The thing that makes Obama stand out

what makes Obama special from the front runners is that he said that he would talk and negotiate with leaders of countries, even those leaders of countries that may be a threat. This is a commendable.

This is exactly what America needs. A president who is respected in the world and someone who countries can work with. Although Obama has already made it clear he will be mean if necesssary and he is not a walkover.

if nothing else, it keeps them busy hoping they might gain something out of it.

I wouldn't sit down mano a mano with Hugo Chavez either. That's what envoys and the Sec. of State is for.

but that still doesn't make any it any less shitty.

He's really tall and he's black and in a line-up, don't white people always identify the black man..lol

First off, it is neither naive nor irresponsible to talk with our enemies. It is called diplomacy. It is absurd to think we can talk with only our friends, and it Bush has demonstrated how ineffective this can be.

I know a candidate has to be critical of opponents, but I think it is particularly telling just what Hillary finds to criticise in Obama. Mocking him saying he would talk with our enemies is tantamount to saying that she would not think this is a good idea. She lost some points with me here, because I believe avoiding more Iraqs is a prime goal for US foreign policy.

We need to find regional solutions to the Mid East conflicts. We cannot solve any of the problems alone, by our will, by our might, by our military and we cannot assume people will be giving us flowers if we do.

Hillary's support for the Kyl-Lieberman bill is another feather in the militarist hat. It makes armed involvement that much easier, when cooler heads are supposed to be prevailing.It will be years before Iran is a nuke threat. That is all the more reason to increase our diplomacy...ie....talking with them (firmly!).

This week's Hillary bashing of Obama about his childhood is another example. Why did she feel the need to criticise him for this? I thought Democrats valued diversity! Surely she could have found another thing to criticise. Seems like this too points to some things about Hillary that are hard for me to accept. Yes, it would be nice to have a president who has a world view instead of a nativistic vision of America. What I would have preferred to hear from her was reassuring us that she too would have a world view instead of thinking within our borders. But she disappointed once again.

Clinton is fair game for criticism. But it is taboo to criticize Obama Hussein.

I once asked why he was for Nuclear Power in a blog, and the Obama camp responded
that "this was not the place" for that discussion.

For all his charm, Obama is a little too similar to George Bush.

If you haven't noticed how Hillary has been pampered by the media since even before 04, you probably "ain't been listening"!

Hillary has had more media coverage, and hardly any of it has been critical.

I would strongly suggest that if you want to obsess about Obama's middle name, you find a forum more...er...republican!

When his camp gets people thrown out of blogs for criticising him, it is a very bad sign.

It especially draws a distinct contrast with the guru of pander, Sen. Clinton.

Also, I like that he has the courage to talk about peace as a public figure. When's the last time you heard a major politician come out about the need to eliminate ALL nuclear weapons?

Plus, I like his ability to disarm conservatives with his rhetoric - and STILL stick to liberal principles. That's nowhere near the same as triangulation, where you disarm conservatives by giving them what they want on policy because the polls said it was in your favor.