I find it a bit sad that people do not understand the meaning of Obama's slight in calling a female reporter "sweetie." He was raised initially by a single mother, who had no religious leaning and he was influenced by different cultures during his formative years. Indonesia, being a primarily Muslim nation, must have had some bearing on his thoughts. Most women are subservient in Muslim cultures. Why should he think otherwise.

He himself admitted that he went to the United Church of Christ in Chicago because he needed some spiritual guidance. He credited Rev. Wright with bringing him to Christ.

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I'm sure someone will, but I have found that most clergymen are patronizing towards women. If this is true of Rev. Wright, then how can anyone think that Obama would understand the meaning of "sweetie" and how disrespectful it was. The snide comment he made to Hillary, under his breath, during a debate after she answered a rather condescending question about why she was not liked as much as him, was chauvinistic.. And finally the "Annie Oakley" remark was ridiculous. He seems to enjoy making jokes at other people's expense, but he becomes offended if someone says anything negative about him.

I really don't know how I am going to vote in November. I had, at one time, liked John McCain, but his speech about how he would choose judges gave me pause to reevaluate my choices. I have been a lifelong Democrat, although I do not always vote the straight ticket.

The reason why I don't favor Obama is because of his lack of experience in both domestic and foreign affairs. On the domestic side, I would really like to know which 15 million Americans will not get healthcare under his program. I know that universal healthcare is a difficult program to tackle, just look at Hillary when she tried to introduce it in the early '90s. But it should the Democratic Party's goal and if he wants to be its nominee, it should be his goal. And where is all the money going to come from for all his new spending programs? If our country isn't bankrupt yet, it will be if he is our President.

And, on the foreign affairs side, even thinking and saying out loud about invading the northern frontier of Pakistan to hunt down Osama Bin Laden and his followers, is not something that should be considered by a person who espouses the importance of talking to the leaders of other countries who do not always or ever agree with us. It's not a way for the leader of the United States to speak to an ally. This is not demonstrating the art of diplomacy.

The only way the American people know very much about Barack Obama is what they have read in books, his books. This was finally brought up in an article in today's New York Times. Isn't it interesting that the media had elevated him to such heights without ever knowing what his positions on any policies were. He certainly doesn't say anything substantive in his speeches the way Hillary does. He seems to follow her lead on most issues. Whenever she was asked a question during the debates, and usually it was the first question, he quickly agreed with her and then filled in additional information. He seemed to need her to answer the questions first. If her solutions to our nation’s problems are the right ones, why is he the candidate of choice.

One final point, if the Democratic Party primaries were closed and only Democrats could vote, Hillary would be ahead and everyone would be wondering why Obama hadn't dropped out of the race for the nomination. Don't Democrats have the right to choose their own candidate? The Republicans chose John McCain in their primaries by only having registered Republicans voting. Why did we allow everyone to vote in our primaries? If the Independents wanted to vote, they should have chosen their own candidates and held their own primaries. Allowing both Republicans and Independents to vote in the Democratic Party primaries, made the primaries a sham. Who is really going to be represented at the Democratic National Convention in Denver? It certainly isn't the Democrats!


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