I'm missing it, and I'm not sure why. I'm not alone; my wife is trying to figure it all out also. Part of this is a good thing, actually; it means I'm not supporting him JUST because he's the black candidate, which I can easily say wouldn't have been the issue many years ago.

Maybe a part of this is that I've never really cared for the primaries before, other than Jesse Jackson in 1988, and back then we all knew he really wasn't going to make any kind of impact. And, I've never really cared who was running for president, since I always knew who I was going to vote against; that was easy also.

So, this time around I actually had a vested interest in someone in the primaries, and I had pretty much figured that by the time the season was over, my candidate was going to be there and then I could start getting enthusiastic about a presidential run for the first time in my life. Instead, my candidate is done, but so late into the process that I still haven't quite gotten over the fact, even a week later. Who I'm voting for to put in as president hasn't changed, but neither has my enthusiasm.

Maybe I can't get juiced because I really don't know that he's done anything as a senator other than vote against the war, and to me that's not such a big deal because, I admit, I'd have voted for going to war in Iraq in a heartbeat (still mad we didn't take Saddam out in 1991), but I'd have questioned the exit strategy, which it seems no one else at the time had thought about. Other than the war, what else has he done as a senator that's president-worthy? Yeah, I live in NY state, so I know what Hillary has done, and maybe it's not a fair question.

Maybe I wasn't crazy for Oprah going against a principle she's always held and saying she was supporting him for president. The Oprah factor was going to be big, even if her show has taken a hit (though I'm not sure it was supporting Obama that's done that, since most TV shows have taken a hit, and she's still number one). Maybe I didn't want to jump on the bandwagon that I felt a lot of other people were going to be on because she supported someone; heck, I've never picked up a single book she's recommended, and I like Oprah.

I don't know. However, as I said, I'll be voting for him over McCain, someone I still give a ton of respect to as a POW for as many years as he was, being the son of a veteran of two wars, because I really do believe McCain is out of touch with what the country needs. However, one thing McCain does have is a track record, so I even know way more about him that Obama.

And there's just something about that which bothers me even now.

Reviews of Everything, reviews and opinions of, well, almost anything!

http://bloggerparty.com/blog/sassys

about Obama....he didn't raise the amount of money just because he's "new and black" he raised a ton of money, which he has managed very well I might add, because he is smart as hell. Now that alone should be enough to get a little respect, no? McCain as a POW has earned the right to be pissed, but not the right to be vengeful and the thought of an angry POW in the White House right now should be enough of a reason for all of us to fear what he would feel justified in doing.

like on this page here, but I meant as a senator, as in sponsoring any bills and the like. Freshmen senators don't usually get a lot of chances to make big time senate impressions, but Clinton with in her first couple of years, probably because she was already a known quantity. This isn't beating up on him, by the way, because the same could be said of Jimmy Carter when he was the presidential nominee in 1976.

In this day and age of litmus testing before going on the record with a choice, it seems that not having an overly extensive record is becoming the best bet. We can look at some of these guys who have been up for Supreme Court and federal court appointments and notice that Bush finally learned to stop pushing these guys with long conservative track records on Congress because he couldn't get any of them through. I almost hate that the judicial process has become so politicized, but in reality, we only really hate it when its those people who are for what we're for that are having the difficulty.

An angry McCain; I don't know why, but that's funny!

Reviews of Everything, reviews and opinions of, well, almost anything!

http://bloggerparty.com/blog/sassys

I can't see why Catfish isn't excited about this...it's cool as hell and it is finally exciting to be a part of the voting process...instead of the same ole same ole. Barack Obama has at the very least made this country sit up and pay attention. The idea of another Republican in the big casa is abhorrent to me. We are 1) Broke 2) Killing people 3) Being taken to the cleaners by the people that we are at war with...ugh. I could go on, but ya get my drift.

The one thing I've disagreed with both Hillary Clinton and John McCain on is this point about not talking to certain individuals of other countries. I think back to the days of the fear of communism and realize that if Nixon hadn't gone to China, we'd still be scared of something we knew nothing about. Same, oddly enough, with Reagan and the USSR. Under Bush we've had conversations with North Korea and, once again oddly enough, Libya.

So, Obama's saying he wants to open a dialogue with countries whom we haven't had a dialogue with makes perfect sense. True, some nationals from those countries who are now in the U.S. don't think it's a good idea, but just how long are we supposed to ostracize these countries without a legitimate reason of the "threat" against the U.S. as opposed to many larger and more dangerous countries anyway? I say one has to at least start the dialogue; they may be more ready than anyone may believe.

Reviews of Everything, reviews and opinions of, well, almost anything!

the alternative is worse, but it's also a strange thing for someone my age to realize that either times have changed or I've changed, such that my need for having a viable black candidate that I could get behind wasn't essential.

Maybe one day I'll feel the same way when watching the news, hoping the person who committed the crime wasn't black. Nah!

Reviews of Everything, reviews and opinions of, well, almost anything!