Picture only: http://www.zoji.com/jet/bin/434896.jpg
obama is a great writer and an excellent politician as well. i donated $25 to him because i think he is a better candidate than hilary and would like to see him as the democratic nominee.
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I want someone who opposes evil at every opportunity.
thu - he certainly does appear to be an idealist, and he also discusses this in the Audacity of Hope: things like how his senate race is generally considered a fluke (he never had to deal with the same amount of political "dirtyness" that many other did), or what advice other senators have said to him, and various other anecdotes. he convinced me quickly that wild he does have idealistic visions, he is well aware of what it takes to get things done and the reality of politics etc etc...
I'm glad you posted this. It's made me do some more political research. I just remember thinking WTF after the Condi vote and I've kept my eye on him since. This guy's supposed to be the Democratic savior and he rolls over for W? We don't need another Clinton (Bill that is, um or Hillary) in the White House, craftily seeking the center. Republican Lite. The country can elect someone more on the left. But they have to be strong and sincere. I don't get that from Obama.
also, the site is obviously going through and picking and choosing votes of obamas and finding ones that may be disagreeable. but when bills are packed with good & bad things, you may vote for a bill that you largely agree with when it does contain somethings that were bad. what else did the renewal of the patriot act have in it? lots, i remember hearing about how much it was modified and debated before it was agreed on. so while voting record matters, i actually do believe other things are more important simply because without being there or reading every bill in full we cannot fully understand votes. who knows what agreements were made before a vote was cast? so i have to ask instead whether i trust somebody to compromise some but not give it all to the right and ultimately whether i think they'll do a good job overall. and while i strongly support nearly all liberal ideals, there is much more to good goverment than just voting liberal on bills. i just want somebody who will get the most done to better the country and world.
My thoughts exactly. From what I know, even though I don't agree with what she stands for and who she supports, she handles international relations much better than 'you know who.' There are things that are admirable and heinous from every party. Being fanatically and blindly left or right (not accusing anyone of this, by the way) is equally foolish and detrimental to our progress as a nation.
Wha? If anyone ever demanded a protest vote, it would be Condi. She was out there being one of the most vocal supporters of the attack on Iraq based on the weakest of evidence and outright lies. What our Senate told the world was, "85 out of 100 of our Senators support this woman as a good representative of our country to the world." She helped get us in this Iraq mess with her propaganda. There were HUGE questions surrounding Iraq's supposed WMD's and involvement with Al-Qaida at the time. Condi didn't care. She was one of the confident ones, a fine W minion.
Much like I won't vote for Hillary or didn't vote for Kerry in the primaries because of their Iraq war vote, Obama's Condi vote was a good character revealer.
About that site, yeah I said it was melodramatic. Peruse the specific bills though. I don't think Obama voted for the Patriot Act II because it helped cut down on meth. He voted for it because it'll help him seem strong on terror to Mr. and Mrs. Arkansas Nascar. Civil liberties be damned.
I don't think his record makes him more electable. It makes him far less electable in the general election. Just like Rove used Kerry's war vote against him ("flip-flop flip-flop"), the Republicans will use Obama's record against him as well. "He's against the war, but has voted to put billions into the war... blah blah blah..., voted to give one of the war architects a top cabinet post blah blah blah". Besides that, they'll say he's too inexperienced. Not saying these are good arguments, but they will work work well for the Republicans (again).
Yes, Obama's better than W. But right now I want someone who's been against W all the way, protesting at every opportunity. Sadly, that list is small and I'm going to end up voting for someone who's better at politics than doing what's right.
"Being fanatically and blindly left or right (not accusing anyone of this, by the way) is equally foolish and detrimental to our progress as a nation."
Glad you think nobody here is being fanatically and blindly left or right. But I am certainly passionately liberal because I see what's going on in this country and it stinks to high heaven.
I'm learning a lot from this entire conversation by the way.