I'm getting pretty tired of people telling us to unite, when what they really mean is to give up and support THEIR candidate. We need a candidate we can believe in, so you can't just stick a big D in front of anybody's name and expect us to blindly follow. I cannot vote for Obama because I don't trust him, no matter how manny Ds you put in front of his name. It's about the RIGHT democrat, not just any democrat. That kind of thinking is what led to the second Bush term.

I am a registered independent, and very middle of the road when it comes to politics. I am repulsed by extremists on either side. Lately I find it very disturbing when I hear some people claiming that the Rev Wright controversy shouldn't be an issue, or is just a distraction from the "real issues". The fact that a major candidate for president is so obviously comfortable with racism is a very real issue. It would be different if Obama went to Wright's church once or twice, was turned off by what he heard and never went back, but that's not what happened. Now he asks us to believe that in 20 years he never heard Wright say anything looney or racist. Then we're also supposed to believe that he willingly listened to Wright's rants, had him perform his wedding ceremony and baptize his children, but doesn't share any of Wright's views. I think Wright's National Press Club speech showed us that the little sound bytes that have been all over the cable news networks really do some up his thinking, so I don't think the old "out of context" argument holds water anymore. There are countless other churches Obama could have gone to instead if he was in any way offended by Wright's obvious racism and hate, but he didn't leave until he decided to run for president. He stayed and listened for 20 long years. If Hillary went to David Duke rallies for the past 20 years but asked us to believe that she harbored no racist feelings herself, would that fly? I can see the eyebrows raising when I make the comparison to Duke, but really, what's the difference? To say that the Wright issue doesn't matter is to say that some kinds of racism are ok. I have a big problem with that idea. Racism breeds more racism, so we'll never be rid of it until we condemn all forms of it equally.

I am a registered independent, and very middle of the road when it comes to politics. I am repulsed by extremists on either side. I initially supported Obama, but I just don't trust him anymore. Lately I find it very disturbing when I hear some people claiming that the Rev Wright controversy shouldn't be an issue, or is just a distraction from the "real issues". This is a very real issue. The fact that a major candidate for president may very well be a racist is a real issue. It would be different if Obama went to Wright's church once or twice, was turned off by what he heard and never went back, but he stayed a member for 20 years! Now he wants us to believe that in all that time he never heard Wright say anything looney or racist? Really??? Then we're also supposed to believe that he willingly listened to this guy's rants (for 20 years!), had him perform his wedding ceremony and baptize his children, but doesn't share any of Wright's views? Seriously?? If Hillary went to David Duke rallies for the past 20 years but asked us to believe that she wasn't a racist herself, would that fly? I can see the eyebrows raising when I make the comparison to Duke, but really, what's the difference? To say that the Wright issue doesn't matter is to say that some kinds of racism are ok. I have a big problem with that idea.

To say that the Wright contoversy doesn't matter or is just a distraction from the "real issues" is to say that some kinds of racism are ok. I have a big problem with that idea.

Rev Wright
I am a registered independent, and very middle of the road when it comes to politics. I am repulsed by extremists on either side. I was initially an Obama supporter, but I just don't trust him anymore. Lately I find it very disturbing when I hear some people claiming that the Rev Wright controversy shouldn't be an issue, or is just a distraction from the real issues. This is a very real issue. The fact that a major candidate for president may very well be a racist is a real issue. It would be different if Obama went to Wright's church once or twice, was turned off by what he heard and never went back, but he stayed a member for 20 years! Now he wants us to believe that in all that time he never heard Wright say anything looney or racist? Really??? Then we're also supposed to believe that he willingly listened to this guy's rants (for 20 years!), had him perform his wedding ceremony, baptized his children, but doesn't share any of Wright's views? Seriously?? If Hillary went to David Duke rallies for the past 20 years, but asked us to believe that she wasn't a racist herself, would that fly? I can see the eyebrows raising when I make the comparison to Duke, but really, what's the difference? To say that the Wright issue doesn't matter is to say that some kinds of racism are ok. I have a big problem with that idea.

"Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right."

I would ad Rev Wright to that list. And yes, the people you call friends or mentors say an awful lot about who you are. Obama sat in that church for 20 years listening to this racist lunatic, and now that Wright is exposed and Oama is running for president, he says he�d have quit the church if Wright hadn�t retired. If he really disagreed so strongly with this guy he should have quit years ago. I�m just not buying it.

Ask a friend what they think about George Bush's drinking years ago. Then ask them what they think about Obama's pot smoking in college. If they're a republican, they'll call Obama's past criminal and shameful, and Bush's just youthful indiscretion. If they're a democrat, vice versa. Then tell them about any bit of dirt you can think of about McCain, real or not, and the same for Clinton and Obama. A democrat will believe ANYTHING negative you say about a republican politician, no matter how far fetched, and call the poop on their candidate, no matter how valid, right wing propaganda. The republican will do the same in reverse. It's automatic. They won't think twice about it. Some people know how they will vote in every election from now until they die, simply because they refuse to ever look past the Ds or Rs. A democrat could come up with an idea that would cure cancer, end world hunger forever and solve all of mankind's problems, and the republicans would shoot it down because a democrat came up with it. The same would happen in reverse. We have sort of a "well, it CAN'T be a good idea if HE supports it" mentality. When did we all become so blind? Is this really the way the system is supposed to work? In one weird way I guess I should be happy because all of this means that we independents get to decide the elections, though I'm sure the hard core party supporters on both sides would dispute that. I just wish we could all be a little more open minded.