Okay, now that it looks like Obama will be the nom, someone explain to me...

what's so great about him. i know everyone hates hil, but just tell me what i have to be happy about. i watch him, i listen, i've been to the website, i don't get it. the question is serious, i'm not being snarky.

he's not a Republican... and about now, that's good enough to me.

all you need to know about him is he's not McCain.

the last 3 months or so.

I am not particularly enamored of him either. Doesn't mean that I want a republican though.

it's a little weird. some also compare him to mandela, so... ?

he was able to beat the prohibitive favorite - which shows that he can move mountains.

than i will be totally down. although for me, i just see some great marketing, but if he can translate that to education, and righting some economic inequality, then i will be more than happy. if he can translate that into a great amount of national change in environmental policy, i will be so fucking down with that. i really will. so far he really hasn't promised more than clinton, but if he does more than he has said he will do, then he has indeed moved mountains and i will get down and say right the hell on barack obama. : )

His plan concerning gov't ethics is outstanding- if put in place, it will transform how our gov't functions. But, ultimately it is up to all of us good Democrats- not only to work our tails off to get him elected, but to participate in much larger numbers than ever before. By that I mean actually hold legislators accountable by monitoring the new database that will be set up. This database will be our tool to see into our fed. gov't and who is doing what, quite literally. Check it out.

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ethics/

He's a writer and academic. I'm tired of CEO's and "policy-makers" being President. I want a professor intellectual type. He is a lawyer, but a constitutional lawyer who understands human and civil rights. He didn't come from a privileged background.

That's why I think he can resist the elites. Good enough for me.

Obama tapped into and liberated the country of eight years' worth of alienation, frustration, and powerlessness. The majority of the voters preferred what he was selling, that's all.

:headbang:
rocknation

That sums it all up.

Is that good enough for you? Or do I need to mention that a President open to our ideas, not just the products of wonk tanks, might ultimately be beneficial to our country?

i will be down with Barack obama. okay. cool.

Of what I saw today here in Durham. It was like a general election. Not just the voter turnout, but the volunteer turnout. People from all walks of life who took time out to GOTV. I canvassed today with a 39 year old man who had never done it before. He said he'd like to do it again for the election in November. That's part of what Obama brings to the party.

We had 30,000 people vote in our primary in Durham in 2004. Today, the unofficial results show 78,000 in Durham. It's not really that millions are changing direction: it's that millions who once had hope for progressive change, who had given up hope, now have cause to hope again.

The very same thing has occured to me often.

One of the reasons I don't like him is that I never felt that his candiacy was about anything more than him and his ego.

Lets think about an ad or painting. What white space is too cluttered for you?

What noise can be cleared off the image to make the lines smoother for observation?

If Obama is a sculpture what garbage unused clay needs to be taken away?

You will find a good liberal, compassionate Democrat.;-)

thank you.

As is Clinton. I am not a supporter of either, because they are both far too centrist to conservative for me. But I can agree that both of them- and really any Dem out there, even Evan Bayh- are better than any republican.

At this point, that's all I am asking. After the election in November, then the real work can begin, and we can work on shifting the debate much, much further to the left.

He's not been around since forever and owing every single body in Washington.

But by the time it's all said and done, he'll also owe the other half.


See, that's one of my problems with so many Obama supporters, both here and in real life. Some act as though he is so far above the political process and beholden to none, when that's just hogwash. He's a politician, just like any of the others out there. He will say what he needs to in order to be elected, and he tailors his speeches to the audience to whom he is speaking. IE, he panders. It's ironic that Obama to me seems to be Bill Clinton Part Deux, and about the only thing that will possibly bring about true reform is if we liberal wackos continuously push his presidency to the left. Otherwise, we're all likely to be as disappointed in him as many were with Clinton.

If you want real honesty, all politicians are scum. Better?

:)


No, I really wasn't asking for that either. I just cringe when I see the "rainbow, ponies and stuff" type posts is all. He's a relatively clean politician, but that's a pretty low bar isn't it?

There's a sign in the entrance to the White House that says 'You must be this corrupt to enter'. That's the minimum. Anyone thinking about entering the race has to meet that minimum, or you have as much chance as Kucinich or Paul.

That said, so far he appears to be as close to that minimum as you can get.

He can redirect his opponents' attacks against them.

--IMM

Multiracial
Multi ethnic
well educated
community activist
young
excellent fund raiser
excellent campaigner
excellent debater
excellent speech writer
excellent speaker
against the war
against kyl-lieberman

need I go on?

I am no Obama die-hard. I came to him only after I voted for Hillary, but I stopped supporting her after her campagn went negative and she went on Faux News with Karl Rove. That did it for me.

Obama has shown some real class in this campaign. I only felt like I became a supporter after I watched his speech on race.

i would like him to go and lift people up, he's got 8 years if he wins to make serious changes, and to help people realize things don't have to be the way they are. if he does, i'll be fucking impressed. can he? will he?

The consequences of eight years of Bush are going to be incredibly harsh, MUCH harsher then what we have even begun to see....

Can the American people realize that it took years of corruption and lack of citizen involvement to get to where we are today? Or, will they crucify Obama out of ignorance and bitterness for the problems created by his predecessor?

I don't know.

The reason politics became this way is NOT because of the politicans, it is because of the people.

The using pages from the republican playbook. What I got upset about was not just the fact that they did it, but that they thought it would work. They thought you could win a primary by saying that your opponent's supporters are all scary black people and latte-sipping liberals, by suppressing the vote here in NC, etc.

Not a winning strategy for a Democratic primary. She overpaid for bad advice. Clinton circa 1996, I liked a lot better.

its his basic instinct and it will save this country. It's also all laid out for you to see in his technology platform on his website.

He will actually "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" --which George W Bush has not done, and based on McCain's recent statements about conservative justices and how they shouldn't have life terms and so on--I can't guarantee he'll do. He thinks things through and I think it's that he seems honest which appeals to me most--our last president and all his cabinet have been very deceptive and detructive, and I trust that Obama will show good character and find cabinet members who also value transparency in government.

I know his speeches have been rhetoric-heavy as opposed to "wonk-y", but I think this is a style he has adopted because it is easier to appeal to people's hopes and emotions sometimes than to appeal to their logic, or than to expect them to be very interested in details. But from details on his positions from his website, I can see where there are very workable ideas. As far as "happy"--he is not John McCain, and will not dodder us toward WWIII. As opposed to Clinton in the GE--he's already positioned himself as the "challenger" and more outsider-y role, so he'd do better lumping McCain with the unpopular incumbency. I think we will see more compare/contrast of issues as he shows why his way of doing things are better than McCain's, and since he's advocating a "new kind of politics", I forsee some attacks will simply make his opposition (probably coming through conservative 527's to insulate McCain's "honorable" image) look like the dirty creeps. But if it should possibly be implied, especially through grassroot rumors on teh internets, that McCain just ain't what he used to be, has become too conservative, and allied himself too much with Bush and what more and more seems a horrifying foreign policy....(Iraq just the beginning? Iran? Syria?)

McCain can be beaten with just the truth. Also Obama says he would investigate apparent White House wrongdoing--I would like this. I think disclosure and pursuit of justice where the failures of the current administration have crossed the line into criminal behavior is very important. At least some of that should have appeal. It's not that he's "so great"--I'm a cynical old Gen-X-er who's unfortunately been looking at Presidential elections as if they were the Superbowl my whole life (my favorite teams at the beginning of the season don't always make it in, alas). Not a cultist, just a person who sees where his qualities might just match a lot of the country's current needs.

Remember, one of the first things that Junior did was fire the one in charge of the Presidential records at the the National Archives. He didn't want his daddy's Presidential record made public.

Can you guarantee me that Hillary wouldn't have done the same?

Bush halted the release of Reagan's and Poppy's papers. In 2012 it will be time to release Clinton's papers.

do a whole lot for me. If bush had funded education, signed kyoto, blah blah blah, i wouldn't really care. same for clinton.

... if that's all you're capable of.

i will fall for him so hard. bring me btu taxes, run-off taxes, externalities taxes. he will be my man. BUT, there is no way, jose, in hell, he can do it. but if he does, if he can get tons of seats in the house and senate, and if there are enough decent people in those places to pass some FIERCE environmental legislation, then i will be down.

I mean really, what more do you want?

Who has backed Obama since a week or two after my candidate dropped out of the race.

There was a time when Clinton could have won my vote. What I liked about Obama was the way he ran his campaign. You probably saw last time around how bringing in paid staff totally killed the grassroots campaigns in many areas. The Obama campaign never did that, but instead used the volunteers quite well. They run a tight ship, the tightest I have ever seen in a Democratic presidential campaign.

I don't know who was responsible for this, but it's been brilliant. This campaign has really, really embodied people power.

Being born in 1968, I've spent all my life hearing from old hippies about how cool the summer of love was and how the older generation just didn't get it. Now I hear folks from that generation complaining about the stupid young people who just don't get it. Obama has clearly done his homework. He knew early on that this year was a "time for change" in the electorate, and he ran with this as a theme. Personally, he conducts himself with dignity. At almost every juncture in the campaign, they have made some good choices, which made some of the Clintons' bad choices more glaring.

But, most of all, this election is about competence. Obama has demonstrated, through his campaign, that he is someone who can get things done, that he knows how to pick people who get things done. I know that some have great admiration for him as a person. I don't really see that, I see him as a politician. As a political scientist, I respect his skills as a politician. I want someone who will spend more time on policy than spin, and I think that an Obama White House will deliver.

:toast:

Done. :hi:

it's something that we need right now in this fragile state of politics. I think a lot of people bought into that message and that's why so many people support him and are enthusiastic about his chances.

I am waiting for results. I want to see what he does when he takes office. I think he has a chance to be a very good president. But we shall see.

I am not a huge Obama fan, or Clinton fan, but I do like Obama's style and approach better than Clinton's.

i'm still asking people what he's gonna change. and "washington" and "the world" is not selling me. but then again, if he does change the world, then of course, i'll be down with that.

I think, if he is the nominee, we need to allow him to try and do that. If we have a DEM pres and bigger majorities in Congress than real change is possible.

v

hopeful of what. love the pic.

Judgement.

The gas tax is the latest example. Seeing things before others do, and having the courage to act on them.

the bandaid though. i guess i'll just shut down. it's easier to shut down now than have hope. it's ironic that obama makes me feel the exact opposite of hope.

If he had more to offer in terms of substance.....

Once I know that, I can give you a more focused answer.

but i want someone who is well steeped in education and cares about women and families, and i like her hard stances, oh, i won't list, i love her. but i'm seeing the hope/change thing, and frankly, don't get what the true benefits are. what are the benefits that everyone is going crazy over.

i read up... and i defend the democrat with flame throwers

even when I despise them...

i did it for clinton twice, gore once and kerry once

back then, couldn't tolerate any of them

gore has redeemed himself but i still have my eye on kerry...

clinton?

never gonna happen

at the end of the day -- my life will go on if he's the prez.

and i think he will be that.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=5800373

On to victoy in November.
Peace!

way politics is played. That will be a refreshing change for us all.

The reason I initially supported him is his stance on Iraq. It was identical to my own.