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The West End Center has no more rabbits to pull out of its hat.

The scrappy little agency that always has managed somehow to find the dollars to keep its doors open after school to some of Roanoke's most disadvantaged youngsters said Friday it has no more money mojo.

Executive Director Kaye Hale, board Chairman Joe Christenbury, and board members Frankie Robbins and Judith Jackson said that without an infusion of cash by March, the center is looking at reducing an already bare-bones staff, merging with another organization or, in the worst case, closing.

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Hillary Clinton's campaign has been hoping for a moment in which she would show her humanity. The moment came Monday afternoon when the Democratic presidential candidate became emotional after a voter asked how she coped every day on the campaign trail.

The cynical question circulating is, "Was she for real or did she turn on the tears?"

I'd hate to campaign day in and day out for nearly two years, always having to be "on" and never sleeping in my own bed, getting a full night's sleep or enjoying my own home-cooking. I imagine campaigning gets real old, real quick. And on top of that, your well-scripted plans are imploding around you, for the world to see.

Yeah, these politicians sign on for the grind. But each of us experiences a low point that forces us to ask ourselves, "Why am I doing this?" The difference between you, me and Hillary Clinton is that her low point came before a roomful of people and was re-broadcast to millions of television and You Tube viewers.

Whether you like her or not, show your humanity.

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I have to eat a little crow.

Just more than a year ago, I wrote a column urging Barack Obama to wait until 2012 to run for president. My reasoning was that he didn't have the experience to run in '08.

While I'm not on the Hillary Clinton bandwagon, Obama's limited political seasoning remains an issue for me.

But Thursday night, his charisma was infectious as he stood at a podium in Iowa, the runaway winner of the Democratic political caucus.

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Today, much of the nation's attention is on Iowa and its political caucuses.

Even though the people in the mostly rural state are nearly a thousand miles away from Western Virginia, they're a lot like us.

"There's only 50 cents of difference," drawled Dave "Mudcat" Saunders.

And that is?

"Oh, just the way we talk. People have to say, 'What'd you say?' "

Anyone who has seen the movie "Forest Gump" is familiar with the lovable simpleton's uncanny knack for insinuating himself in the pivotal, transcendent moments of history, with the newsmakers of the time.

Saunders is far from a simpleton. Behind the homespun, bluegrass facade is a shrewd and calculating man. But along with Gump's drawl, Saunders shares the fictitious character's talent for being in the right place at the right time.

That's why the Roanoke County native son is in Iowa today, crisscrossing the state as a senior strategist for Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards.

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The state's New Year's resolution should be to make sure the Roanoke City Health Department gets a new home.

Public health director Dr. Stephanie Harper and her staff have been confined to the wire- and cable-strewn, dank cave at Eighth Street and Campbell Avenue for too long. Is it asking too much for them to be able to practice 21st-century medicine in 21st-century conditions?

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