least 12 straight years of a democrat in the white house. Right now I want to see a older man with ALOT of knowledge. A calm man. I want to feel the ticket being tempered not become more confontational. Someone with a Les Aspin sort of a background. Obama doesn't have nearly enough experience. As VP in 2012 on her second go around. Then president in 2016, I can see that.

The People Republic of America... hmm it kinda has a nice ring to it! Lets invite Castro and Chaves and all the other whack job leaders out there to celebrate!!!!!!!!! Down with democracy!!! Wait...that is where Obama or Clinton would lead us right??

I think he meant invisible !

I dont mean to be mean, but didn't Fidel Castro die last week?

She's a conservative, read what she just said, why not talk about Cuba, she's still holding the hard-line like past aministration, Cuba will become the new Puerto-Rico.

He just wants an excuse to prove he's alive so that moron Perez Hilton can stop pretending to be a polijournalist.

No! Obama Clinton is the ticket. Hilary is part of the old Washington power click and i don't care what you say, she'll bow to the White male conservative power structure if need be, that's why she voted for the war. Fidal is old and an outsider, he hasn't been through or informed enough about the struggle an the afro american experiance. It's time for the world to see what the afro-american can accomplish, on the world theater. The ticket Castro suggests is in accordance with the established placement of power, structured in america. Powerful white male, then his white female then a black male and a toss-up between latin females or black females, again, in that order. Besides after all the damage this president has done"Bush," it's going to take an impithic man of color to heal the worlds miss-feelings about america.

Wrong prediction. The winning ticket will be Obama-Richardson. Any ticket with Hillary would make me vote Republican.

And just think, Castro could advise them exactly how to be "unbeatable"!

Obama is right. We should be building relations with the Cuban people now, not after. Proactive leadership makes sense.

Maybe all these communist-hating Republicans can tell me why President Bush isn't calling for a boycott of the Chinese Olympics next year, and why under his administration we've become mired in debt to Chinese banks and are practically in bed with the hyper -communist Chinese government. Oh, wait, what am I talking about? Republicans are only against socialism when it can help poor people, like when Hillary advocates for health care. Silly me, I forgot!

To reiterate what Alan wrote:
Can anyone else here read and comprehend? There is no endorsement mentioned.

who cares what Castro thinks!!!! why even mention it!!

330 years?What happened then? Are all the right-wingers in third grade?If you listen to Castro to decide who to vote for,aren't you a communist?Shouldn't you exile yourself?I mean just so you feel comfortable,I hear Iraq is lovely this time of year.

Gee what a suprise, a communist adversary backing the Democratic party. I'm sure Iran, Syria, and North Korea will back them as well. They all would love to see the US crumble under Democratic control!

Thanks Fidel!

What a great way to energize the GOP Base.

As an American voter I write in Communist Party candidates when I vote in Presidential elections. Capitalism is very undemocratic and unpatriotic. It gives people no say in the economic decisions made by corporations, which can affect the lives and livelihoods of hundreds or thousands of workers and kill whole communities. It ignores borders whenever there is money to be made. The almost overwhelming force of money in politics is the opposite of free speech. Many of you are sincere people misled by the barrage of propaganda we are all subjected to. Please do not disregard the message of communism out of the ghost of Cold War paranoia.

This sounds like a typical Republican ploy to cover this...what better way to turn off unsure conservatives or on the fence independents by mentioning what Castro thinks.Who cares what he thinks??? Unless you are a conservative trying to get people not to vote for Obama or Clinton. Way to go CNN!!!!

pl from the UN:

I have read a number of your posts, and they are usually calm, cool, and to the point. I appreciate that amidst all of this ridiculous and oblivious partisan squabbling.

I would like to say, however, that I don't believe a Clinton-Obama ticket would be a gift to the rest of the world. It would most likely just be more of the same.

What Americans don't seem to realize is that, due to our laziness and apathy, the whole voting process has become a sham. Our ability to choose our leaders is little more than an illusion. Sure, we pick between 2 candidates in the election, we pick between a few in the primaries... But it really comes down to the fact that we only pick from the choices given to us by the powers that be. The illusion of choice.

I'm surprised that no one finds it strange that, despite all our bickering and complaining, despite all of the sweet words and promises we get during campaign season, virtually nothing of substance ever really gets changed.

I hate to break it to the rest of the world, but we have a plank in our eye here in America. Until we take care of it, I doubt anything our government does will be of much use to anyone. Our government is "By the PARTIES, of the ELITE, and for BIG-MONEY INTERESTS". The PEOPLE don't figure into it and require little more than periodic pacifying.

It seems that people don't wake up, get involved, get educated, and show any sort of personal responsibility until after a huge disaster. Apparently 9/11 wasn't enough to wake America up.

With all my heart I hope a leader rises up from the people, wakes us up, and brings us together. The US has the gift of a fantastic system theoretically giving the people the power, but the people have fallen asleep at the wheel giving opportunists the chance to hijack our future.

I have a feeling you and I would agree on many issues (my education is in politics/international relations), but in this case I think it is misguided to think that America's salvation is going to come from either of the two dominant parties.

Aside from the whole Cuban thing- I think Clinton and Obama would indeed be unstoppable.

Who knows- but I think they would have a better chance of getting there if they teamed up.
Posted By Jessie, Fitchburg, MA : August 28, 2007 4:47 pm
what like obama stopping hillary from banning public smoking in the US, or just turning this country socialist in general?

No, seriously. Why do we care what Castro thinks?

I just read the letter published by the cuban newspaper (in Spanish) and it is evident that CNN got it wrong this time. In his essay, Castro is just paraphrasing what many media outlets are saying in this country. The correct translation would be: Today, talk is about the seemingly invincible ticket that might be created with Hillary for President and Obama for Vice President.. He is not endorsing or prasing them in any way.
CNN must make a correction.

Please read the article:

"Castro, who has overseen communist rule of Cuba since 1959, did, however, make it clear that he is no fan of the two Democrats' support of democratic reform in Cuba.

"Both of them feel the sacred duty of demanding 'a democratic government in Cuba,'" Castro wrote. "They are not making politics: they are playing a game of cards on a Sunday afternoon.""

That didn't sound like a ringing endorsement to me.

Just like when Rove opined that Hillary would probably be the candidate...it's an opinion versus an endorsement.

The fact that Castro is as old as he is, and some people in the US are still trying to make him a threat to their livelihood at his age speaks volumes of how big of a leader he really is, and how much of a mickey mouse some in the US are to let this old guy scare them.

Are you kidding me? This guy is old enough to be everyone's grandfather on capitol hill! And we actually have politicians trying to flame him and demean him like he's a 20 year old guy!

That shows how insecure the US is really about it's own democratic system to worry about what he says about presidential hopefuls. Who cares what Castro thinks! It's not like he can vote for anyone in the US anyway! Why are people making such a big deal about it?

Ug. Im thrilled to be supporting the people who Fidel castro wants to get into office.

I thought that from the beginning. I am a Democrat. Wow what a statement American's would make.

Nonsense. I'd vote for Obama-Clinton, although I think almost anyone else would bring more to the ticket. Her, I'd never vote for. If she really cared about her party or country, she'd step aside for someone who's actually electable.

Castro is Dead. I don't know who wrote that, but it was not Castro.

For those of you who wrote that your not going to vote because Castrol endorsed Obabma/ Clinton, its nice to see you have the ability to let an ailing man hundreds of miles away, influence your fundamantal right to vote with a few sentences. It's this type of thinking that really scares me when it comes time to vote. People are scared to think for themselves and stick with their view. I like Obama because he does that. Only in America can a President do a bad job for 4 years, and yet we re- elect him again, and then scatch ours heads wondering "What Happened" So sad.

I am an independent, and I am sorry to say Clinton lost my vote in the pirmaries and in the general, when she said that lobbyists represent the American people and have done a lot of good for us. If it's not Edwards, Obama, or one of the other Dems, I will vote for Romney or a third-party candidate.

I've had enough of Bushes and Clintons.

Pretty sad the republiCONS here with their comments. "Endorsement"???? Hardly – reread Castros comments, dim witts! It was an observation (and pretty darned obvious one at that) that Hillary and Barack on the same ticket would win next year. Two popular minority candidates running together??? I mean DUHHH – my 6 year old son could have guessed they would be heavily favored too.

I never knew so many ignorant people read CNN.
First, to reiterate the obvious, Castro said the ticket would be highly electable, not desirable.
Secondly, to the people who think this indicates that the Democrats are socialists I can only say: please don't use terms you don't understand.

Best comment of the thread goes to Alan Bechtold : August 28, 2007 5:07 pm.

No wonder this country is falling behind in the world when far too many citizens have such difficulty understanding what is said and written in their own language.

In no way was this an endorsement. In fact, if you read and correctly comprehended the original post, you would have read "Castro, who has overseen communist rule of Cuba since 1959, did, however, make it clear that he is no fan of the two Democrats' support of democratic reform in Cuba."

To be honest, it's a travesty that so many of you are able to vote. If literacy tests weren't so synonymous with racism and Jim Crow, I'd be all for reinstating them. Then the ignorance of the 33% of Fox viewers that think WMDs were found in Iraq might not have so much sway in the way our country is run.

Praise from the dictator Castro is like the kiss-of-death for the Democrats.

Now, Hillary and Obama only need support from Venezuelan dictator Chavez, and Iranian radical Islamic regime head Ahmadinejad, and you spell the end of the Democrat Party.

It's amazing to hear so many republicans compare democrats to socialists. Don't they remember voting in a candidate that has taken our country the closest it's ever been to a totalitarian state. Fear led government is not my idea of a democracy.

With the backing of Castro and Heidi Fleiss, she is sure to win.

It is an interesting snapshot at how consistent messages can affect the citizens leading to a manufacturing of consent. The breeding of nationalism in the US has been taught to ignore the nationalism of others. Castro has thrived on nationalism. The people who support him are only going to get more supportive as Castro is attacked.

"Look they seek to destroy us" is a very convincing comment when met with aggression, whether it is GWBush saying it, Castro saying it, Chavez saying it, or Cheney saying it.

US .V THEM
How many of you have been to Cuba? How many of you really even care about Cuba outside of your partisan positioning that already knows the answers to issues based on talking points?

How many think Pat Robertson is a terrorist because he called for Chavez to be killed? How is he different than a man 10,000 miles away saying the same thing in Arabic about his enemy? How will you deal with Robertson? If you are Christian, is the treatment of Cuba under Castro consistent with Christian values?

Not convinced of the evil Castro theory sorry, and I think US policy made him a hero to many. If you don't see it that way, so be it.

If the US had honored their commitment to the freedom fighters in Cuba we wouldn't even have to be reading this rubbish. Unfortunately just like in many other cases we promised support to those freedom fighters and they got death instead.

Wrong!!!! Try Obama, Edwards!!!!

To RL in Dallas-
If you are going to name call, at least check YOUR grammar. It's "'YOU'RE' (not 'your') an idiot."(Ah, the irony.)

I love to see the footstomping and pouting that goes on when the Democrats must defend their own. Calm down kids...we know that the moral among you would rather Castro, Heidi Fleiss and Jenna Jameson not back your candidates. We've got our "rogues" too. It's free press, speech and open debate–those are good things. Let's be adults about it.

So in the last few weeks, you have proudly trumpeted endorsements for Mrs. Clinton, from Heidi Fleiss, and now Fidel Castro! Who Cares! This is right wing smearing at its finest. I am awaiting with bated breath the endorsement from Charles Manson...

Ever since both Clinton and Obama has declared their race for the presidency, I have always said to my friends, family and whomever will listen that if they ran together as Prez and VP, that will be the key to winning the Presidency back for the democrats.
I don't need Catro to tell me that.....it's a no brainer.
C'mon Hillary, C'mon Obama- let's get this together and RUN TOGETHER!

To comment on the political implications of the subject, and not so much the dude bringing them up, I think that Clinton and Obama really ought to team up.

Frankly, I want Obama to be the President because of his character, integrity, and judgment, but I also think that Hillary is a decent person, if not one who's often shrouded by a mask of her own making. Considering the current VP, Hillary could easily fill the spot and do a better job (at being VP, not Dark Lord) than Cheney.

Then we could get a true feel for what Hillary is like in that level of leadership; then again, a Hillary fan could say the same for Obama, I suppose...

I love how all these conservatives think that because Castro 'endorses' these candidates they must be communists! First of all, he didn't endorse them, he said in the article that he doesn't like their policies. He just made an observation that they would be an unstoppable force, which they would. Most Democratic voters, according to the polls, support either Obama or Clinton for the ticket. Put 'em both together, and bye-bye Big Oil-funded Republicans. Or so I can hope.

"It is hypocritical for conservatives to slam on liberals for socialist tendencies, when they themselves stand for republican ideals, rather than democratic ideals. The painful duality of this nation is going to eat itself"

The United States is a constitutional republic, Benjamin. That is why conservatives fight for republican ideals.

Well, at least he's right about the Clinton ticket; not so much about the Obama part. Obama on any ticket will automatically hand over the White House to another Republican't!

CLINTON-BIDEN 2008!

Wow! Some of us Americans are so emotional that even the flash of our own shadow makes shake and jump just like we are facing a disaster.

I am not ignoring that Castro may still have a voice in the world political arena. But do we really have to make a national debate over a simple fruitless comment. Are we that sensitive? Are we that worried? Are we that expect in SENSE? How do we happen to strive to make or give sense to even the most senseless idea or thing? By the way, thanks to the news media.

We try everything to uncover the most hidden secrets of other countries. Most of the time, we even get to the point of directing their government, their business, and their people. However, it is so hard for us to just listen to the most vague and senseless idea from someone else.

Hello Kids! Welcome to Kindergarden.

Castro commented that a Hillary-Obama ticket would be unbeatable. Which part of that statement is incorrect? We all know it would be hard for any Republican to beat them should they ever think to team up. Then, what's the point? Why is that a national headline? Are we that hungry for entertainment? Is our democracy that fragile?

Nicely put, it may be wrong for someone to make that statement but it is absolutely fine for us to say that America is not ready for a woman or an African American president after more than two hundred years of the great American independance (the great nation under God with liberty and justice for all).

Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!

All he did was give an opinion...

"In an editorial in Cuba's communist party newspaper, Granma, the ailing dictator said the pairing of the two White House hopefuls seemed "invincible," according to an English translation on the paper's Web site.

Castro, who has overseen communist rule of Cuba since 1959, did, however, make it clear that he is no fan of the two Democrats' support of democratic reform in Cuba."

Where in there does it say he endorses the ticket people? LEARN TO READ

He gave an opinion and as a matter of fact likes neither of them due to their beliefs on Cuba.

In one masterful stroke JFK made Fidel Castro forever irrelevant in the future of mankind. Now the old curmudgeon confabulates and prognosticates about whatever happens to float through the debauched circuitry of his synapses. Can't even play a game of cards on a Sunday afternoon. Read the ramblings of a loser(and that is what JFK made him); sounds like Miss TeenAge South Carolina on why 20% of Americans can't find USA on the map.

And that should read making comments such as "Now I know who not to vote for," of course. Alas for the lack of a preview!

To all you folks making statements like "now I know who to vote for," I just wanted to remark that I find it very interesting that you'd let an ill, infirm, unstable communist dictator make your political choices for you. I dont think you're actually qualified to vote, based on the breathtaking ignorance of that one statement.

Just a ploy to make the US think that Castro is still alive. The common belief in Latin America is that he is dead.

A Clinton-Obama ticket would make me very very happy.

We don't need a kickass cowboy (Thompson) or a pretty-boy (Edwards) or a sleaze (Giuliani)or a time-bomb (McCain)to run our country.

In response to the person who said above that I was wrong by putting Obama at the top of the ticket.

Hillary Clinton is a favorite to get the nomination but she has proven over the years to be so incredibly divisive that the election with her on top of the ticket would be close at best.

Obama, on the other hand, is known as someone who is much more bipartisan and can communicate in such a way that he does not alienate. He would be unstoppable in a general election as the only reason Hillary is on top of the polls is because more people are currently familiar with her, and see her as the lesser of two evils when it comes to Dem or Repub.

Time is on Obama's side. When he overcomes the hurdle of the nomination process, the issues of his unfamiliarity to the American public will pass and in a true head to head against the pathetic Repub nominees they would not stand a chance against him.

Whereas Hillary would fire up the repub base as she has been doing, Obama would diffuse the base, as he is a fresh face they would have to at least listen to before they could attack.

Don't play into the Repub spin machine by declaring Hillary the defacto candidate. It's a mistake.

If anyone cares about this country you will support the Hillary / Obama ticket. I strongly believe our future and recovering form the damage of 8 years with GW will be in the hands of Hillary Clinton!

Clinton and Obama poth pull from the same pool of voters. I don't see who "Clinton and x" or "Obama and x" is any different than "Clinton and Obama".

Is it me or what,but the first several comments seem to be made by the same person? The comments have the same voice and were posted only minutes apart.

Honestly, why do we care what Castro thinks?

Of course CNN would dig this story up to sling mud in the face of the Democratic frontrunners. Castro supports these candidates because they are probably the most friendly toward Cuban relations.

The McCarthy era is over, anti-communist paranoia is a joke now... it figures that so many people would prattle on about Communist connections to the supposed "socialist" tendencies of liberals. Social programs, do not make socialists of Democrats.

It is hypocritical for conservatives to slam on liberals for socialist tendencies, when they themselves stand for republican ideals, rather than democratic ideals. The painful duality of this nation is going to eat itself.

Well, that settles it for me. How can famous hookers and dictators be wrong?

In my opinion, having Hillary on the Democratic ticket will make the Republican ticket invincible. Hillary is unelectable. Too divisive, too despicable, too much baggage, and too much bad history. Hillary Clinton is the only Democratic candidate that can make me vote Republican.

And I'm sickened by all the people out there who will vote for her because they can't tell the difference between her and her husband. A vote for Hillary is NOT a vote for Bill.

What is the real reason for the U.S. war against Iraq? a) Oil b) WMD's c) Revenge on Saddam d) Regime change e) Democracy for Iraq e) War on Terror
Vote at http://www.pollicious.com

For those of you who say if Castro endorses the ticket, you will not vote for them; all I have to say is your an idiot. If your children liked something you didn't, would you disown them. Everyone has an opinion and if you let one person influence yours then I think you should stay home on election day because I don't think your mature enough to elect a leader.

330 years we've been a nation? So since 1677? I knew those history books were wrong!

Fidel Castro is DEAD!!! The daily columns in "el Granma" are being written and edited by a fearful group attempting to tether their last days of an illusory government hinging on collapse upon the "official" disclosure of the dictators death.

Those of you using inappropriate labels like “communist” and “socialist” for these two obviously capitalist Senators might want to actually read the story, in which Castro makes it clear “that he is no fan of the two Democrats' support of democratic reform in Cuba.”

Cheap “gotcha” association stories like this only serve the gutter instincts of those who use smear tactics (Karl Rove, James of Phoenix) rather than honestly consider the real issues facing this nation.

We do need to reconsider our Cuba policy, which makes little sense. We don’t need to know who Fidel Castro thinks will win our election.

It seems unlikely that two such remarkable personalities as Clinton and Obama would settle for the vice-presidency if one or the other captured the democratic presidential nomimation. Such a possibility would signal an enormous threat to the neo-conservatives. Who knows what "national security threat" might materialize to allow Bush to postpone the November elections under his newly authorized security powers? 9/11 happened after the Wolfowitz doctrine was formulated. Just what the neo-cons were looking for...

There is no way, when Hillary Clinton becomes the candidate, would she pick Obama for her running mate. The two of them could not work together. Obama would never be satisfied being 2nd on the ticket. We'll let Hillary pick her running mate after the primaries are over.

First of all Lance from Monrovia, CA. Hillary will be President and Obama will be VP. If the tables were turned, Obama would be an idiot not to include Hillary as she is leading the polls by double of his numbers. She's also leading against the republicans. If Obama stands any chance of winning, he better include Hillary. Without her, he doesn't have a chance.

Castro may not be the most liked person in this world but Bush is hated by more countries than Castro is.

I thought CNN rumored him (Castro)deceased yesterday.

Wait a minute... these two candidates have shown me that they HATE each other, except for their aggrement on how they dislike President bush...

wow what a great party platform... not liking a guy that can't be invovled in politics anymore... and somehow they will magically solve their differences and run together?

what a joke...

you actually read the letter, you'd see Castro said Today, talk is about the seemingly invincible ticket that might be created with Hillary for President and Obama for Vice President.

He wasn't voicing his opinion; he was parroting the political observations of U.S. news programs. How about a correction, CNN?

Posted By Grant in Virginia : August 28, 2007 4:47 pm

–Thanks for posting this....most people wouldn't take the time to read the statement....no endorsement here folks, just an OBSERVATION

Now I know who NOT to vote for!!!!

Gee, James, you took the words right out of my mouth.

It's not enough to promote this bogus idea with "predictions" (read: fantasies) from Republicans, you have to trot out Castro and misquote him as well? If you're so intent on calling the ticket a year before the convention, try Obama-Edwards or Obama-Mark Warner. Still nothing on the endorsement from Brzezinski or the support of Douglas Wilder, huh? You guys are going to have a rude awakening come primary season.

Hilary-Obama vs Giuliani-Huckabee.
Demonstrated liberal socialism versus demonstrated strength in democracy and social mores. No contest. Rebublicans for the next 16 years and Castro won't be around to see his people finally get on their feet.

Question: Can Republicans read?
Answer: Yes. It's comprehension they have a problem with.

Please show me where Castro ENDORSED a Clinton/Obama ticket? Seems to me all he said was, IF they teamed up he believes they would be unstoppable in the polls in the US.

Where does this even IMPLY an endorsement? Where did he say this is what he WANTS to see?

Guess I better tune into FOX so I can get all the answers.

CNN by giving headlines like this is giving right wingers all but the reason to make stupid comments. This is not going to happen. It is like Bin Laden and Al Jawahiri making a statement that Juliani-Romney ticket is good for America. That means more military funding, record recruiting for Al Queda, and more hatred for America. And in turn economic downfall for great nation. Instead of speculating such ridiculous scenarios, make arguments on the policy issues. No wonder these brainless people elect Bush and his cronies twice.

Castro has not been seen in public in about a year. Hmmm...I think this is guy is dead or standing in the shadow of death. What an irrelevant old man.

It is presumptuous to think that Fidel Castro actually wrote that article. Granma is a government-run newspaper, and prints only what they are told to print.

If Fidel Castro likes the Clinton-Obama ticket that means I wont be voting for them!!!
Thanks, but no thanks!!!

You can understand now, if Castro is endorsing this ticket, I will not vote for it. I am an Independent and Mr. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are looking better everyday. I don't want more government, just less government. This nation went 330 years with our massive government interference, but since income tax and the new deal, our money is just wealth redistribution. No way am I going for any Democrat.

Personally, I think a Gore-Edwards ticket would fare better.

Aside from the whole Cuban thing- I think Clinton and Obama would indeed be unstoppable.

I think you get the best of both worlds there.

Will it happen?

Who knows- but I think they would have a better chance of getting there if they teamed up.

If you actually read the letter, you'd see Castro said Today, talk is about the seemingly invincible ticket that might be created with Hillary for President and Obama for Vice President.

He wasn't voicing his opinion; he was parroting the political observations of U.S. news programs. How about a correction, CNN?

I certainly hope someone is keeping track of Hillary Endorsements:

1. Heidi Fleiss – Pimp
2. Jenna Jameson – Porn Star
3. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (having affair with News Anchor)
4. SF Mayor Gavin Newsome (had affair with campaign chairman's wife)
5. Fidel Castro – Communist Dictator
6. Special Interest Contributers
7. Unions

Oh yes – Karl Rove and most republicans want Hillary to be the nominee too!

I'm so unsure of what I think about a Clinton-Obama ticket. Only 14 vice presidents have gone on to be president; I'm not sure if Obama wants to chance it. He would probably have to wait until 2016 to run again, that's a long way off.

Castro himself made a fatal error in assuming Cuba won't be democratic. He won't admit it to his people and the world, but sooner or later Cuba will be a capitalist democracy. It isn't a matter of IF but WHEN it will happen.

I'm not really sure Castro supporting the Democratic ticket really does much to disprove accusations that Democrats are Marxists...

Cuban thug Castro shouldn't be one to talk, no one has seen the tyrant for months! Honestly, can anyone rational believe communism still rules in places like China, Cuba, Venezuela, and North Korea? We should have waged and won a peaceful, non-violent economic and propagandic war against these demonic lands many, many years ago instead of focusing so much on Vietnam. Thank the lord we don't have to deal with Russia anymore.

Well, at least the old guy is half right. Obama would be an excellent candidate for the Democratic nomination. Hilary....... aaahhh, not so much.

Castro maybe old and senile but he has a point.

Well there is a shocker. I would expect a communist dictator to back these two with all their socialistic views.

Wow what an endorsment. This changes everything. Now I will have to vote for them. What next an endorsment from Hugo Chavez and Ahmadinejad. Ahh the American Socialist party, Sorry the American Democratic party long may you reign.

I am sure the endorsements from Kim Jong-il, Hugo Chavez and Ahmadinijad will soon follow.

This is hilarious! Really–an endorsement to be proud of. Congratulations guys. (Gee, it's almost as if he knows that the world will walk all over us if the Dems win the White House.) I am surprised to see this on DNN (not a typo).

I am not American. I cannot vote. I am a diplomat.

I would agree. The duo, in the order given, would be a gift from the American voters to a badly afflicted, frightened, and divided world.

There you have it, folks: a vote for Clinton or Obama is a vote for communism.

Move over, Beltway Pundits!

Fidel Castro has come along to handicap the 2008 Presidential Election!

Well if Castro says so...sure. He runs a very nice little nook of the world there in Cuba. Maybe he is just trying to get his approval ratings up. Oh wait...Cuba doesn't have approval ratings! They just have you removed if you disagree. But they're healthcare is better right.

Who cares what Castro thinks.

He's wrong anyway, Obama would never give Clinton a position on his ticket. Why would he?

Obama should give the v.p. spot to Edwards, that would be an unbeatable ticket.

Besides, Obama realizes that Castro is a hair away from death's door, thus his statement about opening up Cuba. He recognizes that if we don't engage our enemies that the festering sores of dictatorship will only continue to worsen, as they have in every other country that the Bush regime has ignored, including our own.