Barack on Larry King

Ron Paul is also against an aggressive foreign policy and voted against Iraq.

I'll give you some links to make it even easier for you:
http://www.house.gov/paul/legis.shtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHxQGSiuLf4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEJJ1GHteLM

rogerjames,

I've seen Obama in action before also, and I agree with you on his debating ability. He is right up there with Bill Clinton in terms of charisma and the ability to belt out a really smart, nice-sounding argument on the spot. He just has an edge period in that department; he'll look smart and professional wherever he goes...it won't be like that retarded Kerry-Bush debate we saw in 2004.

But maybe you should rethink Richardson on his policies and his broad-based appeal for a big election, if you lean more towards the left. Richardson is someone who has a proven bipartisan track record, and he is no dummy. He's also got executive experience, something no candidate has won an election without since JFK.

What youre failing to note, is Obama doesnt, and may not for some time, do 'hard' interviews. He is a coward and a typical sound byte politician. I think he would fold in a debate, but that remains to be seen.

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I really doesn't remain to be seen. Alan Keyes obliterated Obama in the 2004 Illinois Senatorial debates. Obama isn't a bad debater, but he had the misfortune of debating Alan Keyes. Keyes took him to school. Unfortunately, most of what Keyes says is over the heads of most voters.

Roger, I would ask yourself and others to find out what exactly Obama HAS accomplished during his political career?

What I have observed is that he's SO far left that I would consider him to be a Socialist.

WRT 2A he has stated publicly that he supports a complete ban on ALL Semi-Auto Firearms. This in and of itself is grounds for me to not vote for him as I believe that without the 2A there can be no others for very long...the 2A is the insurance policy for all the others and like an actual firearm its mere presence can prevent a multitude of crimes without actually exercising/using it.

He has a not so insignificant drug history and a not insignificant disdain for the law....he just paid up on tickets that he has owed for something like 20+ years...the only reason he came clean was b/c he was getting ready to annou ce his candidacy.

While Barack's history of drug use/etc may be fairly consistent with the avg citizen it is not acceptable for someone that must be held to the highest standards as POTUS...we're not looking to elect mediocrity here folks.

I cannot in good faith support a charismatic candidate that has little substance and even less integrity.

wow everyone was quick to jump the gun on obama. I understand he is not a pro 2nd candidate but jeez some of you guys are bashing his character pretty hard when really not much is known about him. the way the president has handled the country if it was a vote for obama or bush I can say Obama would have gotten my vote. heck none of these republican scandals would have been around, the executive branch and the legislative branch would be run by seperate parties (republicans probably would still have control), and its not like big brother could have grown any bigger under a Democrat than it did under bush. I'm going to keep my eye open for any middle of the road candidate that can offer me an alternative to these extreme options that I see available to me currently. either than or I'm going to prematurely buy a shack in montana and never get come out of the woods

He's not going to be President. Neither is Hillary. One's black and one's female. Just reality. It's an uphill battle for them.

There's a chance they may win the democratic primaries, but I think they'll get hammered in the presidential election. I'm sure there are racists and sexists in both parties. Considering the country is about 50/50 split between Republican and Democrat, and if all the Democrat racists/sexists rather vote Republican than vote a black/female in, then a Republican will become President.

You guys who favor Republicans (most of you) should pray Obama or Hillary is the Democratic candidate, it's nearly a sure win then. The Republican candidate could be a baby killer, child molester, and muslim, and those people will still rather vote for him. Ok maybe not muslim heh.

Maybe Obama can attract the Republican black vote, or Hillary can attract some female Republicans, but the effect will be minimal I think.

jpk1md Said:

He has a not so insignificant drug history and a not insignificant disdain for the law....he just paid up on tickets that he has owed for something like 20+ years...the only reason he came clean was b/c he was getting ready to annou ce his candidacy.

While Barack's history of drug use/etc may be fairly consistent with the avg citizen it is not acceptable for someone that must be held to the highest standards as POTUS...we're not looking to elect mediocrity here folks.

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I don't know if you are a Bush fan or not, but your criteria eliminates Bushy Jr. faster than it eliminates Obama. Let's look at Bush:

1) Serious cocaine addiction, affirmed that he is no longer a user
2) Intermittent problems with alcohol, several documented violent verbal outbursts
3) AWOL during military service, due to Dan Rather's stupidity and the whole Swiftboat snafu we'll never really know the whole truth on that one

Clearly your high standards don't apply to Bushy Jr...the man who's said that he'd be the first in line to sign a renewed AWB as soon as it came across his desk.

and if all the Democrat racists/sexists rather vote Republican than vote a black/female in, then a Republican will become President

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I dont know if theres as many people who would not vote for them as you think. I would think there would be more black/female republicans vote for obama/hillary just because they are black/female and want to see one win just for that fact alone rather than the opposite. but i guess well see what happens. people just see a name and a letter and tv commercials. how people stand on certain issues doesnt matter too much to the average voter. The average voter doesnt care enough to pay attention and voting for a letter or what someone looks like is much easier than finding out what they actually stand for.

Well as for Barack not getting in because he's black, that's BS. It's just skin color, and racism really isnt based on skin color, it's based on culture. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/119951/dave_chappelle_the_black_white_supremacist/ This is probably the best example.

When I, and others, see Obama, they dont see him as black. He's very white looking, and doesnt bring any racial guilt with him. He himself doesnt really identify himself as black.

Barack himself summed it up himself. Anyone who does not vote for him because he's black would likely not vote for him because of his policies, too.

A black or woman president isnt impossible, especially now, it's just that women generally dont run for president as frequently as men, and if they do, they dont have anything that makes them special. I think it's more just that white men run for office more than blacks or women, not that people will not vote for someone because of blackness or being a woman.

Dems and Repubs are avoiding the issue for the most part, they realize they can push or not push anything through that they want once they have power, its a "DON'T ASK, DON'T MAKE ANY COMMENT RESEMBLING A STANCE IN EITHER DIRECTION"

When I, and others, see Obama, they dont see him as black. He's very white looking, and doesnt bring any racial guilt with him. He himself doesnt really identify himself as black.

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I'm just pointing out there are others who view him as black. Also doesn't matter how white he looks, or whether he identifies himself as black. It's what others view him as.

A black or woman president isnt impossible, especially now

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Nothing is impossible. But I believe now there are still lingering segments of society that will not accept a black/female president. We'll just have to wait and see how the elections play out.

As far as I can tell there are the candidates we wish would run and the slops that have their hats in the ring right now. Ergo the Obama bashing. It doesn't help that he's no different from Clinton in terms of ideology as well. I think that with the primaries just under a year away that whoever's running now is going to wear out their welcome by November. At least, I sure hope they do and we get real candidates from both parties for '08.

As far as debating skills go, in politics they only go so far. It's more important in a TV debate to say "I support things that you, the issue voter, also support."

For instance: Bush didn't seem to match wits with Kerry very well in '04. He did say important things like "permanent tax cuts" and "people have the right to own a gun for protection" that Kerry didn't. His statement on guns in particular cut right through the noise: I don't remember much else about the debate, but I remember that!

I think that Obama's debate skills are a good asset but he needs to say what voters want to hear. I doubt he can garner much of the gun vote unless he's very strong on other pressing issues. His platitudes on stopping "weapons proliferation" really mean "I don't want to say grab 'em and melt them down, but I don't wanna lose the gun vote." That's noise, not message.

rogerjames, and others,
We have to remember one very important dynamic going on in this race so far. This race is starting a whole year early. President Bush has nearly two years left in his presidency for cryin out loud. The one and only reason we are even discussing this now, is because the drive by media made up this whole Barrack Obama craze. They are the ones that went orgasmic over him and started pushing him into becoming a candidate. That was followed by the "reactive one", Mrs. Bill Clinton announcing, and then everyone else jumped in like a feeding frenzy. This race usually doesn't start for another whole year! I personally think that Newt, Fred Thompson, and some others, like Richardson are pretty smart in letting the early runners waste energy and funds now. There is still plenty of time for any one of them to jump in. I think this race is still wide open, and to be thinking of locking in a candidate now, is at it's best, premature, and at it's worse, pure fantasy.
As to the 2nd Ammendment issue, I don't think there are any announced candidates who share our support and understanding of it.

.

Hey, Ron Paul being president may just be a dream, but it's the sort of dream worth fighting for. And if enough of us work on it together...

As for Richardson, I'm curious why the OP is so convinced he's a pipe dream? He's been a congressman, ambassador to the U.N., Secretary of Energy, and is a current sitting Governor. He's definitely got political chops. Plus, since everyone keeps harping on Obama's race, Richardson is Hispanic.

Hope you realize obama did vote for the patriot act. (to reenact it)

Strike.....never ASSUME.

jpk1md said:

He has a not so insignificant drug history and a not insignificant disdain for the law....he just paid up on tickets that he has owed for something like 20+ years...the only reason he came clean was b/c he was getting ready to annou ce his candidacy.

While Barack's history of drug use/etc may be fairly consistent with the avg citizen it is not acceptable for someone that must be held to the highest standards as POTUS...we're not looking to elect mediocrity here folks.

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Strike said:

I don't know if you are a Bush fan or not, but your criteria eliminates Bushy Jr. faster than it eliminates Obama. Let's look at Bush:

1) Serious cocaine addiction, affirmed that he is no longer a user
2) Intermittent problems with alcohol, several documented violent verbal outbursts
3) AWOL during military service, due to Dan Rather's stupidity and the whole Swiftboat snafu we'll never really know the whole truth on that one

Clearly your high standards don't apply to Bushy Jr...the man who's said that he'd be the first in line to sign a renewed AWB as soon as it came across his desk.

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Before you take a potshot at another member...get the facts straight.

I didn't vote for Bush II in either election.

These are only my personal feelings on the election.

The Dems will burn out long before the election happens. They will be reduced to name calling and other forms of subterfuge in order to discredit one another.

Screamin' Cindy Sheehan and the other wacko's that pulled the party to the ultra far left will help to alienate the party and its candidates due to their past association with her....we're already seeing Barack and Billary trying to distance themselves from her and the well beyond the horizon left wing of the Dem Party.

They will have a TON of cash but will be completely burned out before Nov....there will be all kinds of skeletons come out of the closet yada yada yada.

Same with Ghouliani....his past and current flip flopping on core conservative issues will make him unelectable.

McCain is in the same boat.....flip flopping like Kerry did.

Personally I think that the potential candidates that are holding their cards will sweep into the limelight and folks will flock to them out of disgust for the criminals that have been campaigning a year early and ignoring the responsibilities of their elected offices.

Its only a matter of time before someone posts stats on how many days of session this year they have missed due to premature campaigning.

Personally I would like to see Fred Thompson as POTUS.

I've met Obama when he was here in Springfield Illinois and just a lowly state legislator. I would vote for Hillary or Bill before I would him - he is a ultra-liberal socialist - chicago pretty boy politician - who will do whatever it takes to get elected and who will avoid dealing with any issue in a straight forward or honest manner if he thinks it will cost him votes. He wouldn't know a principle if someone tried to tatoo it on his soul. He is a smooth sociopath and I washed my hands after I met him. To me he is the most dangerous candidate in the field since he is not committed to anything beyond himself and more power - which means less freedom. He has that superficial charisma that the media and people who vote for the candidate that makes them feel good love.

Has Obama explicitly stated that he supports gun control? I suspect that he has, coming from Illinois; but does anyone have a link?

True Blue Ill Dem....

http://www.ontheissues.org/Domestic/Barack_Obama_Gun_Control.htm
Ban semi-automatics, and more possession restrictions

* Principles that Obama supports on gun issues:Ban the sale or transfer of all forms of semi-automatic weapons.
* Increase state restrictions on the purchase and possession of firearms.
* Require manufacturers to provide child-safety locks with firearms.

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1511
Obama favors racial preferences for select minorities in both the business world and academia. A strong supporter of gun control, he has proposed banning all civilian semi-automatic weapons. He is strongly pro-abortion, including the partial-birth abortion procedure many regard as infanticide. He is a proponent of socialized medicine.