David,I think youre reading too much into this. Obama is a democrat. The GOP is going to go after him to make him a non-factor no matter who he is. If Mother Teresa were alive and running for President as a democrat, they would do the same thing. And the democrats would do the same thing to her if she ran as a republican.His vision, or any other aspect of him, pales in comparison to his being a candidate of the opposing party.

It is sad that something as simple as being called Barry is questioned. I went by my nickname in school. I guess I am suspect too. I heard Barack on Saturday and was moved by the high road he is taking. He outlined a vision. And we need vision more then anything. Can he do the job? I don’t know. But I have to believe he is just as qualified as the person we have in office now.The idea is to get the best people around you and LISTEN to their advice. For me I will ignore the trash and look for the good in all the candidates and make my decision then.

Positive vision is certainly nice. However, when one of the things you are positive about is partial-birth abortion, you will have a problem attracting support from real conservatives. This does not mean Obama can’t win. The number of “real” conservatives is smaller than we think. Most of the GOP base will sell itself to the highest bidder.

A few months ago Mr. Kuo told the Christian Right that they should take a breather from politics. And, David considers himself a disaffected member of the C.R. Why shouldn’t he take his own advice? I’m going to intercede and say he shouldn’t have to, and neither should the C.R. What they should do is get smarter. David was right in that they were used by the Bush Administration and many other Republicans. Now, Obama is a new type of liberal. I don’t think Americans are so biased that they will turn off to him simply because his middle name is Hussein. I know the largest block of American voters are conservative in nature, though not extremely so. They voted against Republicans to teach them a lesson in 06. The Republicans better learn those lessons, or they will continue to take their lumps. They need a new conservative vision that they sincerely believe in, and if they accomplish that, they can recaptivate the large conservative base.

If you want to leave the world of excuses, and just see Obama as a politician, he is a liberal. A Democrat liberal. End of story for who good people should vote for. Especially hard working honest people. Don’t vote, before voting for this lesser of two evils. He dwells on the “them” side of Good versus Evil. And liberalism, with its sea of innocent human blood, its taxes of socialism, and its moral-hedonism should be what we look at. Not the color of someones skin.

Steven, do you equate taxes with evil?

Sometimes evil distracts us and what we perceive as evil is actually good. But I don’t buy any of this nonsense. If it was simple black and white we would clearly identify good from bad. We can’t identify God in such simplistic terms. I would be considered a “liberal democract” and to some evil and to others not so much. Yet I go to church, pray, feed the poor have empathy for those who hurt even when I disagree completely with their point of view. Am I still evil? Or am I good? Or just self righteous? I wish the answers could be so easy.

I see your point, Susie, but I’m pretty sure that the GOP operatives David refers to are knowing and willing agents of Satan.

I enjoyed reading this thread. I notice a couple people referred to “real” conservatives. I think the definition of a “real” conservative is currently up for debate. Does it mean you have to be a Christian? Support the war? Justify torturing suspected terrorists? Be anti-immigration?I think conservatives 20 years ago would have had different answers to many of these questions than those who call themselves conservatives today. But I think we’re starting to see a shift (for reasons that hardly need explanation) that may result in the core of the Republican Party returning to classic conservative principles (rather than go down with the ship with the current captains).At any rate, it’s fair enough to say that Republicans will attack Obama simply because he’s the opposition. On the other hand, he may attempt to raise the standard in his own campaign and leave his opposition looking like cynical mud-slinging politicians versus a true statesman.In the process, he may help people feel proud to be Americans again, and personally I suspect that’s what people want and need. I think rather than attacking him for that, the Republicans would be better off countering with a candidate with a positive message and strategy of his or her own. The only person who comes to mind is Rudy Guliani.

By the way, has anyone read Obama’s speech about religion and politics? I know many here will strongly disagree, and I know why (no need to dissect it here). But his points are articulate and worth carefully listening to (or reading) even for those who don’t agree. Here’s the link (sorry if it’s chopped up, just be sure to copy and paste the whole thing). http://obama.senate.gov/speech/060628-call_to_renewal_keynote_address/index.html

No one has mentioned that Mrs. Clinton’s team is the one that started the attacks against Obama regarding his muslim background. If you all think it’s just the conservatives against him, you don’t understand presidential politics and the primaries.

“No one has mentioned that Mrs. Clinton’s team is the one that started the attacks against Obama regarding his muslim background.” Foolish lies. Lies, lies. Stopping listening to stupid lies.

Which lies might you be referring to Susie?

The lies about Clinton’s camp starting the Obama smear. .. those lies.

Even Fox admitted (belatedly and with little shame) the Insight article was bogus.

The “Clinton-smearing-Obama” campaign was actually spread by Fox News. So it was really more of a “Fox-smearing-Clinton” job. And now for something completely different…