I have no problems with liberals...I was once very very active in the Democratic party. I have never nor will I ever distribute the various emails that circulate, nor have I on purpose allowed one of the various circulating items on the net influence me. I like to make up my own mind.

A Democrat is not a liberal. A liberal can be a Democrat and is more likely to vote the Democratic ticket. A liberal can be a Republican. A true liberal is neither -- we choose who we think will stand for the individual more than for big business and government. I've voted Republican (Nixon and proud of it), Democratic (Carter and not so thrilled with that choice), Independent (Perot and still sorry he didn't win).

I, personally, do not want anything close to socialized medicine....I, personally, do not want my taxes to pay for anyone else's failings (THAT DOES NOT MEAN I AM A CRUEL HEARTLESS PERSON) and that is where this is headed.

Well, I'm one of those people who has been ruined financially because of lack of health insurance. Do I want socialized medicine? Not really. Do I want to see some of affordable, viable national health insurance? You better believe I do! The fact I have no health insurance is not due to a lack of tryng. It is due to the fact I had melanoma (Stage 3) 16 years ago and no company is willing to cover me. No, you're not cruel nor heartless but, unless you've been put into the situation of not being able to get medical coverage through no fault of your own, you have no idea of the difficulties nor of the need of the government to do something about this.

I also do not want to be dismissed everytime I say something that is true by being told how I am being negative or using innuendo or being negative. That is becoming the norm this election. This has nothing to do with race either and I dont want to hear that.

When you go on about the fact that Sen. Obama's father or stepfather was a Muslim and do not mention Obama has categorically denied being Muslim, you are in fact relying on innuendo. To be fearful of every Muslim (there are more moderate Muslims than extremists although it is the extremists that get the press -- what a surprise there, eh?) and to imply Obama will support the extremists is, in my mind, in fact bigoted -- not against the fact Obama is black but the fact that his family background is not quite the norm in America and does smack of racism as well. Sorry, that's how I see it and so long as you mention Obama and his Muslim background you're not going to convince me you're not racist in this matter.

I am not FOR war either as folks seem to want to imply when discussing Sen Obama, and I dont believe either candidate is.

McCain has stated more than once that he sees nothing wrong with the war in Iraq continuing for years. He has also stated more than once that he can foresee attacking Iran. Sounds pretty hawkish to me. I have yet to hear McCain say a word about trying diplomatic channels (not that they'd work in the Middle East -- this is not a recent war there, they've been battling snce before Jesus and will probably be battling long into the future). Even so, diplomatic channels and economic sanctions are still far better options than war.

gf and I have gone round and round about posts exactly like this one time and again. When you object to Obama because of his lack of experience, I have no issues with you and can only say you have a valid point and one that causes me concern. When you say Obama comes from one of the most corrupt political machines (the Chicago Democrats) in the country, again, I have no issue with that beng said other than some good politicians have come from incredibly corrupt political machines. When you say Obama is a liberal (first time I've heard the argument that he is an extremist but I'm sure many believe that), all I can say is, "So what, I'm a liberal and I happen to like me and my ethics and morals." When you comment about the people he has had as frends in the past and who his mentors were, I'm back to so what. One of my mentors in college was Angela Davis. A good friend was Lou Alcindor. I used to run track with Tommie Smith. More than a few of my professors that I truly admired and can say I learned a tremendous amount from were avowed communists. I am not nor have I ever been pro-Black Panther. I've seen communism in action and loathe what it does to individuals.

I wish we had better choices, I truly do. We don't. I do believe both of these men love this country. I'm thoroughly convinced neither man is the right man for the job. The American people are not being given good choices. The last truly great man we had as President was, in my opinion, Harry S. Truman -- he did what he thought was right, not what was politcally expedient. No way can a person today win by being honest, ethical and moral -- they'd be destroyed before they got off the local scene. So, we're stuck with politicians. When I vote, I no longer vote for the man or woman nor even what they say but rather I vote for their choices in advisors and staff. If they're strong, truly intelligent and have some ethics (can't ask for too many but one or two ethical and moral beliefs would be nice), then that is the person who will ultimately get my vote.

Okay, now I'm going to try to stay out of the political forum (again).