Barack Obama eyes White House bid

[run_fly]

Barack Obama in my opinion a very educated and conscious Illinois senator is running for 2008 Democratic presidential race.

check out his website and listen to his podcast to see for yourself...

Barack Obama - U.S. Senator for Illinois

[Dave Kaminski]

I like him too! We have his book. I loved what he did for the Bears game though, that was hilarious. Did anyone see that commercial?

[Matthew Shea]

He certainly knows how to talk a good game, but there seems to be no substance behind his words. If he does get elected, I expect he'll make his decisions based on public opinion polls the way Clinton did. I'm not saying that's good or bad, but it's what I would expect. Perhaps it might be beneficial to have someone who respects public opinion more than our current president.

[youcould2]

Checking in on what the people want and following up on it would be most refreshing. (Isn't that what they're supposed to do?)

Shanti,

Ron

[alexb5784]

I like him and I think he could be great for America, but I don't think he will be elected. What America needs right now is someone who is serious about doing something about the war AND has the image of a serious problem solver. Obama, seems too soft. He just looks too nice. He could be great in peaceful times, but not right now. I've seen his campaigns on television, and they look too cute.

Now Romney, could be great. Granted, I'm a Republican and I live in Boston where he was Governor. But from what I've seen him do, he's amazing.
He balanced the state budget every year of his administration, closing a $3 billion budget deficit his first year in office. Romney also helped the state achieve a surplus that currently totals nearly $1 billion. Unfortunately, now we have a governor who plans to spend it all. But he does plan on spending the money and raising taxes for good reasons, you know like maybe making gambling legal. Please

You don't have to agree with me, but that's my 2cents.

PS: If Obama were to debate with Hillary Clinton, she would chew him up like a piece of bubble gum. She's ruthless! Heck, even I'm scared of her

[alexb5784]

One thing I can say that he does have going for him, is a sqeaky clean record. It will be hard to taint his image. I think he is the new JFK for the Democrats and the media loves him.

But can he really solve our problems or just charm us to death? Even John Edwards learnt that it ain't enough to be a "Sunshine Boy" in order to win the election.

[Amadeus]

I'm sorry, but why is the conversation even coming up about Obama being president? If he were not black would he even be considered? What has the man done? Where is the record? You may say that he has a "clean" record, but how can he if he doesn't even have a record to be clean? JFK was a young president, but he had a great deal more experience when he ran for president than Obama.

[da1prophet]

Originally Posted by alexb5784

Now Romney, could be great. Granted, I'm a Republican and I live in Boston where he was Governor. But from what I've seen him do, he's amazing.
He balanced the state budget every year of his administration, closing a $3 billion budget deficit his first year in office. Romney also helped the state achieve a surplus that currently totals nearly $1 billion. Unfortunately, now we have a governor who plans to spend it all. But he does plan on spending the money and raising taxes for good reasons, you know like maybe making gambling legal. Please

(

The nice thing about Romney is that if you don't agree with him today there's a good chance he'll say something completely different tomorrow depending on his audience and political needs at the moment...

From the REASON Magazine weblog, on a National Review article apologizing for Romney's frequent flip-flops. Italicized quotes are from the NR, plain text quotes are the REASON comments.....:

The editors of National Review, who in about a year will probably suck it up and endorse Giuliani, semi-quasi-defend flip-flopping prez candidate Mitt Romney today in a classic of political back-scratching.

[T]he gleeful pounding away at Romney’s changes from some on the right is counterproductive. Do any of these critics really wish that Romney had remained pro-choice? Pro-choicers didn’t object when Al Gore, Dick Gephardt, and Jesse Jackson moved their way on abortion — they welcomed the converts.

Yes, this is a real problem with the modern GOP: its refusal to act more like 1980s Democrats.

A conservative Republican would be unelectable in liberal Massachusetts, so it is understandable that such a badly outnumbered politician would emphasize some issues and soft-pedal others. It is natural that he might say he is personally pro-life, but would not try to change laws in Massachusetts;

This is not what he said. He said: "I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I have since the time my mother took that position in 1970 as a U.S. Senate candidate."

that he would oppose same-sex marriage, but otherwise promote gay rights; even that he would duck the Reaganite label.

Reagan won Massachusetts twice. Romney only won it once.

There's theoretically nothing wrong with political conversions: If Joe Lieberman made an America for Lieberman presidential bid and decided to become anti-war, anti-censorship, and pro-privatization, he might become worth voting for. But there's a difference between a road to Damascus experience and a cowardly flip-flop. Romney doesn't take many trips to Damascus.

Full story here:

Reason Magazine - Hit & Run > Matinee Mitt