That's my feeling. Something is just not right which can't be explained. It's a feeling I have inside which is not how his supporters feel about him. I can't in good conscience vote for him. McCain doesn't do much for me, but if I have to choose, it's going to be McCain. :redface:
I wish there were more choices available. 
Maybe it is because he is wishy-washy and uncertain in his stances? For example...
* Abortion: (
Source: 2008 Democratic Compassion Forum at Messiah College Apr 13, 2008)
Q: The terms pro-choice and pro-life, do they encapsulate that reality in our 21st Century setting and can we find common ground?
A: I absolutely think we can find common ground.
What is his stance?
* Life/conception: (
Source: 2008 Democratic Compassion Forum at Messiah College Apr 13, 2008)
Q: Do you personally believe that life begins at conception?
A: This is something that I have not come to a firm resolution on.
What is his stance?
* Budget: (
Source: 2008 Democratic debate at University of Texas in Austin Feb 21, 2008)
"The fact that we're spending $12 billion every month in Iraq means that we can't engage in the kind of infrastructure improvements that are going to make us more competitive, we can't deliver on the kinds of health care reforms that Clinton and I are looking for. McCain is willing to have these troops over there for 100 years. The notion that we would sustain that kind of effort and neglect not only making us more secure here at home, more competitive here at home, allow our economy to sink."
And yet he continued to fund the war? WTF?
* Gay marriage:
(Source: 2007 HRC/LOGO debate on gay issues Aug 9, 2007)
"One of Obama's pragmatic stands troubling to progressives is on gay marriage. In the Senate debate, Obama opposed the right-wing Federal Marriage Amendment to ban gay marriage nationally and said: "I agree with most Americans, with Democrats and Republicans, with Vice President Cheney, with over 2,000 religious leaders of all different beliefs, that decisions about marriage, as they always have, should be left to the states." However, Obama also declared, "Personally, I do believe that marriage is between a man and a woman." At the same time, Obama has strongly supported civil unions, arguing that it is a way to protect equal rights without taking the politically risky approach of gay marriage."
-- Q: You have said in previous debates that it is up to individual religious denominations to decide whether or not to recognize same-sex marriage. What place does the church have in government-sanctioned civil marriages? A: It is my strong belief that the government has to treat all citizens equally. I don't think that the church should be making these determinations when it comes to legal rights conferred by the state. I do think that individual denominations have the right to make their own decisions as to whether they recognize same sex couples. My denomination, United Church of Christ, does. Other denominations may make a decision, and obviously, part of keeping a separation of churches and state is also to make sure that churches have the right to exercise their freedom of religion.
So, he wants believes it is up to the States to determine, but it is ultimately up to the the couple on their marriage? Again, no real strong stance.
* Drugs:
(Source: The Improbable Quest, by John K. Wilson, p.146-147 Oct 30, 2007)
In 2001, Obama questioned the harsh penalties for drug dealing, noting that selling 15 tablets of Ecstasy was the same class of felony as raping a woman at knifepoint. In 2002, Obama sponsored an unsuccessful measure to create an employment grant program for edx-criminals, who often return to a life of crime because no one will hire them.
However, he wants to continue the War on Drugs?
* Energy:
(Source: FactCheck.org on 2008 Democratic debate in Las Vegas Jan 16, 2008)
Obama contradicted himself, saying the Bush administration had done nothing serious about alternative fuels or raising fuel efficiency. Obama said, "We have not seen any serious effort on the part of this administration to spur on the use of alternative fuels, raise fuel efficiency standards on cars."If the 2005 energy bill signed by President Bush was indeed the "single largest investment in clean energy" ever seen, as Obama says, then it's hard to see how his administration can be faulted for lack of "any serious effort" to promote alternative fuels. Furthermore, another bill Bush signed in December sets a national fuel economy standard of 35 mpg by 2020, the first major increase in vehicle fuel efficiency standards in more than three decades.
It is certainly true that more could be done, and Obama would be within his rights to say that Bush's efforts aren't serious enough to suit him. But claiming a lack of any serious effort at all is contradicted by the record and by Obama's own words.
So he is against Bush or the Plan?
* Sex:
Q: In talking about your own daughters and talking about sex education and contraception, you made the jarring comment that you would not want your daughter "punished with a baby" if she made a mistake. Could you explain what you meant?
A: Keep in mind, on that same day, I said children are miracles. What I was saying was that my daughters are 9 & 6. And so if, at the age of 12 or 13, they made what I would consider to be a mistake, in having unprotected sex, and ended up getting pregnant. And so all I meant was we want to prevent teen pregnancies. And what we don't want to do is to be blind to the possibility that kids will screw up, just like, surprisingly enough, we as adults screw up sometimes. We want to make sure that, even as we are teaching responsible sexuality and we are teaching abstinence to children, that we are also making sure that they've got enough understanding about contraception that they don't end up having much more severe problems because of a dumb mistake.
So, abstinence is good...... or not. Or no, don't abstain, just be safe. Sounds like taking both sides of an issue to me.
* Campaign Finance: (
Source: 2007 AFL-CIO Democratic primary forum Aug 8, 2007)
Campaigns last too long and they cost too much money. And they're disproportionately influenced by Washington insiders, which is why it's not going to be enough just to change political parties [in the presidency]. But we also have to make sure that we are mobilizing Americans across race & regions, if we're actually going to bring these changes about. Change doesn't happen from the top down, it happens from the bottom up. It's because millions of voices get mobilized and organized
And how much has he spent?
* Guns:
Q: You said recently, "I have no intention of taking away folks' guns." But you support the D.C. handgun ban, and you've said that it's constitutional. How do you reconcile those two positions?
A: Because I think we have two conflicting traditions in this country. I think it's important for us to recognize that we've got a tradition of handgun ownership and gun ownership generally. And a lot of law-abiding citizens use it for hunting, for sportsmanship, and for protecting their families. We also have a violence on the streets that is the result of illegal handgun usage. And so I think there is nothing wrong with a community saying we are going to take those illegal handguns off the streets. And cracking down on the various loopholes that exist in terms of background checks for children, the mentally ill. We can have reasonable, thoughtful gun control measure that I think respect the Second Amendment and people's traditions.
So you respect the 2nd... but don't mind taking our guns away, even with the 2nd still in place? Again, what do you stand for?
*Draft:
Q: Do you think women should register for selective service when they turn 18 like men do currently?
A: You know, a while back we had a celebration in the Capitol for the Tuskegee Airmen, and it was extraordinarily powerful because it reminded us, there was a time when African-Americans weren't allowed to serve in combat. And yet, when they did, not only did they perform brilliantly, but what also happened is they helped to change America, and they helped to underscore that we're equal. And I think that if women are registered for service--not necessarily in combat roles, and I don't agree with the draft-- I think it will help to send a message to my two daughters that they've got obligations to this great country as well as boys do.
Am I the only one that thinks this is sexist? If we are all about being fair, then why does (a) everyone register or (b) nobody registers? I thought he was all about tearing down walls?
And oh so much more...
