What a shame for Democrats.

[ginchinchili]

In their inexplicable zeal to make a political statement, the Democrats have left us with the two weakest candidates out of the entire primary lineup. Yes, I'm one of those creepy, nasty white progressive males who are now left without a political Party to represent me. We had much stronger candidates running, candidates who would not have been so divisive and would have walked away with the general election, but the Democrats insisted on gambling with the future of our Party and, more importantly, our country. Now you've painted us into a loser's corner and for no good reason except that too many of you refused to consider a white male, or even a very qualified Hispanic male.

I have not decided what I will do in the voting booth yet, except that my reaction to Barack Obama is the same reaction that most African Americans would have if a white candidate had been attending a church for over 20 years with David Duke as its pastor. One has to ask just exactly what was the impact on a young Barack when his white grandmother expressed her anxiety about being alone on a sidewalk with a black man. When you consider the man Obama calls a father figure it's hard to believe that he is totally neutral toward all races. In fact, it's hard to believe that he doesn't hold some animosity toward whites. But that's only the #2 reason why I definitely won't cast a vote for him. The #1 reason is that he is not qualified to be president. And for those who can't figure out which meaning of the word "qualified" I'm using from the context, I don't mean that he does not meet legal qualifications to hold the office of POTUS. It's unsettling that I have to clarify that, but I've found that whenever I state that Obama is not qualified, there are always a number of people who don't understand.

51% of Hillary's supporters say they would consider voting for McCain over Obama should Obama receive the nomination, and 41% of Obama supporters say they would consider voting for McCain should Hillary receive the nod. People, this is a nightmare of your making.

[Arugula Latte]

1. self-delete

[blogslut]

2. Do please, provide a link to your stats

51% of Hillary's supporters say they would consider voting for McCain over Obama should Obama receive the nomination, and 41% of Obama supporters say they would consider voting for McCain should Hillary receive the nod.

[MNDemNY]

3. A brokered convention is our friend!

IMO our best bet politically would be....Gore/Obama.

[TwilightGardener]

4. Sorry about Biden--no one voted for him. That's life. Sorry if you

think Obama has even one ounce of racism in his body. That's just fucked up. Sorry you don't think this bright and talented man isn't qualified. The rest of America seems to be OK with him.

[ginchinchili]

14. What experience does he have that qualifies him?

That he's a swell guy? Sorry, but that's not good enough for me. Emotions are what got George W. Bush elected and what kept up his support. It certainly wasn't his qualifications. I guess now it's the Democrats' turn to make the same mistake. I just wonder how much more of this emotional stupidity our country can stand.

[democrattotheend]

22. I think experience in Washington is less relevant than intellect and temperament

First of all, to compare Obama to Bush is ridiculous. Everyone who knows Obama says he's brilliant, and I think that was obvious when he gave his speech last week (which he wrote himself, btw). He's in many ways the opposite of Bush: intellectual, challenging Americans to think beyond 5-second soundbites.

Second, in terms of qualifications to be president, I think a president's temperament and character are more important than resume in many ways (though Obama does have a fairly long resume, it's just not as traditional as most politicians). One of the big problems that has made Bush's presidency such a disaster is the groupthink syndrome. Bush surrounds himself with people who agree with him and discourages dissent, which discouraged, for example, an accurate and objective assessment of Iraq's WMD capabilities before we went in there. Cass Sunstein, a fellow law professor at the University of Chicago, wrote an http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cass-r-sunstein/the-obama-i-know_b_90034.html">article recently about how Obama is the exact opposite: he goes out of his way to seek out differing opinions and hear all sides of an issue before making a decision.

Another reason I think Obama has the right temperament to be president is the fact that he tends to stay cool and collected and not get worked up over every little thing. The ability to keep a cool head under pressure is important for a president, and both Clinton and McCain have legendary tempers that make me worry about their ability to stay cool under fire.

Finally, in his years as a legislator, Obama has proven very capable at negotiating and building concensus, which is very important for a president who hopes to get a legislative agenda through Congress. This http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303303.html">article talks about how he managed to get a bill passed requiring that police interrogations be videotaped despite the fact that it faced opposition from all sides when he started.

These are leadership qualities that I think are important for a president, and after the first couple months, these things probably matter more than experience.

[JuniperLea]

21. Do you have a crystal ball or are you able to read his mind directly...

A lot of mixed race people are sadly left with a certain level of self hatred and feelings of alienation. It's not their fault, but it is very much a reality. My people met my people at Plymouth Rock... I am very torn... I hate what my people did to my people. Until you've walked a mile in the moccasins of others, and I mean the exact pair, you are foolish to even suggest you know if they are racist or not.

[Deep13]

5. Jesus, no kidding.

:-(
No one can lose this race for the D.s except for the D.s and once again we are happy to foot ourselves in the foot.

[NavyDavy]

6. whatever....no one i know....supporters for both HRC and BO

have ever said they would vote for mccain if the other candidate got the nomination......so many concern trolls out lately.....

[TTUBatfan2008]

7. Please, do tell...

since you are so paranoid about reverse racism. How exactly will Obama pass pro-black, anti-white legislation in a Congress that's 90% white? LOL.

[redqueen]

9. Hello there fellow friend of logic.

Thank you so much for your post, and welcome to DU! :hi:

[ginchinchili]

15. That's not my concern.

My concern is quite simple. I don't want a president who distinguishes between races, and that holds true for any potential president, no matter what his or her race is. It's a simple concept, one you might want to try adopting yourself.

[redqueen]

8. Fear of a black POTUS? You haven't decided what you'll do in the voting booth?

Do you really think whining about the candidates is going to help somehow? Really?


Edited to remove invective... ugh.

[ginchinchili]

16. No, it's not a fear of a black POTUS.

Perhaps you only read what you wanted to read from my post. I don't care about the race or gender of our president. Why should I? You tell me. It's a fear of having an unqualified president who holds some racial bigotries. That's my concern. Obama would not make a good president,nor has he done anything substantial enough for one to point to as evidence that he is up to the task. It's just common sense.

[LWolf]

10. I agree with this part:

In their inexplicable zeal to make a political statement, the Democrats have left us with the two weakest candidates out of the entire primary lineup.

My vote is currently undecided; I'm holding out for a brokered convention that emerges with "none of the above" as the nominee.

[ginchinchili]

17. Thanks. I second that.

[Clark2008]

11. Ah hell... we didn't have anyone worth a damn running in the first place.

I guess we've ended up with the so-called "cream" of that rancid pot.

[Buzz Clik]

12. "The two weakest candidates..." I see.

So, Gravel, Kucinich, and Vilsac were all stronger candidates than Obama and Clinton. What remarkable logic. In other words, if either of these three had been the nominee, they would be in a stronger position against McCain than either Obama or Clinton, right?

I really am amazed by the Democrats in this cycle. We have candidates that could not even get 1% approval rating within the Democrats. We have candidates who actually showed up for a primary or two and received less than 0.1% of the vote. How do these candidates shape up as stronger than the two remaining?

[Warren Stupidity]

13. The thing about having a democratic process is that you don't

always get your first choice. Try not to be so readily fooled by the rightwing noise machine. Get a grip on reality: a fine Democratic candidate who represents significant change from the last eight years of corrupt criminal incompetence is running for president. There is no problem here about who to support or how to vote unless you have lost your mind along the way.

[ginchinchili]

18. How do you know he represents change?

Because he tells you he does? LOL....sorry if I'm unconvinced when a politician tells me something that benefits him/her but has nothing to back it up.

[Warren Stupidity]

20. Marvelous 180 degree logic there.

You are going to not support Obama because he *might* be as bad as McCain.

I cannot wait until this kind of freeper-infected idiocy is once again banned from this board.

[MistressOverdone]

19. I agree with you n/t