for dismissing and denying any concerns or feelings of anyone who does not agree with you. after all how could we possibly be as 'smart' as you or count as much as you since we are all 'low info' and stupid as BHO keeps telling us...

Agreed - we all know the dirt on both sides, and constantly throwing it around won't help anything. There's no doubt the nominee will be hit by oppo - both candidates have RNC research documents over 1000 pages.

The question is if we will let these candidates be defined by the negative parts. If we focus on what's bad, then we allow that to happen.

I beg to differ with you on one point you've made.

In lumping McClurkin in with Wright and others, you make it seem as if it is a similar kind of issue to Wright.

It is not.

McClurkin, Meeks and others are anti-gay men who actively campaign for BO (with his approval) and spread their hateful anti-gay message at the same time.

Being a gay man, I am offended by BO's refusal to keep these men out of his campaign (and, yes, I have called his campaign several times to discuss the issue and they claim the candidate refuses to cut these people loose). Additionally this is not BO's only failure with regard to the GLBT community.

These bigots are working in the "urgency of now" they are not shadows from the past.

So fight against the other party's talking points all you want.

But let's not ignore very real issues of bigotry and BO's failure to address them.

I have a lot more respect toward the John McCain of 2000 then the one of the present day. He made a choice to reject some of his principles to the get the nomination - I admit that I have a hope he'll stand at the Republican convention and urge everyone to vote for the Democrat.

Though I'd have to say that this is unlikely.

We don't need to vilify McCain though - the Keating Five should be reminded, but not focused on. His reversals over 8 eight years should be the focus, especially on the tax cuts we didn't need.

Honor him for his "half-century" of service, and talk about how healthcare in this country has failed.

I have found that instead of presenting a conclusion (IE Clinton is Racist, Obama is race-baiting), it's better to post what happened without coming to  a specific conclusion, and constructing your post such that many will come to the charge on their own instead of hearing it from you, and getting defensive.

The McClurkin thing was a misstep that he admits to in his interview with The Advocate.

Obama is a strong friend to the gay community, and if you look at the rest of his record and policy beyond one campaign appearance, you'll see that.

If you're voting on economics, then that I understand... I would just warn you that the economy has suffered greatly under Bush rule; gains to the richest Americans have the risk of becoming losses as the nation loses more jobs and pillages the environment unchecked, which is where McCain would take us.

That's true - McCain isn't Reagan or Bush, and I'm happy about it,  because an act of God is never out of the question, and I do feel his administration would reverse several harms from Bush.

I have attended a church that accepts gays as full members, and I hope you recall that Obama added a Gay preacher to the SC roadshow, and repudiated McClurkin. Those who called Senator Clinton names don't represent the Obama campaign, as I think you realize.

The point of this diary is to tell you that BOTH sides are guilty - yours and mine. You are free to vote as you wish, but I feel you will be rejecting the policies that Senator Clinton stood for, and it seems, only because you feel insulted.

Is your wounded ego worth a lack of healthcare and years and years in Iraq?

SoCalVet

I understand your position, and I'm uprating the comment despite the McCain voting suggestion, because you've reasoned your position and don't deserve to be trolled.

I'm a writer, and from time to time a high income earner (and then impoverished depending on commissions) and I would urge you to rethink your vote for McCain on 'economic grounds'.

Yes, you might save some money because McCain won't reverse the tax cuts. But what is the cost? I don't know where you live, but in London I pay for health service, schools and colleges out of my taxation. Sometimes those bills have been huge. But I've been happy to do so because I'm INVESTING IN MY OWN HAPPINESS, if society is more harmonious, if there are safety nets for the poor, sick and disadvantaged, if their is public transport instead of gridlock, if their is access to education instead of a growing prison population (who will have to be released one day, having increased their crime skills)

I could go on, but the point is that I'm not a saint. I see a level of social care  as in my own interest. I also see it as being VITAL for my countries long term health, wealth and security, that it's not only the rich who have access to good schools and good jobs. If the US carries on this way, it will become more and more polarised. And as we've seen with Bush and Cheney, promoting the children of the rich is not a route to success but a recipe for disaster. Croneyism, nepotism and inheritance just reduce the gene pool of intelligence, and render society fractious, crime ridden, unpleasant and dangerous. We can't all live in ghettos anymore, whether those by inner city neighborhoods or gate suburban communities.

We're all richer, all better off, when we work together.

Please tell me you'll reconsider.

I'm somewhat upset and disappointed that you would group all Obama supporters in with eachother with such broad brushes.

I was once told by a Clinton supporter my infant daughter deserved to be raped since I supported Obama. This is akin to me blaming you, since another Clinton supporter said that, obviously you must feel the same sentiment.

I'm a single dad. I'm raising a baby girl all by myself while trying to finish nursing school and working full time. Tomorrow, my baby's first mother's day will come and go, and her mom won't be here because, golly gee, she's just not ready to be a mom yet. I'm barely making ends meet and I operate on about as much sleep as when I was on deployment in the Navy, or less. So when you come here and decry Obama supporters as selfish, elite, rich, et cetera- man, I gotta tell you, it fucking hurts. Really. As much as I've done and been through, you wouldn't think a stupid thing on the internet would affect me, but it does.

And it seems to be a common theme amongst some Clinton supporters. But I'm smart enough to know Clinton supporters come in as many shapes and sizes and colors and creeds and walks of life as Obama supporters, and trying to brush them all the same only reflects poorly on me.

But if you think the Republicans, really, are the ones with your best interests in mind, go right ahead.

Vote McCain and sell out all the gays, including myself, and yourself, so you can save some tax money.  Voting for McCain would also be a slap to Hillary and her supporters who have worked so hard to end the Republican rule.  (You will actually pay more tax with McCain because he wants to continue this war America can't afford.  You will pay for it one way or another.  Stop the blood letting and the money wasting.)

My sister is considering voting for McCain because she too makes a good income, and got really mad at me for telling her not to vote for McCain.  I explained to her that McCain and his party are anti-gay, which she didn't know of. (McCain supported the anti-gay marriage measure in Arizona.) I can excuse her decision for supporting McCain because she was ignorant, but I can't excuse your vote for McCain because you know better.  

Obama has pledged to repeal DOMA altogether. (Hillary pledged to repeal only parts of it).  Obama does look out for you.  

You will see Obama associating with people you might think are offensive, but he has said in his campaign speeches that he will have open dialogues with his enemies.  That is the only way to change their minds, is through open dialogue.

Hillary said she'd support the nominee.  If you really support Hillary, listen to her message.  Hillary said she doesn't want McCain in the White House, and I am sure you would agree with Hillary.

I guarantee you that you'd be even more offended if you vote for McCain than you ever were with the "South Carolina Homophobic Road Show."  Remember, a vote for McCain is a vote for Bush.  

There's a diary on the rec list that suggests this also.

If Clinton is not the nominee, why not sit back and watch the GE campaigns unfold?  Nobody forces you to campaign for either side so you can act like a low-info voter instead of an activist...watch from the sidelines.

Watch the debates and speeches from both McCain and Obama.  Wait until November to decide what to do after they have presented their cases.

If McCain presents the better case, vote for him.  If Obama presents the better case, vote for him.  Sound reasonable to you?

...with McCain's associaion with Hagee and Falwell??  Let me introduce you to some of the statements they have on gays/lesbians:

JohnHagee:

"All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that.
The newspaper carried the story in our local area, that was not carried nationally, that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it would was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other gay pride parades.
So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the Day of Judgment, and I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans."

Jerry Falwell:

"god hates homosexuality"

"role modelling the gay lifestyle is damaging to the moral lives of children."

About 9/11

"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way - all of them who have tried to secularize America - I point the finger in their face and say, 'You helped this happen.'"

And you, being gay, still choose McCain and his associates??

I figure word games in my titles will be a sort of trademark. :D

I am, however, alarmingly addicted at all hours to alert alliteration.

A good point.

Those who think that Obama isn't a careerist might want to examine how he went, in 4 year increments, from

A State Senator Election to Being locked out of the 2000 Dem Convention as a failed primary candidate to giving the 2004 keynote to possibly giving the acceptance speech.

I wanted Jon Stewart to ask him if he thought he's be a minor Democratic god in 4 years or 8.