Obama is running for President of the United States.

[Peacetrain]

As obvious as that sounds, more than a few on mass media, and in the blogs seem not to get that concept completely. I heard this on CNN yesterday, and it made sense to me. "Obama is not a civil rights leader" (Of course this was in reference to the JJ comment.) But the point was that others are civil rights leaders. Obama is a presidential canidate for the ENTIRE United States.

A few have been very upset about Obamas move to right, or on any given day, his move to the left or center. There has been quite a bit of angst over exactly where is on the political spectrum. In the end though, he has to try and manage all of the political views of this country.

Senator Obama is going to make all of us angry at one point or another. He cannot be an effective president and be completely any political stripe.

We are suffering under an administration that is totally caught in the web of one political view. That is a scenario that does not bear repeating either.

If I can get 80% of my political views upheld, I feel I am doing very well. With Senator Obama, I am getting that.

Do I agree with everything, of course not! But he is not just the best of two bad choices. Senator Obama is an excellent choice for President.

I am very happy and proud to be a Democrat, part of the Democratic party, and have such wonderful canidates who can meet the issues where they are.

Senator Obama is running for all of us.

:dem::dem::dem::dem::dem:

[Max_powers94]

1. Obama runs for you ..Obama runs for me.......I feel a song is a coming.

[comtec]

10. This land is your lan~d, this land is m~y land

from the rocky mount~ains to president O~bama...

[Saturday]

2. Proud to be a Democrat?

I'm not when they rubber stamp Bush policy. I'm ashamed.

[Peacetrain]

15. I am exceptionally proud to be a Democrat

And when the policy is forced out of Bushs and Cheneys hands and back into the courts. That is a hell of a first step if you ask me. That was what everyone was wailing about 12 months ago. Give some credit where credit is due please. Maybe we did not get everything we wanted first round. But we re moving giant steps forward from where we are now

[Benhurst]

3. A little less running and a lot more

standing up for the Constitution would go a long way.

[paparush]

4. Help me remember...when Bush** was "running" did he make moves that upset his base?

[Alter Ego]

5. No, even though they should have.

Remember, the difference between Obama's base and Bush's is that Obama's base THINKS.

[paparush]

9. Well, think might be a bit strong..mainly we seem to react! :-)

[Alter Ego]

11. It's the curse of being an informed voter--sometimes you know more

than you even want to.

[zanne]

6. I realize that he isn't running to be president of the Democratic Party...

We won't get our way 100% of the time, and if we want a partisan president, all we have to do is look at Bush. My concern is that the disastrous and unconstitutional policies set by George Bush won't be rolled back, and there's so much to undo.

I'm still a strong supporter and a volunteer, but I will not have blind faith in one person.

[Benhurst]

8. And some things should be non-negotiable.

Silly me, I had always thought the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights fell into that category.

[Olney Blue]

13. They do.

[Peacetrain]

16. Getting that power out of the Executive Branch was the most

important move. That means it will be out of Obamas reach also. I put it in another post, this was what we were all wanting and screaming about a year ago. It had been moved back to the courts, there was no oversight. This was a great first step.

[Crazy Dave]

7. I wish I could get a bumper sticker to counter all the....

Bush/Cheney '04 ones I still see, more than McCain ones. I'd love to let those same people know that Obama is running for their war loving, gay hating sorry asses too

[crankychatter]

12. I think a simple "O" would be good "O-08" nt

[Crazy Dave]

14. Won't work, they wouldn't get it, too simple and closed minded

Remember, we're dealing with the same people who think a gay couple will destroy their own marriage and indoctrinate their children

[crankychatter]

17. my kids are role models for me

even cranky old guys can be educated

peace out... have a good day

I'm going to go pretend I WANT to work... and dream up some more bumperstickers for ya.

[Crazy Dave]

19. I want to work...

...started my own business so I wouldn't get laid off and did quite well for a few years...now I'm going to have to lay myself off :cry:

[TexasObserver]

18. Indeed. Representative democracy means what it says.

I have long considered it appropriate for politicians to represent their constituencies. That means even the hardcore GOP congress people who come from hardcore GOP constituencies are right to vote their district.

We have blue dog Democrats because we have districts where the people think like those Blue dog Democratic congressmen. It's not wrong for any congress person to vote their constituency.

When one of our Democrats runs for president, he has to represent ALL the people, and that means he has to make happy those 20% in the absolute middle of the political spectrum if he wants to win. We have been lousy at doing this, mainly because we have too many people in our coalition who want to tie down our nominee on every issue, and that causes the middle to move away from us.

[Peacetrain]

20. I know. I can understand and appreciate

that we want our canidate to walk 100% in lockstep with our views, but it is a complete impossibility. Then they ARE looking for a messiah. Who ever wants to win this election has to win a broad constituency. I am befuddled by the FISA vote. To me, getting that moved back into the courts, and out of the executive branch was a great move. Having American citizens overseas not monitored was a great move to me. A first step yes. But it is movement forward.

Like the health care agenda in 92, trying to take it all in one fell swoop, is a guaranteed loss. We should have had universal health care by now, and would have, had we tried taking it a third at a time, instead of all the way. IMHO