We want change and a new system, Go Forward America! The system is broke, the government don't work, D.C. sucks and old time politics are just that OLD. Forward March! What?! What the hell happened? What am I doing back in the 60's WITH one of the oldest established political family dynasty's ever?! You know, the family that lead a nation to great change, AFTER Marion Anderson sang at the Lincoln Memorial and Elenore Roosevelt quit the DAR over her, after Eisenhower desegregated the troops and Emmit Till was murdered after MLK put his body in the way of racism to lead that march on behalf of a dream that JFK and RFK shared both of them too briefly...that Johnson saw through and Ted Kennedy saw from the bottom of a bottle while Mary Jo Kopechne saw nothing ever again...That dynasty?...that has been sitting in congress and the senate since Chappaquiddick and living in and around the evil Beltway ever since too...

So what change are we talking about? It ain't the 60's folks. The overly educated, upper middle class white liberals who want a 60's do over with Obama, and all of you doe in the headlights young women under 30 who have not yet had to fight your way past charm in a career with a family, have just pushed me further Right.

After South Carolina, Hillary and her husband,have just about made it unconscionable for me to vote for her, but I don't trust Obama. Have any of you listened to him outside of a 30 minute oration? Granted the man is one of the most gifted public speakers I've ever heard and he is inspiring, but did anyone catch him backpedaling all on his own, without a Clinton in sight, over the Reagan bit, and Rezko on This Week with George Stephanopolis? Or, have you considered his 99 'present' votes on behalf of womens rights in the Chicago senate? If anyone had voted 'present' to forward the cause of civil rights in the 1960's the way he has voted 99 times, to protect and increase the rights of women, would he have accepted the 'strategic power' of a 'present' vote when it came to his equality and protection under the law? I really want to understand his appeal. I have read his website issues over and over. I've listened to the sound of his beautiful voice but I don't hear him. as a matter of fact I don't hear anything different, just honey spun rhetoric. Are we so swayed by celebrity that another chummy, smiling, friendly idea of a president is enough. I bet he would be fun to have a chilled flute of proseco with, but what of the memo handers, you know, all the folk who hand him the papers and memos he needs to be president, who are they? will they take the fall when he suddenly 'can't recall' ?

I would have had more respect for Obama and a different opinion of him, had he himself had a little faith and shown some hope, and asked the Kennedy Dynasty to hold off their endorsements till after SuperTuesday, that would have shown class, that would have been the competitor allowing his opponent to catch a breath before going into the fray. I'm not saying Hillary Clinton would've done the same, but had he, I would have believed in his grand illusions of change. As it is, with the annointed blessing from Camelot, a fairytale land, Barak Obama only proved that he's as phony as the rest of them and damn good at Old School Politics. Guess I have to check out Edwards again...

So how classy of the Clintons was it to lobby, beg, and harangue Ted Kennedy on the weekend not to endorse Barack Obama? Ted Kennedy knows the Clintons very well. This was as much a repudiation of the Clintons as it was an endorsement of Obama. But if you can't support Obama, please do check out Edwards again. In all likelihood, Edwards will be endorsing Obama after February 5.

I agree, if not Obama, then Edwards. I do hope that any Democratic administration has Edwards onboard. Personally, I'd love to see him as Attorney General and watch him clean up the Justice Department. It would be much better than seeing him as VP and may be getting relegated to the sidelines.

Maybe classy wasn't the right word...let's try high minded, different, new Washington, new kind of government... CHANGE Candidate etc. Isn't that what' he's preaching? I did write that after South Carolina, Hillary has made it just about unconscionable for me to vote for her...I want to know beyond his dulcet tones and amazing rhetoric who he is? When he speaks one on one I'm not so easily charmed, when his dialect changes to suit his audience I'm suspicious, being Southern, I hated Hillary butchering the accent, but when a Chicago raised, Harvard man shines it up and puts it on for show before a Southern Baptist church crowd, I hear not a peep and isn't that divisive? Where is his faith in who he is as an individual? I'm with Shelby Steele on this one I want the hope, not the hype, would the real Barak Obama please stand up? ...and just so ya know...I've been vigorously defending him against hate mongering idiots who quote that racist hate filled e-mail that keeps resurfacing...so when you've calmed down, I'd really like to know without recycling the rhetoric, why you support Barak Obama...this is your chance to sway a vote cuz right now I'm undecided.

If you've heard any of Barack Obama's major speeches and not said to yourself: "wait a minute, this guy is different" then go with Edwards. If Obama wasn't in the race, I would.

way to dodge a question, I can flip a coin too...let me ask it in another way...If I were deaf and couldn't hear the sound of his voice...if I could only read his words, what exactly is he saying that is literally so different from either Clinton or Edwards? I'm definitely swayed by the music just not the tune...and I am so tired of hype...that's why so many blue collar, Republicans chose Bush ...and we may not like it or agree with their reasons, but once you get passed the distaste of W, they believed in him, because he spoke their language. I voted against him twice, anguishing over the 2004 election, I need something more than a sirens call...maybe you have answered my question by echoing his airy words...

I have always admired the Kennedy clan for their obvious empathy for those of us who have never had and will never have a real piece of the pie, but I am personally shocked at the naivete of Senator Kennedy, who like me, has seen many presidential elections conducted with the same empty retoric of promised change. We have all so quickly forgotten that change is only possible if all 435 legislators are in line. Mr. Kennedy and Mr Obama, what Disney ride are you planning to take to achieve that? And what is more, what are you going to change us into?

What Barack Obama is saying that is different is that politics in the future doesn't have to be like politics in the past. When Obama talks about change he is talking about changing the way we view government, from "the" government to "our" government. That's the difference between a top-down government where monied interests call the shots to the bottom-up government that the founders of this country had in mind.

But you will notice that Barack Obama isn't talking about taking on the monied interests and returning power to the people. In fact, that is the hallmark of John Edwards campaign. And look where that kind of talk has gotten Edwards. A distant third place.

Obama is smart enough... no, he is wise enough to know that he can't take on the monied interests and return power to the people. No president can. More to the point, no president can by himself or herself.

Hillary Clinton's clumsy point that it took Lyndon Johnson to turn Martin Luther King Jr's grassroots civil rights movement into the Civil Rights Act is relevant here. MLK galvanized millions of people into believing that change was possible and into going into the streets and demanding that change. LBJ needed millions of people in the streets demanding change to convince Congress to make it happen.

Imagine if Lyndon Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr had been the same person. A person with MLK's grass roots organizing and oratory skills combined with LBJ's gift for winning legislators over to his point of view. That person would have been in the oval office and leading a grassroots movement to get millions of people into the streets demanding change.

Well, you can see where I'm going with this. Barack Hussein Obama is the person I have described. A messiah? No. A leader whose unique set of skills comes close to matching what the country needs at a critical time in its history? Yes. But as I said, Obama can't do it by himself. He knows this. Hence his campaign slogan "Yes, we can".

So you may ask: Yes we can what? Obama has answered: Yes we can change. So you ask: Yes we can change what? And the answer to that is: Yes, we can change whatever we want. Sounds outrageous? Sounds crazy?

In 1961 a lot of people thought that sending a man to the moon by 1969 sounded outrageous. That it sounded crazy. In 1961 America had yet to put a man into orbit. In 1961 half of all rockets launched blew up. In 1961 nobody had a clue how to send a man to the moon or even what problems would have to be solved to do it. Making the commitment to send a man to the moon by 1969 was an act of faith.

Faith. That's what it comes down to. My support for Barack Obama is an act of faith. Not faith in him. He is no messiah. No, it is faith in something else. Something I can't even describe. But I am a father and I know that bringing children into the world is also an act of faith. So I'll leave it at that. Faith.

Hm...over and over you profess faith, while denying Obama's messiah status. Doesn't quite fit. We have evidence that Obama is a great orator and crowd motivator. I see no basis for your assertion that he would be able to sway the Congress. Perhaps he can but for now that remains wishful thinking.....or as you put it, "faith".

Barack is a man of peace and unity. He really does not like to argue, distort or fight gutter politics, he is too decent a man for that. He is basically trustworthy though he has had some dealings with Rezko when he was young and dumb and the devil is always trying to bring you down. Basically, though, he is putting his life on the line, like so many, who dare to dream that American can be a better place for All.

Sounds like you know him as well as his own wife does......

According to this op-ed piece in the Washington Post, Obama created a record for himself in the Illinois legislature of being able to win enough respect from opposition leaders to get a bill passed. So yes, there is evidence that he can get things done, and doesn't merely talk a good game.

Does that help? Or is the issue really that you're looking for reasons not to support him? And, after the past eight years, does it ultimately matter: Clinton has broken my heart too many times for me to support her as a nominee in the primaries, but if she's the candidate (and with the superdelegates the Clintons appear to have lined up, she probably will be), she'll have my vote in November. You're not saying you won't support Obama if he is the candidate, are you?

As for Edwards: look, I'm a liberal North Carolinian, it's not going to be uncool or anything if he's nominated. But is there anyone who doesn't think Edwards' is "Dead Campaign Walking"? I suspect even Edwards knows it, and is only staying in to influence the debates and possibly have a stronger kingmaker role down the road.

"Does that help? Or is the issue really that you're looking for reasons not to support him?"

I look for reasons to not support all the candidates. Sounds like you are only looking for reasons to support one of them.

I don't know who I'll vote for in the primary but since I live in Ohio, and will be voting long after SuperTuesday I guess it doesn't matter that much. But I don't worry. In November my vote is likely to matter a lot.

That's an awful lot of verbiage to simply say that you don't like Obama and would never vote for him.

Now that you've been "pushed further to the right", you "guess you'll have to check out Edwards again"?

I have a hard time taking you seriously. I suspect that you are simply upset that Fred Thompson has dropped out of the race.

I'm glad I'm not the only one waiting for Obama to say anything substansial...outside of his age, I see nothing Kennedy-esque about him. Eight or ten years from now he may have the experience I feel is required to lead this nation..but now we have a HUGE mess to clean up, and we don't have time for on the job training. Hillary is best qualified, hands down. What I'm really afraid of is either one of them may hand the Presidency to McCain or (God help us) Romney. (Shudder)