The more Democrats "change"...

To have squandered over $120 Million Dollars on such a decadent display of oppulence -- while at the same time, running for President for the Party that's 'supposed' to be the Party of the poor, the forgotten, the middle class, the hard-working American -- is insane. And especially when the Dems are big on degrading the Republicans for THEIR rich life styles!!!

Has anyone ever experienced more of a waste of money in order to accept a nomination?

And his 'we are our brothers' keepers' fell resoundingly false on my ears, since his very own blood brother (and other blood relatives) are living in abject poverty in Kenya and Obama is aware of this, had promised to help them, and yet has not sent a dollar their way (even though Obama's own blood brother says he lives on less than a dollar a MONTH)!

It is SO hypocritical, and to see and hear the screaming masses for such a liar is very frightening. No American should vote for President based on emotion and lies and hype (and even hope without any facts to back it up, is an incredibly scary reason to put into a virtual stranger's hands, the keys to our future).

Rod,

Yes, of course, you're right in pointing out that Obama reverted to the boilerplate Democratic platform. Your post is very detailed and demonsrates diligence ... especially with the side-by-side comparisons with Gore 2000 and Kerry 2004 DNC speeches. Many, many thanks.

Charles Krauthammer (sp?) made two perceptive observations last night, the first of which deals with your point. He argued (on MSNBC or CNN) last night that Obama is taking a smarter, safer approach by morphing AWAY from the "new politics" posture and towards a "generic Democratic" posture. His point is that the GOP brand is so badly damaged that all the Democratic nominee needs to do to win is to reassure the voters that he is a comfortably reliable "generic Democratic" and nothing exotic or "post-racial" or "post" anything else.

His second point, to be found in a column posted at WaPo (and elsewhere), is more intriguing. It is headlined, "The Perfect Stanger." It picks up on the point made 7 or 8 months ago by "Spenger" at Asia Times online about the Jay Gatsby-like self-made aspect of the Obama image. It really IS odd, as Krauthammer (sp?) pointed out, that NOBODY from Obama's pre-2004 existence has shown up to vouch for this guy (with the exception of his wife). Charlie Rose managed to dig up and interview yesterday two women who served with him on the Harvard Law Review ... but that was it. Krauthammer did say that two early mentors from his Chicago days -- Reverend Wright and "Professor" Ayres -- might have been able to "vouch" for him ... but for the obvious reasons they have been kept safely out of sight.

Clearly, you are no Obama specialist. And we had such high hopes.

Paul, as a former Hillary Clinton supporter, and proud PUMA member, you are SO wrong about us not voting for McCain.

We have been in contact with his campaign for weeks now, and his campaign met with us in Denver, but the Obama campaign declined to do so.

McCain is our guy -- as all our many websites will show. PUMA's are THRILLED!!! The DNC just lot a lot of its former loyalists.

Don't think that Sarah Pallin will give McCain much of a boost. When I think of Alaska, I think of all the Oil Companies that have bought and paid for the politician's there. She is not Hilary Clinton so she won't draw any of her voters.

The Democratic message has not changed much because the nation was wrong in not picking Gore or Kerry over Bush in the first place. Obama can say those same things they said because it is even more imperative to make the changes now. McCain reminds me more of G.W.H. Bush with his out of touch with the real America attitude. He thinks having your buying power cut by 17% or more is a sign of a "fundamentally strong" economy

The PUMAs are just a Republican front. They were never going to vote Democratic anyway, so cut the song and dance. Nobody with a brain believes it.
If this country votes for the Repubs after the disaster they've been, they deserve what they get.

true but not really in depth. Democrats stress their same message across because is what the party is all about and what America has needed since Clinton left office, 8 years ago.
It is, however, that vibrant and compelling force that Obama has and is able to get across that makes people wonder and, in effect, be better persons, be honest, to have more integrity, and, in the end, care for others... He has that power in him that is making us all wanna be better and do better with our lives. Kerry and Gore both lacked this wonderful charisma and human nature. It is Obama who can make us feel like we can do better and that we can all change for the better. Enough! said. Thanks!

"The "unseen thing" is the essence of the spiritual idealism of the 19th century Transcendentalists, recast for the 21st century."

And it is just as wrong and dangerous now as it was then.

I want you to know: I believe we must challenge a culture with too much meanness, and not enough meaning. And as President, I will stand with you for a goal that we share: to give more power back to the parents, to choose what your own children are exposed to, so you can pass on your family's basic lessons of responsibility and decency. The power should be in your hands. The future should belong to everyone in this land. [Gore]
--
And, Democrats, Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our intellectual and moral strength. ... But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents, that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework, that fathers must take more responsibility to provide love and guidance to their children. [Obama]

These are actually opposite positions. Gore is defending the V-Chip, I believe. Obama is saying government "can't turn off the television", which is kind of what the V-chip does.