The (anti-Semite) View

I live in Obama's home state, Illinois. Seems to me the stuff the media is ripping him on, i.e. his ancestors owned slaves, etc. is ridiculous. And now you- How do you know he is a flaming liberal if, as you also say, he hasn't stated his position on much of anything? I haven't read his book, maybe it makes it clear he's all for free handouts to everyone at eh expense of the robber barons, I don't know.

I'm a libertarian. I'm all for liberal social policies, and conservative economic policies. A front-page article in today's Chicago Tribune (which, granted, loves Obama)talks about the fact that Obama is, at heart, a very pragmatic organizer for social change. The Trib says, "When the raw, 23-year-old community organizer hit Chicago in early 1985, the racially charged fighting between Harold Washington, the city's first black mayor, and white ethnic aldermen led by Ed Vrdolyak had earned the city a bitter nickname: Beirut on the lake.... Obama brought a decidely practical view of the Washington-Vrdolyak bouts to the Far South Side community he was organizing. 'They're not enemies, he used to tell us. They're both working for their constituents, and they have to do this', a co-worker recalled Obama saying. 'Whoever can help you reach your goal, that's who you work with...There are no permanent friends, no permanent enemies.' That mantra of professional organizers has come to define Obama's public life."

In my opinion, anyone who can take a community/culture operating out of major "I'm such a powerless victim at the hands of the white man" mode and get them to take some responsibility and action on their own behalf wins some points in my book.

I've only watched Obama for a few minutes on T.V. I was impressed. He struck me as intelligent, thoughtful, genuine, idealistic, and practical, and not necessarily smooth-spoken. My impression so far is that Obama listens, rather than tells. And I think that is a rare kind of leadership, and the kind of leader our country's future requires. I'm willing to give him a chance before I make a final judgement. I hope he's the real deal. I don't need to agree with everything our next president stands for. I just want to know that the president is trying to listen and sort out and do what is best for the country, not what his ego demands. The George W. paternalistic, authoritarian mode of handling whatever comes our way simply isn't effective. I know you won't agree. And I know I haven't articulated what I'm trying to say well enough. A practical idealist myself, and a midwesterner to boot, I think Obama is the freshest option- i.e. non-plastic, non-pastuerized, non-homogenized politician the presidential campaign has to offer. And he's giving Hilary a run for her money, so who can argue with that.