How do we stop the conversions?  How do we speak to the skeptics without also turning them against Hillary?

HRC is using military contractors as a political ploy.  BHO has a record of addressing this problem.  HRC has a record of ignoring this problem.  Now, we are to believe she is taking a principled stand.  Does she think we're fools?

HRC said she didn't know that Blackwater had immunity 10/11/07 even after:

2004: Clinton Attended An Armed Services Committee Meeting Where Wolfowitz Testified on The Immunity Of Contractors--She Even Commented. On April 20, 2004, Clinton was listed in attendance at an Armed Services Committee meeting in which Paul Wolfowitz spoke of Order No. 17 saying, "Further, we have Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 17, I believe it is, that goes into more detail about the rights and privileges and immunities that pertain to foreign forces providing for security in Iraq." Clinton responded on the subject of the military's role following Iraqi sovereignty saying, "I think that this is a serious issue, because it's not only the possibility that the definition will take on a life of its own, causing all kinds of unintended consequences, but that in fact the earlier questions that the chairman raised about the rules of engagement for our military and the authority that they have following this period of sovereignty, however one defines it, I think are going to be very sticky. And then you throw into the mix all these private contractors running around, heavily armed, I think it becomes even more of a challenge." [Senate Armed Services Committee Meeting, 4/20/04]

While HRC did nothing, BHO submitted a bill addressing contractor oversight feb of 2007 to HRC's committee.
[S. 674, Introduced 2/16/07]

WJC has ties to the private military industry linked to the HRC campaign:

Blackwater USA's First Federal Contract Was In 1998 -- Under The Clinton Administration

Blackwater's Lawyer Is A Former Clinton White House Counsel.  Nolan served as Counsel to the President of the United States from 1999-2001 In the White House, she was responsible for overseeing all legal matters for President Clinton and the White House staff.

Mark Penn's Firm Did Public Relations Work For Blackwater.

The use of private military companies expanded during the Clinton administration.  According to Mother Jones, "The use of private military companies, which gained considerable momentum under President Clinton, has escalated under the Bush administration. [...] Like the Clinton administration, the Bush administration is relying heavily on private military companies to wage the war on drugs in South America. Federal law bans U.S. soldiers from participating in Colombia's war against left-wing rebels and from training army units with ties to right-wing paramilitaries infamous for torture and political killings. There are no such restrictions on for-profit companies, though, and since the late 1990s, the United States has paid private military companies an estimated $1.2 billion, both to eradicate coca crops and to help the Colombian army put down rebels who use the drug trade to finance their insurgency." [Mother Jones, May/June, 1993]

In an article in The Nation, William D. Hartung wrote, "The latest wave of military privatization started in the first Bush Administration, when Defense Secretary Cheney asked Halliburton to study what it would cost to have a private company take charge of getting US forces overseas in a hurry. Halliburton was hired to do just that in Somalia, employing 2,500 people. The Clinton Administration picked up where Bush/Cheney left off, hiring Halliburton--then run by Cheney--as the logistics arm for the war in Kosovo. Halliburton's contract started out as a $ 180 million deal but soon mushroomed to more than $ 2.5 billion as the company built Camp Bondsteel and other military facilities on lavish, cost-plus terms. [...] But the urge to privatize soon expanded to include anything and everything, up to and including hiring former Green Berets and Navy SEALs for serious security and training functions. The 'privatize first, ask questions later' mentality has led to the situation we face now in Iraq, where private companies are performing front-line military functions ranging from providing security to the Coalition Provisional Authority (Blackwater) to training the new Iraqi army (Vinnell) to protecting oil pipelines (Erinys) to interrogating prisoners (CACI)." [The Nation, 6/7/04]

http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factche ck/2008/03/17/response_to_clinton_attack s_on.php

Thanks grlpatriot.  Very well-done.

we're Democrats aren't we?

I don't think it's actually preaching, rather it is a subtle negativism throughout his campaign.  So subtle that people don't see the negativity unless it is pointed out.

Change we can believe in is negative by really saying you can't believe in other forms of change.

Old style politics.  Hillary and Bill style. Also pointing out that Hillary is old.

The change thing combined with no actual discussion of the changes is asking people to follow blindly.  Yes I know the website is full of good policies and plans, but he and the campaign intentionally avoid talking about those real issues because he needs people to follow blindly.