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“when it comes to public opinion about his actions, he has absolutely nothing to lose”

Quit scaring us.

A couple of possible differences this time. I think Obama is a lot savvier politically than Mikey. We hope that Hillary already found all the dirt that there is, and it was probably easier to run as Ronald Reagan’s third term than it will be to run for George Bush’s.

But seriously, Obama does not want to get photographed riding around in a tank with a stupid grin on his face.

“Quit scaring us”

Just doin’ my job, sir.

“I think Obama is a lot savvier politically than Mikey”

Oh, no doubt. My intent was not to compare him politically, just to show how quickly a cocky lead can evaporate.

Despite the way things appear to be leaning right now, Obama has his work cut out for him. Given the way his primary campaign was run, I have every confidence his general election campaign will knock down the walls they need to. And avoid the ones that simply waste energy. But he may face more walls than your average Democratic candidate.

I haven’t gotten into election mode yet, but …

I’ve never voted for a Democrat in a Presidential election. I’ve voted Republican, and even Libertarian, but never Democratic.

I didn’t like Bill Clinton much, but when I see him on television these days, I pine for him.

I’ve not ruled out voting for Obama; I just don’t know what he stands for yet. It’s not that I’ve made a concerted effort but, at this point, he seems a bit of a ghost to me. Nebulous, ephemeral.

I’m not going to vote for him just because he’s not a Republican. He’s going to have to show me something. Explain to me who he is and why I should trust him as President.

I’d like to vote for him. Someone needs to give me a reason.

I think there are a lot of people like me out there. My wife is one of them.

Sorry, Jim, we have to fully discuss his lapel pin, what book he had his hand on when he took office, the veracity of his birth certificate, his ex-preacher, and his status as a secret time-travelling Nazi-Muslim-Terrorist … before we can get into the things you and your wife seem to want to hear.

What is wrong with you? Aren’t you more concerned about whether this man can positively prove his patriotism beyond a shadow of a doubt rather than whether he can do the job?

Others are.

Obama’s a secret time-traveling Nazi-Muslim-Terrorist? Ha! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!

McCain lived five years in a Vietnamese tiger cage. I’m voting McCain!

“Ha! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!”

Jim, you need to broaden your news sources. Stephen Colbert has been reporting on this for weeks.

“McCain lived five years in a Vietnamese tiger cage”

I’m no Wesley Clark, however, I would argue there is a gross dissimilarity between a Vietnamese tiger cage and the Oval Office. Too bad the Republicans didn’t nominate the guy with the most experience in that kind of Uber-Plush setting…

Mitt Romney, who likely hasn’t ever lived anywhere that might muss his hairdo.

... would argue there is a gross dissimilarity between a Vietnamese tiger cage and the Oval Office …

Have you ever been in the company of a politician and not been able to get away? I don’t think it’s all that dissimilar to a small, dank concrete torture chamber.

Time travel? TIME TRAVEL? Admit it, you put that in just to sucker ^h^h^h^h^h^h lure me back to your blog! Well, it worked.

I think I may have posted this sentiment here before, but here goes. I have voted in every presidential election since 1976. Yes, I voted for Jimmy. Every election since then I have lamented that the choices were worse than the last time. Most of the time I have voted Libertarian. And yes, I have been in some knock-down, drag-out “discussions” over what a vote is supposed to mean and the the fallacy of “wasting” one’s vote.

I am not sure about this one. I have had a lot of respect for John McCain for a very long time. I have worked for him in a round about way through a long-term friend who happens to be a Senate Staff insider. Lately however, he has squandered my respect away by sucking up to nearly everything that I hold Bush in contempt for. I happen to know that he does not personally believe in a lot of that crap. He just believes that he has to go there to get the votes. This does not increase my warm fuzzy. Obama is just another smooth talking Chicago (definition of dirty, IMO) politician. I find it almost funny that the old guard of “Black Leaders” (no disrespect intended, truly) are falling all over themselves, trying to figure out how to not support Obama because they are not ready to be “the man”. What a freaking circus! Bob Barr is now my Libertarian candidate! Give me strength.

I am shocked to the very core of my being to say this; I miss Al Gore.

If McCain came out tomorrow and declared that if elected, he would hold Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perl, et. al., accountable and bound over to the International Criminal Court (The Haugue) for trial for War Crimes, well then I would feel like I could vote for McCain.

Since that is not going to happen, I have no one to vote for.

Jim: “I’d like to vote for him. Someone needs to give me a reason.”

Read this.

Jan: “What a freaking circus! Bob Barr is now my Libertarian candidate!”

Indeed. If, after the 2006 elections, someone had suggested that Clinton would be beaten by a largely unknown black man, and Bob Barr would be running as an Anti-Republican, well, “scoffs” would have been the lightest response.

Jan: “I have no one to vote for.”

Been there, done that, in 2004. Very unpleasant feeling. Perhaps yours will change between now and November. A lot can happen between now and then.

I read every word of (hey, it’s at the Ponce branch of the Atlanta library!) The Audacity of Hope.

Thus, Obama is my candidate with absolutely no reservations. Smart man. NOT a Chicago-sleaze. Great writer. Thoughtful. Good with words and ideas.

What are your concerns? That he’ll prove to be just like all the rest? Mmm, no, don’t think that will happen.

Reading what he wrote (by his own self) is a really good idea if you need a reason to vote for Obama. That reading, it’s a good idea generally.

Jim: McCain lived five years in a Vietnamese tiger cage. I’m voting McCain!

I was dumbfounded when Clark questioned whether being held as a POW or commanding a peacetime squadron qualified McCain to be our Commander in Chief. I’ve had the same thoughts, as I’m sure many have, but to hear Clark to say it out loud astounded me. It’s almost like hearing a politician say that the post-war Iraqi leadership was not a supporter of terrorism or that 9/11 was a criminal act of mass murder by a small group of sociopaths rather than an act of war.

John McCain has been honest about his wartime experience. He has spoken of remorse about his bombing of civilians and been forthright about his co-operation with the enemy in exchange for medical care. However, I am hard pressed to see how being tortured or shot down is, in any way, relevant to his current aspirations.

What may be relevant is his apparent willingness to allow surrogates to parade him around as a war hero despite his abysmal veterans affairs voting record. This whole “Aw, shucks. I was just doing my job,” bit leaves a sour taste in my mouth and these lies of omission reflect more on his character than five years, thirty years ago. I would far rather see an arrogant intellectual (not that there’s anything wrong that, I want a President who is better than the rest of us) lead us than a quick-witted dissembler.

I too will cast my vote for Obama without reservations. Despite Bush and his AG’s du jour, I believe in checks and balances and am optimistic that the Legislative and Judicial branches will correct our current trend toward monarchy. We need a President who will allow this to happen. Not a perennial candidate as desperate for power as McCain, or Clinton, to a certain extent, seem to be.

Al: “I want a President who is better than the rest of us”

I want a President who is so much smarter than me that I am almost too embarrassed to feel qualified to vote for them.