Being honest, let's assume I was willing to vote for Obama, yes, it would make me not vote for him.  Because if he surrounds himself with racists (which is what Rev. Wright is and Michelle would be) and values them then he obviously has either  zero skill at making judgements or he is a racist as well.

So, presumably, you would sit out the election, then?

So, presumably, you would sit out the election, then?

Not at all.  Any citizen who sits out voting in a Presidential election should give up any right to complain about the outcome or the state of the nation during that Presidential term.  I would vote for whichever candidate would most ensure a racist didn't get into office.  If Bill Clinton were on a video using the "N" word and Hillary got the nomination I'd vote for McCain then too.

Scott, you know about McCain's feelings about "gooks" right?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/02/18/ MN32194.DTL

This is what I've been getting at - you back yourself into a tight spot when you say "I won't vote for Obama because he knows racists", when, in fact, John McCain himself says some pretty out there stuff.  (He voted against MLK day, too!)

Now - let me cut the next few steps of this dance - the next reply would be:  Well, he has a reason to feel the way he does - he was tortured - plus, he says he regrets voting against MLK Day.  Ok.  But then the next step in the dance is - do blacks in America not have reasons for being disgruntaled at white people who have both historically and currently do them wrong?  And likewise, can not Michelle Obama distance herself from these things (that, by the way, she didn't say) the same way McCain does?

I took us through this to make that point. 

Al Cook is right - Obama's speach has some interesting points that were missed when it was parsed out to sound-bites to the corporate media - fact of the matter, there is a reason people express the thoughts and words they do, and if we sit down and get to the bottom of it instead of pointing fingers, we'll be making real progress.

Besides - if I had to choose - I'd definately go with the guy whose wife is falsely accused of saying something totally ineffectual, as opposed to the actual candiddate who says he "hates gooks".

Yes.  Yes I do.

I don't think he'll sweep, but I do believe he can do well with people who are in the middle.

He won't win over hard-core Republicans, and nor should he.  His politics, while not Socialist, are, in fact, lefty, so, those who believe that the politics of the right are better for the nation should vote that way.

He won't win people who were dead-set against any democrat, nor will he win the racists or other fringe groups.

But if you listen to him, if you look over his plans (as detailed in his second book The Audacity of Hope) if you look at his voting record, and you're kind of in the middle, I don't see why you wouldn't support him.

I don't think he'll sweep, you know, Kentucky or West Virginia or places like that, but I do think enough Americans will support him.

In any given election, you know, XX will support the D and XX will support the R and those in the middle will sway things - I think the middle is larger this time due to the state of the nation - I think a lot of people are seeing the folly in the policies of the last 30 years - and I think these people, when given the choice of Obama or McCain, will choose Obama.

Sure, some of that group are people who won't support him due to deeply seated fears of, oh, I don't know, blacks, outsiders, change, whatever, but I have an optimism that there's less of those and more of the neutral types in the middle.

I do think he can get votes in redstates.  Remember - this is the guy who came to the national spotlight in 2004 with these words:

E pluribus unum: "Out of many, one."

Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us -- the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of "anything goes." Well, I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America -- there’s the United States of America.

The pundits, the pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an "awesome God" in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we’ve got some gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

I believe in Barack Obama.

Montana could end up being an interesting swing state now...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080519/pl_nm/usa_politics_obama _tribe_dc_1

This is what I've been getting at - you back yourself into a tight spot when you say "I won't vote for Obama because he knows racists", when, in fact, John McCain himself says some pretty out there stuff. 

But Mike, I haven't backed myself anywhere.  As I've said before, that's only one part of it.  I will never vote for any one too far to the left.  Ever. Well, I guess if the choice was between far left and Damien (the Anti-Christ) from the Omen, then I would.  :P

I will vote farther to the right before I will vote farther to the left.  To suggest that would be the only reason to not vote for him would be no different than suggesting the only reason you won't vote for McCain is because of his involvement with his spiritual advisor.  While that may be one tiny portion of it, your (and my) decisions on why and who to vote for are many and not just one thing.

I believe Obama will get the nomination but I believe McCain will win in a landslide victory.  It won't even be close.  The election will be called before the polling places in Hawaii are even closed.  It's not going to be any where near close.  Obama will get votes, just not enough to win red states and probably not even the majority of the blue states.

At that point, Obama will be considered damaged goods and the Democrats will be preparing for 2012 where Obama won't even be considered.  Obama made a huge mistake running now.  Had he waited until he had more experience, he could have been a serious contender.  My guess is if he hadn't been a part of this, Clinton would have made him her running mate.  Then after 8 years as the VP, he would be more seasoned and ready for the Presidency.  After November 2008, he'll never have that chance in the future.

Mike, thanks for posting part of Obama's 2004 Convention Speech.  That was a great speech.  I'm gonna have to go track down the full text of it now.

I believe Obama will get the nomination but I believe McCain will win in a landslide victory.  It won't even be close.  The election will be called before the polling places in Hawaii are even closed.  It's not going to be any where near close.  Obama will get votes, just not enough to win red states and probably not even the majority of the blue states.

At that point, Obama will be considered damaged goods and the Democrats will be preparing for 2012 where Obama won't even be considered.  Obama made a huge mistake running now.  Had he waited until he had more experience, he could have been a serious contender.  My guess is if he hadn't been a part of this, Clinton would have made him her running mate.  Then after 8 years as the VP, he would be more seasoned and ready for the Presidency.  After November 2008, he'll never have that chance in the future.

************************

I think you've got it reversed.  McCain is not going to win.  There's a long way to go until the General Election and he's been given a "free pass" by the press because of the ongoing Democratic battle.  His flaws will come out and at some point his well known temper will flare.  He's far more "damaged goods" thanObama, especially based on his past infidelities and his numerous flip-flops.

Obama won't win in a landslide, but he'll win handily.  My guess is he'll garner about 280 electoral votes.  There are many "Republican states" that are in play, especially Ohio and potentially Florida.  McCain is not beloved by the hardcore GOPers, so they may sit this election out.