Agreed - he started out as the "post-racial" candidate and he should have stayed there and secured the moral high ground. He hasn't been "forced" to confront anything, Mike. No one in the opposing camp has said a word about his race. He's the guy running around saying that he doesn't look like the guys on the currency and insinuating that the opposition wants to use that against him. To me, that's absolute poison to "wanting to unite" the country. By playing that card, if he loses, it could cause more race relations problems than anything else I can think of for the past 3 decades.


>There is something to what you say, although I think you are overbuying the attack lines about bad associations. They are grasping at straws. IMO he is as honorable a presidential candidate as we are likely to get.
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>You are really missing the point about Obama and race. He started his campaign as a post-racial candidate, as though that was all behind us. It was part of his appeal to younger voters, who truly are growing up in a less race-oriented world than you and I did. He has been forced to confront it. If you listen to him closely you can see he does this reluctantly. He is an American archetype -- the person who works very, very hard and wants to do good. I think it's inspirational that he has made it even this far in our still divided society.
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>I think it's all out of my system now <g>. Obviously I want Obama to win. But I should quit bloviating about it.
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>>"McSame"? So now your resorting to lib ad hominems?
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>>Here's what I think about Obama as straightforward as I can make it: He is a brilliant man and gifted orator. He left a strong impression at the DNC in 2004. I watched that speech and remember telling my wife to keep an eye on this guy.
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>>But he's trying to win this by being the "black" candidate, appealing to the novelty. He's the one repeatedly bringing up his race in stump speeches; McCain never has. His positions are murky, at best, and if you take away the folks who are voting for him because they are sick of the GOP and/or Bush and those who are voting for him because he is black, what are you left with?
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>>Indeed, he is a very rare candidate. Rare in that his charm, elocution, and ethnicity have allowed him to almost completely forego the normal scrutiny a presidential candidate would expect. He's had some very questionable associations and decisions over the years and I think that counts for something.
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>>>I am really not into labels or firsts at all. Yeah, I think it would be kind of cool, and a good signal to the rest of the world, if we elected a black candidate. But that isn't why I'm for Obama. IMO he is a very rare candidate in our lifetimes. It's an easy choice for me to prefer him to McSame, who wants to build a bridge to the 20th century. (And not necessarily the latter part). It's a sign of how conservative the U.S. has become that this race is even close.