Barack Obama vs. John McCain

[Monika]

I don´t quite understand that. isn´t it the politics that matters? Otherwise it´s just a popularity contest.
The two nominees are after all representatives of their respective parties so how can you seperate party /nominee. Don´t forget that the guy you vote for will represent a certain party politics that will impact millions of people all over the world. That´s no little responability and should be about more than just "well..this guy seems nice...let´s vote for him". It´s the issues that matters.

[jstephens9]

Here's one idea

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/obama_clinton_mccain_join_forces

 

Great article  That's pretty much what I have been saying all along. Why have they not been able to find anyone better than these three to run for president? We basically do have three nightmares. As I have said the only reason I am for Hillary is because I see her as the less of three evils. I certainly am not overjoyed about her. It's just that she seems to be the best. The thoughts of Obama or McCain are lousy. Can't we just start over with some decent candidates? I wish. I must admit it makes me sick to hear McCain talking about keeping this horrible, unjustified war in Iraq going on. To think of all the lives that are going to be lost during his insistence concerning this. In my opinion Bush along with Cheney should be tried for war crimes cause they certainly have committed them. Can you imagine having all that blood on your hands and not even caring? Wow, talk about sickening.

[Shasta542]

Barack Obama is a very handsome, charismatic, well-educated man. He is popular -- very popular. If he were more experienced, if I knew more about him and his agenda -- he might be a good candidate. I know -- some people discount experience. I do not. I think that John McCain would make the better leader for the country as it stands today. If they were reversed--McCain a Dem and Obama a Rep -- would I feel differently? How can I know? I hope not. McCain is not a far right candidate -- he is right of center. So not an extreme. I prefer that.

[ednbarby]

I would *love* for Obama to win.  And I'm so looking forward to voting *for* someone for the first time in my life rather than voting against the greater of two evils.

But I fear that McCain will win.  And the country will be even further polarized than it already is.  (I really believe that Obama could begin the process of healing and re-uniting us after the debacle - no, embarassment - that has been and continues to be the Bush administration.)

I think there are still too many ignorant people in this country.  I can't tell you how often I hear "I just don't know that having a Muslim president is a good idea."  And from people I thought were well-educated and intelligent!  Not only is he not a Muslim, it wouldn't matter if he were.  Muslims are not the problem.  Religious extremists in all factions are.  I really think that people who say this are at heart anti-black, and feel that it's a more "politically correct" admission to hate/fear Muslims than, certainly, to hate/fear blacks.  And that thought chills me to the bone.

The longer I live in this country, the more I want to leave it.  And that is no exaggeration.  I really worry about what will happen when McCain wins.  I don't see the Draft as being too far in the distant future, for one thing.  My son is now 6 1/2.  12 years and thousands of more lives later, he could very well find himself facing it if we keep electing war mongers like Bush and McCain into office.

[Monika]

In my opinion Bush along with Cheney should be tried for war crimes cause they certainly have committed them. Can you imagine having all that blood on your hands and not even caring? Wow, talk about sickening.

I sure wouldn´t mind....

[Shasta542]

I expect some people said that about Wilson, FDR, and Ike (Normandy commander) Truman, and Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon ..... some of them had many more losses. The buck has to stop somewhere, and to say that the leaders don't care -- I can't believe that of any of them.

[Lynne]

I think there are still too many ignorant people in this country.  I can't tell you how often I hear "I just don't know that having a Muslim president is a good idea."  And from people I thought were well-educated and intelligent!  Not only is he not a Muslim, it wouldn't matter if he were.  Muslims are not the problem.  Religious extremists in all factions are.  I really think that people who say this are at heart anti-black, and feel that it's a more "politically correct" admission to hate/fear Muslims than, certainly, to hate/fear blacks.  And that thought chills me to the bone.

The longer I live in this country, the more I want to leave it.  And that is no exaggeration.  I really worry about what will happen when McCain wins.  I don't see the Draft as being too far in the distant future, for one thing.  My son is now 6 1/2.  12 years and thousands of more lives later, he could very well find himself facing it if we keep electing war mongers like Bush and McCain into office.

That's a good point about a draft, Barb.  The Afghani and Iraqi fronts have our forces stretched near to breaking.  I don't think it's at all outside the realm of possibility.

Regarding the racism...what do people think about the 20% or so voting in West Virginia, Kentucky, elsewhere, who supported Hillary over Obama and cited race as a factor in their choice?  My cynical self was wondering which prejudice would be stronger - that against a black candidate or that against a female candidate.  Though I have to say that I didn't really expect race to be as high a factor in the primary process as in the general election.  Or maybe I didn't think people would have the wherewithal to admit it openly.  Disappointing, IMO.

[Brown Eyes]

My cynical self was wondering which prejudice would be stronger - that against a black candidate or that against a female candidate.

I think there's a lot of both kinds of prejudice out there with regard to this primary.  Sometimes these prejudices seem to be broiling just under the surface and sometimes they seem to come to a head.  I think both Obama and Hillary have had to deal with the negative consequences of prejudice, but the issues may emerge differently in different places and issue-to-issue.

Differences in how racism and sexism have manifested historically and in terms of politics are fascinating and disheartening.  I mean women (all women) had to wait much longer to win the right to vote on a national level than did African American men, who were granted the right at least technically by the 15th amendment at the end of the Civil War.  But, of course it took the Civil Rights era in the 1960s to see that those rights were fully accessible without intimidation (etc.).  So, it's so complicated to see how sexism and racism have had two parallel and sometimes rather different histories (in terms of politics).

It's an unfortunate reality that our society hasn't moved beyond either form of prejudice.  And, watching how it's all playing out in this unique primary situation is also fascinating and disheartening.  It's such an extraordinary situation to have the first major and viable African American and female candidates running at the same time against each other.  Who would have ever predicted this?  But, that fact that their campaigns are now a reality, and both have had successes, is something to take comfort in I think.

[Shasta542]

Put Ageism in there with Sexism and Racism. That's the one that's used on Senator McCain. I know there have been older candidates who've been elected and no other races or women, but I've still heard a lot of discussion about him being 72 by Jan. 2009. Youth is worshipped. Age is not very respected.

[LauraGigs]

What will be interesting is when running mates are chosen.  Those choices are crucial for balancing out what are seen as the liabilities of the principal candidate.

A Southern, white and relatively hawkish running mate for Obama might quell some of the reservations people have about him.