Those that oppose Obama. . .?

I am a democrat by preference so it really bugged me not to have a choice I could support.

The short answer is that Obama isn't genuine. He is about power & self-glorification, not the ideals he supposedly supports. This is a personal observation of mine. I wanted someone opposite to Bush at giving executive branch too much power. He can't seem to vet anyone (recognize poor character - which makes you wonder about his own) & has continued Bush's trend.

The other problem is he is inexperienced, & not a real leader. A real leader has ideals & doesn't vote "present" all the time. He had no idea "preconditions" are a part of the international dance scene in an early debate. While it's okay to be inexperienced, it's not in a president.

He reminds me of Bush, not Clinton, on these two fronts. The ideals listed are just the surface speak.

I had hopes he'd be different & I'd be wrong. (Like you said, the goal is for a president to succeed.) However, so far I'm not thrilled. The racial profiling for instance, was a chance, where a real leader with experience would stand up & move the issue to the front with real honest talk in depth about it. It was a chance for a black president to trigger healing in this country. Instead he "had a beer" & ignored the topic. He also used the word "stupid" as president to describe someone. In health care since I've seen him use equally as unprofessional terms. They may work in campaiging, but they come through as bullying rather than intelligent, when trying to argue for your plan. So much for the gifted speaker.

On Iran he couldn't manage a twinkle in his eyes to let the protesters know his pride in them, even with the "neutral" words. A geninue person couldn't have stopped the pride from coming through. On Israel & Middle East he had basic facts misstated left & right. He's already doing very differently than he said he would in the campaign for both sides. He's selling Israel down the river which is not how he campaigned & he's already talked about it being okay for Iran to have nuclear weapons (even though they've had conferences for years about how to genocide Israel & threaten to with it.)

Race is not the issue, & it's getting racist for everyone to assert that. What's racist is that people can't dislike the character of someone without others claiming it's their race. I like that he's black. It's the one thing I think is good for this country about him even symbolically (that & judges he'll offer & environmentalism). I don't like that he's a power greedy disingenous person & I wasn't going to let his race get in the way of my seeing that. Early on before race entered the campaign, I talked with a couple blacks folks casually (I live in a diverse area) & they told me they didn't like his character. The % shift happened after race entered the campaign as an issue.

For me the end of interest in him came during the N. Hampshire campaign. He was campainging on the idea that he was a different kind of politician, a real one with real values who was honest. I saw a brief interview when every ounce of manipulation & nastiness came out the side as he switched blame to Clinton very cleverly. I expect that from politicians. However, that lie that *he wasn't* that way, made me distrust him to the core. I tried after that to see if I was mistaken, but never did see anything different. He supported Wright without a wince, then took 3 weeks to counter anything. He was aware enough not to use Wright in his campaign (that's a reported fact), but didn't have an answer to give when came to the forefront? I couldn't tell if it was inexperience or lack of understanding what the problems were with Wright's rhetoric (& not all of it was bad, but some was hideous.)

So there are some ideas. Hope that helps.

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On wanting him to fail there are likely two types:

Those who like Bush, hate Obama.

There's another who saw the media NOT vet Obama so badly, & give him such a free pass, & got so blasted when they spoke out against him even though legit to do so... that they want to be proven right to counter the intense hate they got for speaking out against him before the campaign. I personally got roasted a number of times in real life, for very basic statements. While I want the country to succeed, I was humilated, beatup on, treated like dirt, yelled at as personally incompetent, & not allowed to finish a sentence... so if it turns out I'm right that would feel good. I'm big enough to wish well instead & to be excited when I thought I was wrong, but I think the nastiness comes from the nastiness Obama supporters threw as they refused any vetting of the guy.

Hey, you mentioned everyone but me :). Not sure what the means...

I think playing the race card is old and boring. You have got to know by now that there are countless, valid reasons that we don't support Obama's socialized health-care plan. You can read many of them here: http://www.dailypaul.com/node/103091

None of the reasons have anything to do with skin color. For one thing, it's a power grab that will lead to larger government and we will be losing more of our rights. I'm sorry that you cannot see that. Fedup Veteran's excellent answer included a lot of great points. I am also very concerned about these "Panels" being set up to determine who gets help and who doesn't. It is a fact that the plan will marginalize the elderly, when they need healthcare the most. If you take up for the underdog so much, then you should really think about that. I also think it is a way for companies to get out of having to pay for employee's health coverage, so I don't think Obama is looking out for the little guy as much as you think he is. Obama says that we can keep our current private health insurance, but our employers are obviously not going to continue to give us private health insurance when the government option is more cost effective for them. Obama is making it so people will be forced into the government health plan.

I can say that I didn't vote for either Bush Jr. OR Obama.

This is why I am fighting the socialization of health care. I am a Vet and I had been getting care from the local VA. When I was 35 I requested to have a mammogram done because of strong family ties for breast cancer. The GYN that I saw from the VA REFUSED to do so and said it wasn't needed until I was 40. Well, I am 37 and I was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer and then after 6 treatments of chemo and when the path came back from my mastectomy they still found a TEN cm of a lesser aggressive type of breast cancer that is usually detected via mammography...yes, almost 4 inches worth of breast cancer left that would have been seen on a mammogram.

If we left private companies prevent having to pay into the system, this is what we will have left from Obama's health care. There will be MORE people without antiquate coverage and the rich will get the best Dr. treatment, and medicine and there will be the rest of us getting "Panels" on who is worth helping and who isn't.

Yes, there is wording in the bill that states people who are elderly and those with mental retardation and other medical problems such as those will be put to the end of the line for getting treatment. Don't believe me, read the bill. It is the very people that Obama keeps demonizing such as the insurance companies WHO ARE WRITING THE BILL OBAMA IS PUSHING. It is a way for companies to stop having to pay for health care for their employees.

This will only enslave the people more and nothing more than that.

Trust me, you don't want a medical treatment such as the VA for your medical health, and that is all that the single payer BS will do.

EDIT: Volleyball..Under Obama's plan it will only get worse about selecting who lives and who dies. It is in the bill that this is their intent...while letting companies OUT of their responsibility for health care coverage.

It will be exactly like the VA coverage...and we all know about how good that is? If not, re-read my post. I have heard about hundreds of Vets who have had things like that happen to them also.

Race has nothing to do with this for me, I am no raciest. I have more black an Hispanic friends than I have white ones. It is simply a matter of how he is trying to govern. The fact he has appointed Czars was the first red flag. Czars take power away from appointed officials and committees within the structured government. This forms a shadow government within the walls of our white house. Not good, and very suspicious sense many in this group have been found to have radical,Marxist or even Communist ties or agendas. That right there is enough to stop the bus and tell them to get off for me, but the one thing that is irrefutable is the fact that BOTH of Obama's parents by law of our constitution Have to be Born in the United States for their son to be eligible to become president. That in itself cannot be changed. It is the law. Even though this was over looked, his title must be rescended. Quite simply, he cannot make law in this country.

I am not trying to say anything about your underlying attitude of elitism when I read your post, so bear with my answer.

Race is only brought up by the Democrats because they do not have anything else to fall back on. They keep on pushing it forward to be able to keep African Americans dependant on government, hence leading to a socialist state.

The only reason why the arguments seem more intense is because the collapse of the economy means there is no more margin for error. If any of his socialist plans go into effect, then it will literally be the straw that breaks the camel's back in terms of this country.

I am not Republican or Conservative (I support a Women's right to choice, I supported Micheal Shiavo in Terri's right to die, etc), but I do not agree with 0bama's econoic policies. People need to stand up to protect this country.

Sorry, no. I didn't see any Democrat saying he's not a real American, or hold signs with him depicted as a witch doctor, or ask if he was going to have fried chicken and watermelon at his inauguration, like elements of Conservatives did with Obama. What you heard was people disagreeing with his policy proposals, or the way he treated employees and running his business as a CEO, all part of the political process.

I didn't like Clinton after I saw him as president for a few years. I voted for him the first time,but not the second.But, he is far different than Obama in many ways. You must have been attacked because you needed to be attacked. I am so sick of hearing about all of the things this man is doing,and I am sick of seeing him on T.V. all the time.This man is an amateur and he has a job that doesn't need amateurs. I think he is hurting this country in a way that we can never overcome. He tramples the laws of this country and inserts his own laws. It is not a black thing with me. I admire many black people,but I can't admire anything about Obama. He surrounds himself with criminals,and we had better watch our back with this man. He is not what you think.

I was not politically "involved" during the Clinton administration. I am 25, just became interested in politics this past election. With things going so far downhill, I wanted to make the right choice. So I am can't speak from personal experience. From what I comprehend, Clinton backed off when things got too controversial. Obama seems to be pushing things further and further, I am worried with his determination, that he will just "verbally manipulate" to get his way. Whatever Clinton proposed, Obama is taking it an extra mile or so. For me, race has nothing to do with it. I honestly watch Fox news most of the time, BUT I research everything that is enough to raise an eyebrow.

To say, (I agree with this), that I want him to fail, for ME, in my interpretation, I do want him to fail, because if his plans succeed, I think the whole country will FAIL. I think is going to extreme and trying so hard to CHANGE everything, instead of FIXING everything. We have so many government run programs that are failing, so why make more? Why not fix the ones that are in existence already?

So again, him succeeding, to me, means that our entire country will fail.

AND, I also want to point out, for hardly a single person who I know who is conservative is racist. His proposed policies are NOT conservative, so why would they support his policies? I am trying to word this respectfully, but the most I have heard about race is being screamed from the other side, when all other arguments run out. It's seemed like a huge back up to any argument.

Also, if you want to learn about how liberals tend to play the race card frequently, look up the Willie Horton ads. They were used in the election campaign with Bush SR. Dukakis released a murderer on a weekend furlow, where he killed again, not ONCE but TWICE, then he campaigned about his criminal rehabilation succes. So of course, Bush used that against him, and because Will Horton happened to be black, it was racist.............never mind the fact that he was a murderer and a rapist who had been sentenced to LIFE in prison when released on a weekend furlow twice.

Thank you for such a respectful written question. I will try to give you the same kind of answer :)

I think it is the sign of the times. The political climate is much more intense and polarized these days. That is why it is much different than the Clinton terms. He also takes jabs at republicans and certain media outlets that we haven't seen before by presidents. This causes a lot of anger amongst people in my party. Because of his extreme liberal views it also causes a lot of distrust towards him among moderates and conservatives. I belong to a lot of conservative groups IRL and online and believe me when I say RACE has nothing to do with our feelings towards President Obama. I know it's a convenient thing to blame but I promise you, it's the other things I mentioned and NOT his race.

I do not hate Obama. I just do not agree with his politics. He is in the same category as Bush to me. He and Bush have failed in these areas:

1.To defend and protect our Constitution and keep it intact. The dredging up of the so called "Fairness Doctrine" (classic example) is anything but fair and seeks to restrict religious freedoms, speech by attaching a label of hate to anyone who disagrees with public opinion. We seem to be moving to a Socialist state faster than Grant took Richmond! It started with Bush and Obama is taking up the torch!

2. To get a handle on this illegal alien thing. It is costing taxpayers too much money. Why should those who thumb their noses at our laws be rewarded with assistance and taxpayer money? Not to mention how this poses a threat to national security since the government does not really know who all is here and why they are here, because they have failed to patrol our borders!

3.Out of control government spending. Massive bail outs. Corporate welfare. Everyone who sits down to do any family budget knows that you cannot spend more than you make. Why don't our elected officials get it? Besides, if a company cannot manage their own money... they need to fail! Someone else will take up the slack that can manage to make a profit and employ people. We have a system of rewarding those that know how to compete. Nothing wrong with it. It ensures that the consumer will have the best product at the best price. It ensures the company who can deliver this product at the best price will come out on top! It works! Why jack with it by bailing out bad companies that do not give the consumer what it wants at a fair price?

It also bothers me that elected officials are willing to pass proposed bills without even reading them! They cannot even explain to the American public what all is included in many of these bills. There is a lot being slipped in under the radar that really makes the American people very suspicious. I think anyone who votes on an unread bill should be kicked right out of the position they are in and barred from public office forever! I wonder what my boss would say if I did my work that way? There must be accountability to the American public once more.

By the way, race has nothing to do with how I see things. Bush and Obama are BOTH Americans who have done a terrible job! I do not know if the country will survive any more corrupt political administrations, bad foreign policies, and being out of touch with the needs and desires of it's own citizens? It really looks to me like Obama has picked up where Bush left off. All the while we have the American public squabbling about partisan politics when both Republicans and Democrats are acting the exact same way in office! Americans are losing sight of the real issues! Hey America! This is not about political party anymore!

I did not vote for either of them, but I wanted them to succeed for the good of the nation. However, both have done massive amounts of harm to this country. Right now, I am concerned with getting the attention of my fat cat elected officials who are indifferent to voice of the people. I have been trying since the Bush administration to no avail. I think Bush and Obama should remember that they were/ are public servants and they work for us! They are not supposed to do anything without the OK of the majority of Americans! Sadly, they both have forgotten who they work for! I think the average American is fed up with our elected officials because our concerns have fallen on ears that refuse to listen! We are frustrated and tired of the same old thing, just another way to package it!

Edit: Cher made some good points and I agree with her!