<p>Barack Obama had initially impressed me to the point I put up a post favorable about him on this board. While he has little credible experience to be president I thought he could go a long way to bridge the racial gap in the United States which could have been a fair trade for his lack of depth.</p>
<p>After the recent conversation about his pastor’s public statements it seems he is unfortunately not as advanced as I’d hoped. It is possible he has actually made perceptions about racial relations worse, when it seemed he could make them better.</p>
<p>Hillary’s remarks on the issue today were correct.</p>
<p>As a conservative, I plan on writing in a candidate. Three liberals are running and I can’t vote for a liberal. I like Obama the most, but I can’t take that socialist agenda of his.</p>
<p>P2N: what do you think Obama should have said about his former pastor? And how do you think Obama has made race relations worse? And finally, in what significant way do you consider Obama’s membership in his church different from McCain’s overt courting of Rev. Hagee?</p>
<p>I always enjoy these kind of posts that populate this site and others about Obama. Honestly, like you were going to vote for the guy anyway… </p>
<p>What I see are alot of people are afraid of Obama simply because he has a real chance to win. If he wasn’t a serious canidate, would ya bother?</p>
<p>The other thing to keep in mind is the pres is just one part of the three legged stool. As much as Obama,Hiliary and John want certain things to be, they have to convince 51% of the folks in the other two branches. Going into what will be hard times in America it is doubtful the ambitious parts of anybody’s plans will stick and more than possible the tax brackets will change again to raise revenues.</p>
<p>I don’t agree with all his policies, but I like Obama because I think he has the potential to lead the country in such way that we won’t have to be embarrassed to be Americans any more. He’s the total anti-Bush. He’s smart, articulate, thoughtful, and inspiring. He appears to be able to examine an issue from all sides and then formulate a solution. </p>
<p>Bush has only two solutions for every problem the country faces: Tax cuts for the rich or military intervention. One or the other. That’s it. Obama has many more ideas at his disposal.</p>
<p>McCain is a good guy, but he’s offering only more of the same. Hillary has some good ideas but is too wounded and unpopular to win. Of the three only Obama holds any real hope of turning things around.</p>
<p>But I don’t get what Hillary is trying to do. Won’t her bringing up the pastor comments seem like shes beating a dead horse, and alienate herself from the black and young demographics when it comes to election time? But I guess now is better than later because by the time June rolls around people will be REALLY tired of hearing about his pastor, and shes takin ammunition away from the Republicans.</p>
<p>razorsharp - A write-in vote doesn’t help get the “least liberal” candidate elected. Like it or not, those are the candidates we have - one of them WILL get elected. Better vote for the one you can most easily live with, or you might get the other one!</p>
<p>BTW, Just what is it about “Smaller Government, Lower Taxes, Controlled Spending, Pro-Life, Strong Military, Constructionist Justices” McCain that isn’t Conservative enough for you?</p>
<p>bz2010: When did McCain become pro-controlled spending? Last I checked he wanted to continue the war (one of America’s largest expenses) indefinitely. Explain, please?</p>
<p>When you compare him to Obama, who wants national health care, revived infrastructure, reduced tuition for all, an end to aids in africa (by way of the US) it seems pretty damn controlled. </p>
<p>Also, you’re buying into a pretty big lie if you think Obama is going to pull troops out when he gets in the white house. He said he’d take them out in 16 month…when somebody inquired how he’d do this w/o the situation collapsing he said once he talked to the leading military leaders he could change that timetable based on what they say. But hey, keep drinking the koolaid :)</p>
<p>LaxAttack09: Oh, I don’t think Obama’s a fiscal conservative either. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that because I like Obama’s war ideas better than McCain’s that I support him. I’m very much not committed to a candidate at the moment. I just think it is being totally intellectually dishonest for various Republicans to call themselves fiscal conservatives while supporting an extremely expensive war. I would level the same criticism at the Democrats if they called themselves fiscal conservatives - but they don’t, so no need.</p>
<p>I think all this situation shows is hillary doesn’t play well from behind. It’s only going to get worse. </p>
<p>“There’s nothing he COULD have said, he SHOULD have gotten the hell out of the church once he found out what this guy was saying.”</p>
<p>Why? You’re an adult what part of that guys words do you HAVE to accept? There’s alot of deeply religous people I know whom I may agree 75% of the time with, the rest is how they say bat s… crazy? If you disowned everybody that didn’t share your opinion 100% of the time, you’d be alone… </p>
<p>As for the pastor, before I would condem, I want to know why he feels that way? Maybe your opinion of America would change if you were black, indian, asian or hispanic? Might just depend on how often you were stopped and searched while driving home…no? Maybe he feels the way he does because he sees the poor and the helpless and sees no help or hope for them. Maybe he’s ate a nitestick for doing nothing… maybe the guy has his reasons. Maybe your vision of America isn’t his…</p>
<p>Do you find it intellectually dishonest that Obama says he’ll pull the troops out in 16 months when he’s made it known, in one on one interviews, that that “plan” could change if leading military officials don’t think it’s the right thing to do…and that’s exactly what everybody is saying now?</p>
<p>So if you’re pastor supported the KKK you wouldn’t disown him because, hey, it’s only a small % of his beliefs? </p>
<p>I can’t stand the finger pointing that takes place in the black community to be honest. I can’t stand fingerpointing in general. Take responsibility for your own actions.</p>
<p>1of42 - McCain has ALWAYS been pro controlled spending! His campaigns against earmarks and pork barrel spending are legendary. People have gone to jail after he exposed their corruption in government contracts. </p>
<p>The reason he voted against the Bush tax cuts was because SPENDING was not addressed in the proposal. It took a lot of courage to “go against the grain” in that situation because he felt it was the right thing to do - even though it might have cost him politically. This shows that he will stand up for what is best for America rather than just be concerned about his own political future.</p>
<p>Now, about the war, you used the term “indefinitely” - that doesn’t mean “without end”.<br>
Of course McCain wants to see an end to the fighting! He just wants it to be resolved in the right way.
He understands the situation in Iraq better than anyone in gov’t and probably better than just about anyone period. He’s been to Iraq eight times, he’s listened to the Generals, he has vast Foreign Policy knowledge & experience, he knew we had the strategy wrong from the beginning & stood up to Rumsfeld about it (perhaps if he’d been in charge from the beginning, many lives would’ve been spared), he has two sons on Active Duty (one in Iraq).
He will make the best decisions about our future endeavors in the ME.</p>
<p>Besides, if it turned out that he were the only one wanting to continue a presence over there, he could do nothing w/out Congressional approval.</p>
<p>Does that answer your question? (post #10).</p>
<p>Yes, I do indeed like McCain’s crusades against pork barrel spending. But all the pork barrel spending he has ever killed is still a pittance compared to what the war has cost and has continued to cost. And your placation about him knowing what is right in this situation is irrelevant - you have said he is a fiscal conservative. I’m asking you how he can claim that when he wants to stay in a costly war.</p>
<p>Everyone thinks that what they want to spend money on is justified. The difference is that only one person of the the three major players running around right now is claiming to be a fiscal conservative.</p>
<p>So I ask you again: how can you claim McCain to be a fiscal conservative when he wants to stay in a war which is by all definitions extremely costly? Don’t answer “but we have to leave it the right way”, or “but he hates pork barrel spending!” because those aren’t the questions I asked. You’ve said he’s fiscally conservative. I see a glaring example where he’s not. You don’t get to pick and choose, bz2010 - he’s either fiscally conservative or he’s not. </p>
<p>You can’t say “he’s fiscally conservative on the issues I want him to be, but I like his war strategy so all the money spent on that doesn’t count”.</p>
<p>1of42 I don’t think anyone will disagree that the war is costing us a lot of money. What conservatives fear is the cost of another 9/11 ? If we were all intellectually honest we could come to some agreement on eliminating those areas of government that are wasteful not to mention useless and un-necessary?</p>
Uh - do you not realize that in this statement you are the one pointing your finger? At “the black community”? And you’re not taking responsibility for your own actions and attitudes? As Burns said:
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<p>I’m old enough to have spent a lot of time in the company of people who, good people in their own way, held and expressed beliefs that were anathema to me, and to have had to choose my spots to speak up or let it go. The numerous casual racist jokes. The very nice older professor (now deceased) who loudly announced (with evident joy at his cleverness) in a crowded restaurant that “AIDS was Gods punishment of homosexuals.” Am I a coward? Am I a bad person? I’d like to think not. I’m actually pretty outspoken. But I doubt that anyone who has reached middle age can honestly claim to have spoken up boldly, to have taken a stand, every time they heard someone mouth off in an inappropriate or “politically incorrect” - which is, in fact, the charge leveled at Rev. Wright - way. Get over your self-righteousness and your sanctimony. Obama has spoken for himself, and is there for you to judge on his own merits. Sniping at him over the goofy views of Rev. Wright is cowardly and dishonest.</p>
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