I agree with you completely. I'm baffled that people have flocked to Obama blindly without asking enough questions. I hear many people say, "I just don't like Hillary." Well, even if that were true, you must separate your personal opinion from the professional one. The decision on who to vote for must be an informed one, this isn't American Idol people! I hope that people will wake up and support Hillary before she loses the nomination. If she does lose, I'll vote McCain. As you said, he's not the worst choice the Republicans could have made. 1st choice though, definitely Hillary Clinton. She's been there for us in the past and she deserves our support now when she needs us most.

I agree with you 100%. Although I think Obama has great credentials, I just don't think that he has the experience to be the President.

Well Said!!

I'm from/in Chicago. Obama rises from the cesspool of the Democratic Party machine. All of his past (and current) associations are dirty. How many times does Obama have to disown someone for people to figure this out? So far he's had to disown his Rev Wright, Louis Farrakhan, Antoin (The Syrian) Rezko.

The thing is, all of these disownings are with a wink and a nod. The Wrights, Farrakhans, and Rezkos of the world understand that he has to pretend to disown them while he seeks office.. that is why there is no backlash against Obama from those folks or their supporters.

And yet the US media laps it up. It's so pathetic how reporters treat this guy. Take for instance his 45 minute incoherent lecture on race. The idiots were making off like it was a new Gettysburg Address (I challenge anyone to tell me what their favorite phrase from that speech is, without looking in google for help).

The fact that some speechwriter cobbled together a history of the evil United States and it's awful treatment of the poor racist Rev Wright is reacted to as if the man discovered the secret to eternal life. big deal.. he mentioned that there was racism in the past. No kidding! You think?

Plus the ties between Obama and Muslims is disturbing. One other fact is disturbing.. this is a phone call that a Christian ministry guy made to Obama's church (note, the ALL CAPS is his not mine):

BEGIN QUOTE:
"My name is Usama, and I am from Egypt. I want to join the church." "I need to ask you some questions please."

They connected me to the membership department. I proceeded to ask questions that only a Muslim would ask. "What is the difference between Baptist and your church?"

She answered, "We believe exactly what Baptists believe."

My second question was, "How big is your church and what kind of church is it?"

Her answer was, "We are a Black African American church and we have 6000 members. I asked her, "Do I have to attend Sunday school classes and other meetings to be a member?" She said, "No, that is not necessary." I asked, "Do I have to be baptized to join the church?" Her answer was "NO."

I asked, "Do I have to give money to join the church?" She answered "NO." I went on to ask her how do I join the church?...she replied, " You need to attend two Sunday school membership classes in a row and then you need to walk the aisle."

I said, "That sounds easy." "Now one last question please."

"IF I AM A MUSLIM AND I BELIEVE IN PROPHET MOHAMMED, PEACE BE UPON HIM, AND I ALSO BELIEVE IN JESUS, PEACE BE UPON HIM, DO I HAVE TO GIVE UP MY ISLAMIC FAITH TO BE A MEMBER IN YOUR CHURCH?" SHE REPLIED, "NO, WE HAVE MANY MEMBERS IN OUR CHURCH WHO ARE MUSLIM."I ASKED HER, "IS THAT HOW SENATOR BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA BECAME A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH?" THERE WAS A DEAD SILENT MOMENT. AND THEN I SAID THAT I KNEW HIS FATHER AND STEPFATHER ARE MUSLIM: HIS GRANDFATHERS AND GRANDMOTHERS ARE MUSLIMS: HIS UNCLES AND AUNTS, NEPHEWS AND NIECES AND COUSINS ARE MUSLIM. EVERYONE IN HIS FAMILY IN KENYA ARE MUSLIMS.
END QUOTE - Source: http://www.thestraightway.org/frequentlyaskedq.html

So at one time I dismissed the "Obama the adult is a Muslim" allegation as false, even though I think it's beyond dispute that he was a Muslim as a child. However as I find out more about his church, his church's strident anti-Israel views, his church's pro-terrorist sentiments, and the church's ties with the nation of Islam, then if Obama still a Muslim overt then I think he is of the Muslim mindset. And that he's hiding this for obvious reasons.

Anyway his being or not being a Muslim really is besides the point.. what's important is that the man he really is is clearly being supressed from public view, as he presents this sugary contentless "hope" "change" platitude nonsense.

No one who has the political supporters in Chicago that he has can geniunely be for "hope" or "change".. that is like kryptonite to the Machine here in Chicago.

Do you have an RSS feed for comments?

It's really a shame that we are so obsessed with the media coverage of the run-up to the nomination for the candidate. How meta of us. Clearly Obama has much better advisers in such a situation, and presents himself in a much more appealing manner when the stakes are just poll numbers and telegenic media spotlights. But Clinton has more of what this country needs right now. I have been a Clinton supporter right from the start, and it's not about race, gender, or skeletons in anyone's closet. And I think she'll get the nod when push comes to shove. Yes, I would still happily vote for Obama if he gets the nomination, and I agree with you that McCain is probably one of the least offensive candidates the 2008 Republican Party could have offered us, but I agree with you that Hillary will stand behind her convictions on human rights for all of us.

McCain's website doesn't have one word about gay rights.

He thinks attacking Iraq was the right thing to do. (It was, from the standpoint of achieving an endless recruitment tool for new Jihadists).

He is completely out to lunch on the economy.

Obama tacitly supports a "minister" who said we deserved to be attacked on 9/11.

Hillary "remembered" being under sniper fire in Bosnia.

The United States is a human rights backwater with its economy swirling in the toilet.

And the best it can do by way of a selection for the next president is Obamanation, Shillery, and McCain in the ass.

...the Office of the President of the United States is more important, I understand,
people have to be 'cautious' when they cast their vote.

It is good you returned to the previous election in 2000. Bush won the beer drinkers' opinion poll and the election.
Al Gore didn't win because politics no longer depend on tacit experience! Other factors influence this election.

Compassionate conservatism,
Al Gore lost also the christian right to George Bush.

Does this group still play a role in American politics?

When I look for parallels to the Netherlands I can discern some topics.
Somehow it reminds me of one important Dutch political figure, dr. Abraham Kuijper, whose policies also found headway in conservative American groups.

Obama is significantly better on gay rights than Clinton. Just look at their voting records (and Obama has been an elected official longer than Hillary).

The last time a Clinton was in the White, President Clinton supported and signed the horribly anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act into law which prohibits gay marriage.

I can tell that you will vote for McCain over Obama which is tempting. But I pay $1,200 a month for health insurance, which is increasing by 20% a year; doubling every 4 years. McCain will do nothing. At least Obama or Clinton will do something. So I will vote for Obama with reservations if he beats Hillary.

How refreshing a point of view that is so correct and right on point. My partner printed this out and we read it at dinner. Well written and it stands for what we believe in. I could not imagine a president that could not see that we are all different in this society and we all need to be accepted for our race, preference or sexual identity. We donated to Hilary's campaign today and we are confident that she will become president!

Bravo. Enjoyed your column. What turns me off about Obama is his projecting the fallacy that he is "above the fray" of politics. His race speech was made for solely political reasons- to stem the bleeding caused by the Rev. Wright issue. His idea of bringing people together is to not condemn those who should be condemned. Give me a break, Mr. Obama.

it is true that the security systems of the usa have kept terrorism out and that is why european nations have gone to usa to find out how you do it! we have now had recent legislation in UK very much based on USA systems on immigration and careful monitoring whilst keeping it as free as we can. I think Hilary Clinton is certainly a force to be reckoned with on the world stage whereas Obama, rightly or wrongly is considered an international lightweight, as USA is the worlds most powerful country politically, economically and militarily it is important for the world that a powerful leader is in charge that stands for the values of western democratic civilisation and it shrewd enough to play the game of politics on an international level and Hilary can do that. But obviously it is up to americans to decide. The republican candidate is seen as shocking esp to the republicans but is a clever enough man to play politics well if he wins it.

"we’ve seen relatively inexperienced people such as Jimmy Carter and the two Bushes"

What are you talking about? George H. Bush was a WWII Navy pilot, a Congressman, Ambassador to the U.N., de facto Ambassador to China, CIA Director, and the Vice President for 8 years.

He was one of the most experienced Presidents to date.

'Tis sad to know that Obama won. If he is smart and rejects his hubris he would ask Clinton to be his vice president and hopefully she accepts!