What is it that the supposed Hillary supporters defecting to McCain do not like about Sen. Obama's candidacy? (Other than the fact that he is the presumptive nominee and Sen. Clinton is not?) Is Sen. McCain really perceived by them to be a better choice on the issues than is Sen. Obama? If they do exist, the supposed Hillary supporters defecting to McCain; would they be accepting of Obama supporters jumping to McCain if Sen. Clinton had won the nomination?

He can't figure out how to get away from the time Bush kissed him on the forehead....he is Bush III. If he runs based on his ability to continue the war in Iraq for 100 years or his suggestion that people facing foreclosure should get a second job or his health care....."plan"...he loses. If he tries to persuade people that his fix for energy (more tax cuts for the oil companies)....and, in the same breath, tries to say he is not Bush, it will make for great comedy.

I do feel that McCain's presidency, if elected, will be more of the same. It is not McCain's fault. He must sell the Bush presidency or he has no chance of willing the general election.

I like McCain. I respect McCain.

I just don't agree with his positions. I keep hearing that Obama has too little experience. This may be true.

Assuming this is the case, what about the super insider Dick Cheney. He had experience and he has all but distroyed the Bush legacy. We had Rumsfeld who was also a long time insider. He also was a bomb.

If Obama is smart, and I think he is, he will simply surround himself with influencial people that can help him run the country.

The biggest problem with Bush43 is that he surrounded himself with yes men (and women) and refused outside input.

The Bush43 admin is a classic examply of individuals with decades of experience who are still fighting the cold war. Their mentality was stuck in the sixties and the seventies. The world has changed but they didn't.

Obama might be a terrible President.

Obama might be a terrible president, but the truth is, we never know until after we've cast our vote. People think that Reagan was a great president, but he left us a lot of problems which some folks tend to ignore. He tripled the national debt in just 8 years. He withdrew from Beirut after 241 marines were killed, showing the terrorists that if enough of our guys were killed we'd run. He failed to retaliate against Iran for holding the hostages, instead he sold them weapons. He sold Saddam all that he needed for a WMD program.....

Clinton was a pretty good president, but he cared more about getting laid than he did the consequences. He did more damage by his personal sexual misbehavior than he could ever have imagined.....George W. Bush owes the election of 2000 to Clinton.

Obama is a smart guy with what seems to me to be pretty good judgement. McCain is a loyal American who would have followed his own values if he'd been elected in 2000, but now has sold the store to get elected in 2008. He was written too many checks that you and I will have to cash.

I am Hilary supporter - but I wont vote for John McCain or Barak Obama. McCain is too much of a hawk for me. Obama is, not quite an empty suit - just one that is not quite filled out. The Iraq war is a non issue for me. NO candidate can get us out in less than 4 years without destabilizing the middle east. I didnt think we shouldnt have started the warin Iraq- but I dont give Obama points for something the average skeptic saw right away. Of course, the Senate voted for it - they are politicians. So did Obama - once HE got to Washington. Perhaps a REAL gesture of reconciliation from the Obama camp might have helped. But Patti Solis-Doyle? The incompetent, arrogant woman who blew it for Hilary in Iowa? Obama must think Clinton supporters are stupid. The Solis-Boyle appointment only solidifies my defection from the Democratic party.

....empty suit than George W. Bush?

Obama is not an empty suit; and the fact that he doesn't have Washington D.C. experience speaks of the possibility that he might, successfully, try to do things differently and better.

I too regret the Congress' failure to just stop funding the war in Iraq. The only rationale I can come up with it that if Congress refused to fund the troops, the President would take the money from other sources, but, in his arrogance, would not remove the troops, no matter what.

To Irma;

The gist of your message is that you only care about personality issues, and public policies be damned. I suppose you think that's an intelligent reason to vote. In this American-Idol culture, no one seems to think we can do better. How about voting for Obama because his policy positions are very similar to Hillary's? Is that too much of a stretch for you?

So you sit home, as you probably did in other elections, and now you have a smokescreen to hide behind. Namely, you won't vote because the candidate you supported solely because of her gender didn't make it to her party's candidacy, so you'll show them, huh?

Well, if enough voters who ignore public policies stay home, like you, then John McCain will get elected because Obama couldn't get enough white votes to make it. And in the years, even decades ahead, when we're bogged down in Iraq for a century, and the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer, and the middle class keeps getting squeezed and only millionaires can afford medical care, well, you can sit there, preening, and tell yourself, "I made that possible!"

Way to go! You'll show 'em, won't you?

Voting against funding would have prevented deployment of the new mine resistant vehicles. It would have shorted equipement like body armor. Cutting off funding would not make it imperative for Bush to bring the troops home. It would have created a political situation that the republicans could exploit.

You think Obama is inexperienced but look at the experience of Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and tell me which of them had any relative experience to being president. For that matter, what has McCain done that would indicate the ability to lead the nation? He was the commanding officer of a small naval aviation group....he has participated in writing legislation, but the president doesn't do that....

The fact is that you need to take a hard look at the ability of Barak Obama to articulate a direction and take a flying guess at his ability to gather support for his positions.

Other than that his job will be to listen to the opinions of the experts and decide on policies. He is a smart guy. I don't think he'll ignore the advice of his cabinet....like Bush has done.

McCain just may have a crowd around him that, like Bush's bunch, is afraid of disagreeing with him.

I have voted since I was eligible beginning with Jimmy Carter.

I put a clothes pin over my nose and voted for Kerry so no, it is not just personality

that dictates my vote. I won't vote for John McCain - he doesnt want what I want.

Barak Obama has been a real dilemma. I have been greatly disturbed by a pattern

<><><>of dumping whatever he thinks is dragging him down (Wright, advisors etc) or running over whatever it is in his way ( apparently he used lawyers to get his opponents who happend to be African American OFF the ballot in Chicago). If little things like that make him sell out his friends and family what will he do when something big comes along ? The answer is clear - SELL OUT and then

<><><>use that Harvard education to try to explain it away. If he gets elected and doesnt mess everything up further then I will put a clothespin over my nose and probably will vote for his re-election. But , right now there is

<><><>nothing­ he says or does that motivate me to even considering voting for him this

<><><><>November.­ I wont even vote for him if Hillary is on the ticket. His campaign and followers have not treated her with respect in my opinion. They are still trashing her on the blogs even though she lost the nomination. Maybe she can forgive and forget - not me.

But Patti Solis-Doyle? The incompetent, arrogant woman who blew it for Hilary in Iowa?

If memory serves Hillary HIRED Solis-Doyle. She retained her services long after Iowa.

Obama must think Clinton supporters are stupid.

Perhaps Obama just thought Hillary was stupid to keep her?

Perhaps she is not incompetent - but was working for a flawed campaign and could not overcome the influence of Mark Penn?

Hillary HIRED him as well...didn't she?

Or did Obama FORCE her to retain their services - against her will?

I wont even vote for him if Hillary is on the ticket.

Because...

she is stupid?

venal?

self serving?

just another politician?

incapable of making an informed choice?

lacks good judgement?

kind of hard to support her later if you can't support or believe in her now.

sounds like your support was never based on belief in her policies or abilities - just personal adoration.

light some more candles with your villagers Irma and chant rise really loud...let's see what happens.