I am not voting for Obama because I see no merit in him other than the color of his skin

I am not voting for Obama because he is himself ashamed to admit the truth about his parentage and faith, Instead he falsely claims that his mother raised him as buddhist + christian+. what not
http://www.stop-obama.org/?p=617#more-617

I am not voting for Obama because he is a shameless liar who claimed his uncle was a part of troops that liberated jews at Auswitch WW-II
http://www.stop-obama.org/?p=620#more-620

I am not voting for Obama because he will leave Iraqis to the Iranian mollas and have US troops killed in Afghanistan instead. He doesnt have a clue !
http://www.stop-obama.org/?p=619#more-619

I am not noting for someone just because he looks different than the average American.

Period

Papamoka, thanks for your excellent essay. I agree with it for the most part.

I would add that I voted for Obama to show knuckleheads like Xerses above who can't tell the difference between truth and lies that real people can.

Yeah....a website called "Stop-Obama.org" sounds like a REALLY non-biased source.......

However, Papamoka, I must contest with your "all you have to have is a Democrat next to your name and you have my vote" method of casting your ballot. To be fair, there are democrats that are screwing up this county just as much as republicans are. In fact, it stands to reason that it was actually largely democrats that helped bring about our economic crisis to begin with.
If you've been listening to the rhetoric on both sides of the table, Obama and McCain both agree that it's important right now for our country to be engaging the democrats as well as the republicans in a collaborative effort to save this country. Not ONE party is right.

This country has bounced back and forth between the two parties in the second half of the 20th century, unable to decide which party is best for our future. We have been closely divided.

But recent voter registration numbers have shown a decided lean leftwards, and other indicators agree that the very influential right wing of the Republican Party is actually a bit more influential than raw numbers would suggest.

I still feel that should McCain lose (and it is looking more like he will) the Republican Party is going to be facing a crisis that it hasn't faced in over a century. More and more Americans are "in the center" politically, as is proven by the fact that neither Party can, by the votes of it's own members, elect a President. Without the support of the center independents, no election can be won.

This situation just BEGS for a three party system! The extreme wings of both parties are out of touch with the mainstream American people. The right cannot let go of their religiously based visions and love affair with the rich, and the far left cannot quite reconcile themselves with the failure of socialism and their idealistic notions of the goodness of man.

In the meantime, this unreconciled war between two extreme political factions has tied this country into knots that prevent us from solving some of the very real problems we are faced with.

It is time we begin finding a way to stop this insane pendulum between two extremes, and start finding our way up the middle where we belong.

Partisan wrangling between these two extremes is the cause, and until we relegate them to the wings where they belong, we aren't going to get anywhere as a nation.

What a beautiful essay, Papamoka. Faith comes shining through. Today I heard on NPR an interviewer ask a black commentator for his own reaction. The man sang two lines of "Amazing Grace" in heartfelt and ringing tones, before dropping down to a speaking voice to conclude with: It's grace that's kept us safe thus far, and grace will lead us home. It was rather a shock from such a stern and self-contained man, but the power of his emotions just blazed. And he certainly did powerfully convey his sentiments.

Well, Xerses, it's hard to figure out what to say to all that. I wonder if you realize that things like sound rather delusional. Obama fully discussed his parentage, in fact, he wrote an entire book about it. Check it out. If you watched the DNC, you would have seen the actual uncle in question presented to the crowd along with his military honors. That didn't qualify as liberating jews? His service isn't good enough for you? All your "evidence" is from the same unreputable source.

Obama, I suspect, is one of the most clue-full Presidents we've ever elected. Furthermore, he has demonstrated the abiiity to develop an innovative and effective political campaign. Let's keep an open mind until we see how he decides to bring us change. Could be the best thing we've ever seen.

I reluctantly voted for McCain in the election but i have to say that i'm not sorry, nor surprised, that he lost. The voters have spoken and they just didn't feel that he was the right man at the right time.
I wish Obama the very best and hope he turns out to be the kind of leader we're all hoping he'll be. I'm a bit pessimistic on the constitutional front, as most modern presidents seem to consider that document to be on a par with toilet paper, but maybe he'll be good on other things. At least Bush will be gone.

If Obama gets the Patriot Act repealed, stops the illegal wiretap programs and reins in the illegal Customs inspections of personal electronic equipment, he'll go a loong way towards repudiating your allegation concerning modern Presidents, cou. At least those are my least case hopes for him.

But you deserve much credit for your graceful concession. I hope Obama also carries out his promises to be an inclusive political dealer.

Thanks R. I was shocked to learn that Obama actually took Virginia and North Carolina. This means he is the first non-Southern Dem candidate to take a Southern state in 40 years and the first successful non-Southern Dem to take any part of the South since FDR.

Yeah, he DID change the political landscape, didn't he? Or perhaps, as one pundit on CNN said, illustrated the change we hadn't yet seen.

You might work on an essay examining the state of the Republican Party. In my eyes, it has been fragmenting and coming apart at the seams for a while now. It has not only lost it's way, but it isn't clear whether any of them have realized just how much this election shows they have lost their way.

It has become a party of the fringe. The far right wing religionists have too much power for their numbers, the economic conservatives have been shown to be idiots, the fiscal conservatives have betrayed their core principles - so what's left? A loyalty to big business? THAT got shot down in flames Tuesday!

I'd say they need to take a loong hard look at themselves and what they REALLY stand for, and then look at how unpopular those ideals are in this country just now.

Perhaps instead of trying to figure out ways to convince the rest of us to change our minds, they should begin bringing their own thoughts in line with reality - then maybe they can think about winning an election or two!!

I made a mistake. Forgot that Kennedy won some southern states, although it is still not entirely clear whether he actually won.