2008 Presidential Elections

[Backstop]

Can McCain beat an Obama/Clinton?

Man, I really hope so.

[Jag]

Hold on to your hat Backstop, the fun has just begun....It's been all over the net today about a video of Michele Obama and her "whitey speech" and it's due out tomorrow. This could get real interesting now and I hope it blows him and his chances out of the water, so to speak, remember those 'super delegates' has the right to change there votes upto and during the convention.

Jag

[Ryan Ruck]

When I heard about the video possibilities, I came up with these...

[Toad]

I thought that video was vetted out as a hoax? She was saying "Why me" and through poor audio it kinda sounded like "whitey"... ?

I guess we'll let the video speak for itself.

[Brian Baldwin]

I don't know if the video is a hoax or not but, as one that understands strategy, I don't see a good reason to release this video until the time it can do the most damage. First they'd need Hussein to actually be nominated which won't happen until the convention officially. Then they need to keep in mind that people have short memories and release it around October. Late September at the earliest.

Meanwhile McCain needs to appeal to the pissed off women that supported Clinton, the undecideds and the latino vote (not the illegals but you know where it goes from there), Once he has as many of those as he can get and the time is close then his camp or whomever has the video should release it.

The transcript supposedly uses the term whitey quite clear right before she begins saying "why'd he". To be honest a video of just her being cozy with Farakhan is likely enough to damage Obama for those already teetering. Those that faint at his mere presence would likely find a way to explain away a video of him eating babies though, so it's really only needed to bring across those that are undecided.

[Toad]

I agree about your point of release. Release it now and it'll be old news and defused by election. Piss poor timing if they are really serious about effect.

[Aplomb]

It's now between Obama and McCain. Hillary bailed. I think McCain can win this.

[Backstop]

I hope you're right, Aplomb.

Almost everyone I work with is a die-hard Dem. And it seems like about half of them say they will not vote for Obama. And about half of that subset say they'll vote for McCain, while the other half says they will not vote at all.

Dare I actually feel just a tiny bit optimistic...?

[Brian Baldwin]

If Hillary decides to run third party it shouldn't be an issue but if she takes the VP slot with Obama then it could be a very tight race. Until recently I never believed that Americans were so stupid as to actually put a leftist nut into office outside of San Fran area, but now I'm not so sure. They've become so rabidly fanatical that they often are caught on video hurting kids that wear G.O.P clothing or hold signs. I always post those stories when I find them so I'm sure some of you have a read a few.

Our country has gone so far down the tubes I can't help but think we're almost at the end. McCain may not be a Republican's dream candidate but he's not Obama either. I'll vote for him to stop the bleeding then work a lot harder to repair the body.

[Brian Baldwin]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028200/posts

Jemaah Islamiyah For Obama

Jemaah islamiyah, a indonesian terror group, is responsible for numemous murders of Christians and the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people, among them several australian tourists.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/commu...amiyahforobama This is for real people. Backed by terrorists.

[Ryan Ruck]

You know... If I were a rich man, I'd pay for commercial spots for these groups like Hamas and Jemaah Islamiyah to run their support commercials for Obama.

[Aplomb]

Well, It's Obama for that big "change", you know. ...and so that's all changed. lol.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpu...un-endors.html

Hamas Un-'Endorses' Obama

June 04, 2008 9:37 PM


Sen. Barack Obama's speech to AIPAC has convinced Hamas that he and Sen. John McCain are interchangeable. If the group had its druthers, neither one would win.


"Obama’s comments have confirmed that there will be no change in the U.S. administration’s foreign policy on the Arab-Israeli conflict," Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters in Gaza.


"The Democratic and Republican parties support totally the Israeli occupation at the expense of the interests and rights of Arabs and Palestinians," he said. "Hamas does not differentiate between the two presidential candidates, Obama and McCain, because their policies regarding the Arab-Israel conflict are the same and are hostile to us, therefore we do have no preference and are not wishing for either of them to win."

People say the man is charismatic, and although I don't think so, that may be. But what is sure to put those nails into his casket is that "change" he does depending upon which audience he performs for. Initially, it may be a big plus to have such an attraction in words of appeasement, but in the end it will prove to be his doom. I think that is why some that wanted Hillary are already considering voting for McCain. Who can guess what the man stands for today, and what that may mean tomorrow, or next week? Because that isn't what he said yesterday. That's my 2 cents worth.

[Backstop]

This is but another example of the Dems and Obama Yo Mama taking the American public for idiots.

I just wish I could teach some of the Dems I know to read.

The last paragraph cracks me up.

http://web.israelinsider.com/Article...tics/12918.htm

Malik Obama confirms his half-brother Barack grew up a Muslim
By Israel Insider staff June 13, 2008


Caption: Malik holds a photo of Obama and him in Muslim dress, reportedly when the two first met in 1985

Apparently the Obamas of Kenya have been reading those scurrilous emails to which Barack likes to refer, because they have no doubt -- contrary to the claims of the Obama campaign, that the presidential candidate was raised a Moslem. They take that as a given.

As the Jerusalem Post reports, "Barack Obama's half brother Malik said Thursday that if elected his brother will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background. In an interview with Army Radio he expressed a special salutation from the Obamas of Kenya."

The Obama brothers' father, a senior economist for the Kenyan government who studied at Harvard University, died in car crash in 1982. He left six sons and a daughter. All of his children - except Malik -- live in Britain or the United States. Malik and Barack met in 1985.

In a remarkable denial issued last November that still stands on the official campaign website, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs issued a statement explaining that "Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised as a Muslim, and is a committed Christian."

Apparently Malik Obama, himself a Muslim, had not read the press release.

Melanie Phillips is the most recent commentator to draw attention to the massive body of evidence that leaves no doubt that Barak Hussein Obama was born a Muslim (Islam is patrilineal) and raised a Muslim (so registered in school, acknowledging attending Islamic classes, reported accompanying his step-father to the mosque, and able to recite the Koran in the original Arabic).

Reuven Koret, Aaron Klein and Daniel Pipes have previously pointed to the attempts by Obama and his campaign to conceal the candidate's Muslim background. The well documented evidence draws upon the on-the-ground interviews by researchers in Indonesia and Kenya, published quotations of Obama's childhood friends and his school records, as well as the candidate's own autobiography.

It is not clear whether Barack Obama will now disown his half-brother Malik, or throw him under the campaign bus, for acknowledging that shared family background. In any case, some one should notify "Fight the Smear" tout de suite. Perhaps they can get him with the program.

[Ryan Ruck]

Barack and Frank

Publisher's note: This article on the relationship between Barack Obama and communist Frank Marshall Davis should have noted that this was brought to light in February by Cliff Kincaid, editor of Accuracy in Media and president of America's Survival, Inc., citing a post on the Gerald Horne speech by New Zealand blogger Trevor Loudon. Kincaid has published two major reports on Obama's communist connections in Hawaii and Chicago at www.usasurvival.org. Loudon participated in the May 22, 2008, news briefing where the reports were released.

Over the past months I have written on the subject of Senator Barack Obama's unsavory associations throughout his life. To my consternation I am very disappointed in how the mainstream media continually has to be dragged kicking and screaming into looking into the Senator's background. Even then, they might touch on it briefly and then recoil away as though forced to touch the dead; they jerk away quickly and then do their best to not allow it to be brought up again. If the issue is broached to them, they essentially say, we have dealt with that already. Hardly a satisfactory answer to issues barely examined. It is very fair to say that any Republican with so many skeletons would have been driven from the political stage by wall-to-wall coverage dealing with the sorts of issues and people we find in Obama's life. Yet the overwhelming awkward silence from the press says volumes about liberal bias and what almost appears to be a conspiracy to assure the outcome of the November elections by ignoring these various things, which so clearly disqualify this man from holding high office.

We have covered Weather Underground terrorist William Ayers, who made bombs used to attack the Pentagon. We have touched on slumlord Tony Rezko, who helped Obama obtain his home in suburban Chicago for dimes on the dollar. Rashid Khalidi with shadowy connections to Hamas and other radical Palestinians has also been discussed on these pages. Today I want to discuss a man whom Obama has alluded to in his book Dreams of my Father, his friend Frank. Frank appears in Obama's writings as a mentor or as a surrogate father figure. I found it odd that Obama only used a first name when speaking of Frank. It was pretty clear the man he wrote of had passed away. Usually using only a first name indicates the person is alive and there was a desire to protect the person's identity. However, in the case of the dead, there is no concern for the person's privacy. They are certainly not going to be harassed in the afterlife. No, the reason for hiding the identity was to protect Obama, because there is something that was controversial, and in this case, inconvenient about his mentor Frank—his affiliation with the Communist Party USA. You see, research has revealed who Frank really was.

In March 2007, Gerald Horne spoke before the CP USA at the Tamiment Library at New York University. In that address, he exposed that Frank was indeed Frank Marshall Davis. His address was later published as "Rethinking the History and Future of the Communist Party." Within the text this will be found:

...an African-American poet and journalist by the name of Frank Marshall Davis, who was certainly in the orbit of the CP – if not a member – and who was born in Kansas and spent a good deal of his adult life in Chicago, before decamping to Honolulu in 1948 at the suggestion of his good friend Paul Robeson. Eventually, he befriended another family – a Euro-American family – that had migrated to Honolulu from Kansas and a young woman from this family eventually had a child with a young student from Kenya East Africa who goes by the name of Barack Obama, who retracing the steps of Davis eventually decamped to Chicago. In his best selling memoir 'Dreams of my Father', the author speaks warmly of an older black poet, he identifies simply as "Frank" as being a decisive influence in helping him to find his present identity as an African-American, a people who have been the least anticommunist and the most left-leaning of any constituency in this nation...

So while a bit confused about Davis' status within the Communist Party, it is clear Horne knew this was the Frank of whom Obama was speaking. Is it then any wonder why the Communist Party USA views Obama as it's spiritual heir?

Davis was a fairly notorious black communist poet who counted his contemporaries as individuals like Paul Robeson, Richard Wright and Langston Hughes. It was this man whom Barack Obama befriended as a teenager living in Hawaii. Davis would read his poetry to Obama and give him advice on life. It is not surprising with this in mind that we so often hear tints of Marxism in the speeches of Obama, for he learned the ideology and language of it from one of the artists who spun it into a web that seduced so many into embracing this philosophy, one responsible for the deaths of millions all over the world.

Sitting at the feet of Davis, Obama would have heard not only his more famous published works but also some of the bile-filled material attacking American culture that found no audience and thus was not published until made public by Kathryn Waddell Takara after the death of Davis in 1987.

One week in the country
"And the navy wife phones her landlord:
"Across the street
Lives a bunch of dirty Hawaiians;
Next door on our right
A family of lousy Japs;
On the other side
A house full of slant-eyed Chinks;
And in front of us
On our very same lot
A white bitch married to a nigger??
I want our rent money back.""

And these comments on the colonization of Hawaii.

"Now that it was uncivilized
To kill by spear or club
Guns became a symbol of progress...

The missionaries came with Bibles
The heathen natives had the land
Now the natives are no longer heathen,
They have the Bible and Jesus
and in this equitable trade ??
This oh so reasonable swap
The missionaries got the land. . . ."

These "poems" are a fair representation of the sort of work Davis did. He was obsessed with race issues. He sought to complain about American culture, religion, imperialism, consumerism and capitalism. He embraced the Marxist views of the universal community that transcended national boundaries and, of course, wanted equal distribution of the wealth—never mind incentive or who had worked for a better standard of living. Such trivialities do not interest Marxists. Sadly this took hold in a young and impressionable mind. We hear the echoes of Davis in the words of Obama. In April while debating Hillary Clinton this exchange between Charlie Gibson and Obama took place.

GIBSON: All right. You have, however, said you would favor an increase in the capital gains tax. As a matter of fact, you said on CNBC, and I quote, "I certainly would not go above what existed under Bill Clinton," which was 28 percent. It's now 15 percent.

That's almost a doubling, if you went to 28 percent. But actually, Bill Clinton, in 1997, signed legislation that dropped the capital gains tax to 20 percent.

OBAMA: Right.

GIBSON: And George Bush has taken it down to 15 percent.

OBAMA: Right.

GIBSON: And in each instance, when the rate dropped, revenues from the tax increased; the government took in more money. And in the 1980s, when the tax was increased to 28 percent, the revenues went down.

So why raise it at all, especially given the fact that 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected?

OBAMA: Well, Charlie, what I've said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness.

Clearly this exchange shows Obama's thinking makes a distinctive disconnect; he does not view the issue of taxation as one that brings in revenue for the government so it can be able to operate. He views it as a method of punishing achievement and a retribution for daring to try to become the bourgeois.

Moreover, In late May, before a crowd of 75,000 supporters, Obama told the crowd: "We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK."

Here the Senator who would be president shows his disdain for the standard of living we Americans enjoy. It makes clear his path would lead us back to Jimmy Carter's misery index, a life of denial and rationing where none is needed. I would like to point out to Obama and his like-minded friends that the United States has enjoyed this type of life because of freedom and capitalism. Those nations in the world who have embraced these two concepts also have high standards of living. Those nations who have embraced Marx and his failed theories have suffered for it. One need not go any further than look at what has become of Cuba. Once a beautiful nation, it is an economic basket case. The old Soviet Union, gone now, no longer is a place where life is filled with drudgery. In fact, the standard of living for many in the new Russia is very lavish. China, while still clinging to the title of a communist state, has in fact been a capitalist state for years. It has a growing middle class and the lifestyle of the people is improving, although the Communist Party still keeps a tight lid on political freedom. One of the problems we face now in the U.S. is the rising price of oil; part of this is due to the fact China and India have growing middle classes that now own cars and need that oil too. So while Senator Obama decries our way of life, what the rest of the world needs to do to live better—like us in the United States—is to embrace freedom and capitalism. Sadly, many in our country have been brainwashed over the years to reject the very things that made America unique and special. They have become blind to the blessings our liberty and free markets have brought us. Senator Obama is firmly in this group.

It should be obvious to those who are thinking clearly that there is an emerging pattern that is most troubling. Senator Obama has sought out some disturbing individuals as allies during his life. He admits his flirtations with Marxists in his books, and it become self-evident with every public speaking engagement he makes that his rhetoric embraces views that are the antithesis of the principles of those who founded this nation. If Barack Obama becomes president he will leave an indelible stain on the American fabric. He is likely to appoint two U.S. Supreme Court justices in the first four years of his presidency. Can you imagine, from what you know of the man, the kind of people he would appoint to the high court? The damage that could be done by this man in just four years is incalculable. What if China decides he is weak and therefore they risk an invasion of Taiwan, assuming Obama, as commander in chief, would do nothing?

I know many are unhappy with Senator John McCain. I am too. However, it is clear the Democrats will make Barack Obama their candidate. We as a nation cannot afford to have a man with his views and convictions as President. I know several people who are considering voting for Bob Barr and the Libertarians. I know others who are thinking of Alan Keyes and the Constitution Party. Still others contemplate sitting this election out. My friends, I implore you to not take any of those rash actions. I will be the first to say I disagree with Senator McCain about a third of the time. Listening to him speak on issues like global warming—which I view as bunk—or on the issue of defending gun rights—where he falls dreadfully short—I become angry too. The man is not a true conservative in the sense that Ronald Reagan was. However, despite these issues of disagreement, I think that we have no choice but to rally behind Senator McCain to save the country from Senator Obama. I hope you will take my words to heart. But I also will ask you to do something on your own. I want you to go and research William Ayers, Frank Marshall Davis and Senator Obama's other friends. Space does not permit me to go into the detail with which I would like to pursue these issues. Yet if you do this research and then after fully absorbing what horrible people these men are or were, I want you to then contemplate what sort of person would seek them out to further his ambitions. Consider the sort of man who would think a Weather Underground bomb maker is the kind of friend you would want, the kind of man who would reminisce on his youthful friendship with an America-hating communist and call him his mentor and then record it carefully (while obscuring his true identity) in a book about his life.

My friends, I concluded long ago that the United States of America cannot afford to let Barack Obama become president. I will devote my time and energy in trying to convince as many people as possible to join this effort to save our country. I hope that talk show hosts like Neal Boortz, who along with Sean Hannity spearheaded the effort to get the name of William Ayers and his history before our fellow citizens, can be counted on to come forward and help spread the news about Barack and Frank. I pray that you too can be counted on to spread the word and do your part in November to save America.

[Ryan Ruck]

Duncan Hunter, Jim Ryun support McCain

Despite some differences in political opinions, former presidential hopeful Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said he will support John McCain in the election.

The presidential election was among the topics when Hunter spoke Saturday at Kaw Valley State Bank in Wamego in support of former Rep. Jim Ryun's bid for the 2nd District

The conservative Hunter, who has been a strong supporter for establishing a physical fence line to the country's southern border, initially endorsed Mike Huckabee but said he called McCain to give his endorsement after the Arizona senator secured the nomination.

"McCain has committed to the fence," Hunter said. "John will keep his word."

In February, a list of McCain supporters in Kansas was topped by former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker and followed by Sen. Sam Brownback.

The conservative Ryun is backing McCain as well.

"I'll give him my support," Ryun said. "He's on the top of the ticket."

Ryun faces state Treasurer Lynn Jenkins for the Republican nomination. The winner will face incumbent Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kan., in the general election.

I'm a little disappointed in Duncan Hunter. I would have preferred if he would have just kept to himself rather than coming out and openly supporting McCain. But, I suppose if he wants any chance to get party support in a bid for California governor or senator (as is rumored he is looking at) then I guess he has to play the party game.

[Ryan Ruck]

Tennessee Democrat Worries Obama May Have Terrorist Connections

Barack Obama’s ‘don’t smear me‘ campaign may have to go into overdrive. Even fellow Democrat Party members have their doubts about his candidacy. A Tennessee Democrat is suspicious that Obama may have connections to the terrorists. Not good news for Barry.

From The City Paper:

The rise of Sen. Barack Obama, to become the Democrats’ presidential nominee has put most of his party’s faithful on his bandwagon — but not Lincoln Davis, a rural Tennessee Congressman with gubernatorial ambitions.

Davis (D-Pall Mall) is not yet endorsing the presumptive nominee in Obama, saying he’ll wait until the late August Democratic Party national convention.

In Davis’ sprawling 4th Congressional District — which ranges from as far west as Hickman County to as far east as the upper Cumberland Plateau — less than a quarter of Democrats in the largely rural district voted for Obama, the nation’s first African-American presidential candidate nominated by a major party, in Tennessee’s presidential primary.

Davis, a rural white Congressman, represents two-dozen counties — 21 in their entirety and three in part — including Williamson’s southwestern corner.

In February’s Tennessee Democratic primary, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) won 23 of those 24 counties, garnering 68 percent of the vote compared to Obama’s 23 percent. Obama won only Williamson County.

When examining the 21 counties resting entirely within Davis’ district, Clinton’s numbers rise from 68 percent to winning 73 percent of the vote. Obama won a meager 18 percent.
…
A Democrat Executive committee member speculates about Barack’s Connections:

Fred Hobbs, a state Democratic Party Executive Committee member representing part of Davis’ district, said he understands why Davis is not endorsing Obama and is “skeptical” of the Illinois senator himself.

“Maybe [it’s] the same reason I don’t want to — I don’t exactly approve of a lot of the things he stands for and I’m not sure we know enough about him,” Hobbs said when asked why he thought Davis wasn’t endorsing Obama. “He’s got some bad connections, and he may be terrorist connected for all I can tell. It sounds kind of like he may be.”

Davis was not made available for comment.

His chief of staff, Beecher Frasier, said he doesn’t know for sure if Obama is “terrorist connected” but he assumes he’s not.

This hints that many more Democrats may have reservations about Barack Hussein Obama. His half brother, Malik Obama, confirmed that Barack was raised as a Muslim. The Obama camp says that is completely untrue and that he was Christian out of the womb. Confirmation of that might be disclosure of his birth certificate.

[Ryan Ruck]

McCain: It Can Be "Tough" To Be Proud Of USA

Republican presidential candidate John McCain admitted on Saturday it can be difficult at times to be proud of the United States.

"I'll admit to you … that it's tough in some respects," McCain said when asked by a questioner at a town hall meeting how to be proud of the country.

"We have not always done things right and we mismanaged the war in Iraq very badly for nearly four years."

McCain's wife, Cindy, pounced on Michelle Obama, the wife of presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama, for saying in February that she was proud of her country "for the first time in my adult life."

The Arizona senator said it was important for the United States to be more humble and inclusive.

"I think we can be proud of America because of what we've achieved and accomplished in this world," he said.

"What we have to do is tell our friends around the world that we will be proud of America because of what we're going to do."

No John, it isn't. Tough to be proud of those who are trying to run America into the ground, absolutely. And you by extension by constantly allying with those people.

[Ryan Ruck]

Is Obama's Great Seal Illegal?

Did Obama break the law?

18 USC Sec. 713 ...
(a) Whoever knowingly displays any printed or other likeness of the great seal of the United States, or of the seals of the President or the Vice President of the United States, or the seal of the United States Senate, or the seal of the United States House of Representatives, or the seal of the United States Congress, or any facsimile thereof, in, or in connection with, any advertisement, poster, circular, book, pamphlet, or other publication, public meeting, play, motion picture, telecast, or other production, or on any building, monument, or stationery, for the purpose of conveying, or in a manner reasonably calculated to convey, a false impression of sponsorship or approval by the Government of the United States or by any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

(b) Whoever, except as authorized under regulations promulgated by the President and published in the Federal Register, knowingly manufactures, reproduces, sells, or purchases for resale, either separately or appended to any article manufactured or sold, any likeness of the seals of the President or Vice President, or any substantial part thereof, except for manufacture or sale of the article for the official use of the Government of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

Bummer. The Great Seal of Barack would have made for a, like, totally fierce and rad lapel pin.

[Ryan Ruck]

I had to edit the title to make it more accurate…

(Some) Black Conservatives Conflicted On Obama Campaign

Black conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams has never voted for a Democrat for president. That could change this year with Barack Obama as the Democratic Party's nominee.

"I don't necessarily like his policies; I don't like much that he advocates, but for the first time in my life, history thrusts me to really seriously think about it," Williams said. "I can honestly say I have no idea who I'm going to pull that lever for in November. And to me, that's incredible."

Just as Obama has touched black Democratic voters, he has engendered conflicting emotions among black Republicans. They revel over the possibility of a black president but wrestle with the thought that the Illinois senator doesn't sit beside them ideologically.

"Among black conservatives," Williams said, "they tell me privately, it would be very hard to vote against him in November."

Perhaps sensing the possibility of such a shift, Republican presidential candidate John McCain has made some efforts to lure black voters. He recently told Essence magazine that he would attend the NAACP's annual convention next month, and he noted that he recently traveled to Selma, Ala., scene of seminal voting rights protests in the 1960s, and "talked about the need to include 'forgotten Americans.'"

Still, the Arizona senator has a tall order in winning black votes, no doubt made taller by running against a black opponent. In 2004, blacks chose Democrat John Kerry over President Bush by an 88 percent to 11 percent margin, according to exit polls.

J.C. Watts, a former Oklahoma congressman who once was part of the GOP House leadership, said he's thinking of voting for Obama. Watts said he's still a Republican, but he criticizes his party for neglecting the black community. Black Republicans, he said, have to concede that while they might not agree with Democrats on issues, at least that party reaches out to them.

"And Obama highlights that even more," Watts said, adding that he expects Obama to take on issues such as poverty and urban policy. "Republicans often seem indifferent to those things."

Likewise, retired Gen. Colin Powell, who became the country's first black secretary of state under President George W. Bush, said both candidates are qualified and that he will not necessarily vote for the Republican.

"I will vote for the individual I think that brings the best set of tools to the problems of 21st-century America and the 21st-century world regardless of party, regardless of anything else other than the most qualified candidate," Powell said Thursday in Vancouver in comments reported by The Globe and Mail in Toronto.

Writer and actor Joseph C. Phillips got so excited about Obama earlier this year that he started calling himself an "Obamacan" — Obama Republican. Phillips, who appeared on "The Cosby Show" as Denise Huxtable's husband, Navy Lt. Martin Kendall, said he has wavered since, but he is still thinking about voting for Obama.

"I am wondering if this is the time where we get over the hump, where an Obama victory will finally, at long last, move us beyond some of the old conversations about race," Phillips said. "That possibly, just possibly, this great country can finally be forgiven for its original sin, or find some absolution."

Yet Phillips, author of the book "He Talk Like a White Boy," realizes the irony of voting for a candidate based on race to get beyond race.

"We have to not judge him based on his race, but on his desirability as a political candidate," he said. "And based on that, I have a lot of disagreements with him on a lot of issues. I go back and forth."

Michael Steele, the Republican former lieutenant governor of Maryland who lost a Senate race there in 2006, said he is proud of Obama as a black man, but that "come November, I will do everything in my power to defeat him." Electing Obama, he said, would not automatically solve the woes of the black community.

"I think people who try to put this sort of messianic mantle on Barack's nomination are a little bit misguided," he said.

John McWhorter, a self-described political moderate who is a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute and a New York Sun columnist, said Obama's Democratic Party victory "proves that while there still is some racism in the United States, there is not enough to matter in any serious manner. This is a watershed moment."

"Obama is probably more to the left than I would prefer on a lot of issues," he adds. "But this issue of getting past race for real is such a wedge issue for me. And he is so intelligent, and I think he would be a perfectly competent president, that I'm for him. I want him to get in because, in a way, it will put me out of a job."

James T. Harris, a Milwaukee radio talk show host and public speaker, said he opposes Obama "with love in my heart."

"We are of the same generation. He's African American and I'm an American of African descent. We both have lovely wives and beautiful children," Harris said. "Other than that, we've got nothing in common. I hope he loses every state."

Moderate Republican Edward Brooke, who blazed his own trail in Massachusetts in 1966 as the first black popularly elected U.S. senator, said he is "extremely proud and confident and joyful" to see Obama ascend. Obama sent Brooke a signed copy of his book, inscribed, "Thank you for paving the way," and Brooke sent his own signed book to Obama, calling the presumed Democratic nominee "a worthy bearer of the torch."

Brooke, who now lives in Florida, won't say which candidate will get his endorsement, but he does say that race won't be a factor in his decision.

"This is the most important election in our history," Brooke said. "And with the world in the condition that it is, I think we've got to get the best person we can get."

Williams, the commentator, says his 82-year-old mother, who also hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate, has already made up her mind.

"She is so proud of Senator Barack Obama, and she has made it clear to all of us that she's voting for him in November," Williams relates. "That is historic. Every time I call her, she asks, 'How's Obama doing?' They feel as if they are a part of this. Because she said, given the history of this country, she never thought she'd ever live to see this moment."

I guess with some, skin color really does trump all.

I used to think fairly highly of J.C. Watts. I used to tell people that he is the type of person that black people should hold up as a role model and emulate.

Not any more. With this, I now see J.C. Watts as just another political hack. Neglecting blacks… Please! If you call freeing the slaves and passing the Civil Rights Act neglect, there is no pleasing you. Not to mention that while he was in office, Watts did nothing to help "his people" nor did he stay in office to help.

Too bad really.

[Backstop]

Sen. McCain's remarks regarding today's USSC's ruling:

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/06...c-handgun-ban/

Raw Data: Candidates on Supreme Court’s Ruling on D.C. Handgun Ban
by FOXNews.com
Thursday, June 26, 2008

John McCain issued the following statement regarding Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down Washington, D.C.’s handgun ban:

“Today’s decision is a landmark victory for Second Amendment freedom in the United States. For this first time in the history of our Republic, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms was and is an individual right as intended by our Founding Fathers. I applaud this decision as well as the overturning of the District of Columbias ban on handguns and limitations on the ability to use firearms for self-defense.

“Unlike Senator Obama, who refused to join me in signing a bipartisan amicus brief, I was pleased to express my support and call for the ruling issued today. Today’s ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller makes clear that other municipalities like Chicago that have banned handguns have infringed on the constitutional rights of Americans. Unlike the elitist view that believes Americans cling to guns out of bitterness, today’s ruling recognizes that gun ownership is a fundamental right — sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly.

“This ruling does not mark the end of our struggle against those who seek to limit the rights of law-abiding citizens. We must always remain vigilant in defense of our freedoms. But today, the Supreme Court ended forever the specious argument that the Second Amendment did not confer an individual right to keep and bear arms.”

Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr also weighed in on the Supreme Court decision:

The ruling “will go down as one of the Supreme Court’s most important rulings on behalf of liberty.”

“Today’s decision marks a new era for gun rights in America … By protecting an individual’s right to keep and bear arms, the Second Amendment ensures that all Americans are able to participate in sporting activities, hunt, and protect themselves and their families.

“Where crime rates are high, a gun may be the only means for law-abiding citizens to safeguard themselves and their families … Lawful gun ownership deters an untold number of crimes every year.