Unlike McCain and Bush, he is a very intelligent person. His education, his policies and ideas… the ability to construct a sentence in English. A battle of Oil Brains is exactly what America should avoid. You need an intelligent person to make the right choice in what to do; if you have a President who has been part of an Oil Company he has a vested interest in them. America needs a President who is not affiliated with any Oil Companies so he can move America completely from Oil to sustainable/renewable fuels. 100 YEARS?! Actually you are very wrong, according to the most senior authority here in Europe and the New Scientist, at current consumption (which is still rising) we have 40 years left. Take into account China’s increasing consumption, and we have about 25-30 years. The technology is already there, it just needs a strong character to make the decision to switch, and although the economy will be hit short term, its better than having to rebuild a New York that’s been flooded because all the ice in world has melted.

Clearly the person who wrote the negative letter next to this has not read the things Obama has written himself or he would acknowledge how intelligent he is. It matters to have a President who is smart. It matters a lot. If he wasn't quite brilliant he would not have been chosen to be President of the Harvard Law Review by his peers and he wouldn't have been a popular constitutional law professor at a University for 10 years. If he weren't gifted he wouldn't have been able to write two extraordinary books by himself. Yes being able to do that does show intelligence - and again being smart matters!!! I think 8 years of George Bush have made that quite clear.

I'll tell you 15 reasons I'm voting for Obama! 1. He's going to lower taxes for 95% of Americans 2. He will protect a woman's right to choose! 3. He's going to create many new jobs by putting an emphasis on and developing technologies that we need for the 21st century - like energy efficient cars, alternative fuels, etc. 4. He will create affordable healthcare for ALL Americans. 5. He will end the war in Iraq and be responsible about handling Afganistan and Iran instead of impulsive as we see from McCain. 6. He has a much better voting record on supporting Veteran's issues. 7. He understands and supports working families. 8. He will make sure that our schools are improved and that our kids get the best education - encouraging parents to play an active role in this. 9. He supports women's rights and Equal pay for equal work. 10. He will make sure that we eliminate our addiction to oil! 11. He wil offer a $4000 annual college credit making it more affordable for more people to go to college - and in the process encourage students to get more involved in volunteering in their communities. 12. He will appoint reasonable people to future superme court vacancies. 13. He will be intelligent and careful in handling our economic situation including mortgage lending reform, wall street's role, and protecting our rights so average american's don't get screwed over by the banks, investors and greedy people. 14. He has shown both excellent judgement and an excellent temperment throughout this campaign. This kind of judgement, temperment and inspiration will bode well on our citizens and on our relationships with other countries. 15. He is intelligent - after 8 long years of an unintelligent president, I think American is desperate for someone who is smart, who is an expert on the constitution (he taught constitutional law in a university law school for 10 years). 15. He will eliminate income tax for Seniors. So many seniors have lost their savings due to the deregulation of the banking industry. We need to help them out especially now!

I could go on and on and on... there are endless reasons to support Obama/Biden. I am hopeful that we will be so lucky to have them as our leaders and I fully expect that those against them now will be very pleasantly surprised in the future!

Anyone has the ability to construct a sentence in English. Some people are very good speakers, and some are not. Barack mumbles and stumbles like the rest of the world. These are very deep points I might add ;) He is very highly educated, but his lack of experience is not something to run on for president. He is a puppet played by the strings of his advisors. Something is wrong with the campaign, they find a way for him to change it so it’s the right thing. How long until he says we need to drill for oil? I give it 2 weeks and then I can come back and state that he said the only way to bring the prices down is to decrease demand. Bush says we're going to drill and, look at that, oil drops a record 9$. I won’t draw any conclusions but Bush could easily win this battle of oil brains. Why should we avoid someone who knows something about an essential to daily life? That is like saying we should not have a tenured PH.D in medicine be in charge of a hospital or insurance company. RIGHT NOW THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN HELP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BESIDES MORE OIL AND TIME… WHEN WE DEVELOP THE TECHNOLOGY TO SWITCH IT WILL STILL NEED TO HAVE AN INFRASTRUCTURE. We have enough FUELS to provide us 50-100 years of oil natural gas etc. We need the okay to go get it. This argument is based on an undecided myth of global warming. 50-100 years is plenty of time to establish renewable fuels: until then the oil guys are who you need. There isn’t anything with the infrastructure and price efficiency that would make immediate implementation feasible. A Prius does not pay for its self for years upon years of use. Hydrogen is years out and will take even longer to become affordable. Alternative energy like solar, wind and ‘clean’ energy is not even close to as efficient as coal or nuclear power. We cannot allow ourselves to be overly influenced by the ‘Green’ messages of the main stream media. There are just as many scientists with no funding from any corporation saying global warming is not proven. Al Gore is a marketing man with his own reputation and investments on the line. If you want to see the truth about the Green myth…follow the money!

With an over stretched Armed forces, and Americas ’’Superpower’ status at threat from Europe and China, not spending Trillions of dollars on war and spending it on Americans so they can have free health care, further benefits, and soldiers not dying for an unnecessary reason, America would be richer and better, without a President who fights his campaign on his ‘tragedies’ in previous wars.

As the first Black President of the USA, it would send a message to the world how the majority of America is over racism. It would also be one of few Presidents to fight from grass roots and have his campaign run on the funds of the people rather than the Large Corporations.

The people of Afghanistan are so boggled by the fact that there is a black man with a real chance at being the next US president. Why is this important? Because it utterly destroys the stereotype they have of America being run by rich white racist men. Like it or not, the US world image is extremely important to USA security. If the USA appears to be racist it's because bombs and bullets have been the USA's #1 export to places inhabited by people of colour. Anything that the USA can do to reverse this thinking only tapers negative stereotypes and the hatred it spawns against the US.

Let’s say you’re buying a new car. We all know how big of a decision buying a car is. Now imagine you’re on the lot trying to make your decision and you are approached with a sales person who has the exact personality of George W. Bush. He fumbles for words, knows little about the car trying to sell, he’s smug, cocky, thinks himself to be so damn funny and seems to be all too eager to get that commission. Now imagine someone like Hillary, an icy but seemingly friendly individual, yet you can’t help get that nagging feeling that her smile is pretty disingenuous and all she wants is be sales person of the year; an opportunist. Now imagine someone like Obama is helping you decide on a car. You know he’s a sales person and makes a living selling cars to people like you, but wouldn’t you be more appreciative of someone that is at least convincingly empathic to your needs and is genuinely charismatic instead of thinking that they were? Now imagine him in a foreign affairs scenario where he has to come to a diplomatic solution where the security needs of people are the main concern. Think about how the next president’s personality will affect their ability to work with leaders from all over the world. Never, ever underestimate the power of charisma.

Barack Obama has personal experience with poverty and the growing income gap, having grown up abroad in Indonesia and working as a community organizer in the south side of Chicago.

He also taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago, so he knows how our government is supposed to work.

After graduating Harvard Law, Magna Cum Laude and president of the Harvard Law Review, Obama could have become a wealthy corporate or trial lawyer but returned to Chicago to practice civil rights law. Although each dollar benefits him in the long run, what would you rather have? A President funded by the people – who can’t actual spend the money on anything but his campaign – or a President funded by Corporations which he has then got to return their interests by paying them back in some way. Campaign reform yes, revolution no. But what would be the ‘revolution’ of how to fight a campaign be? To do that you have to be in office. A slight exaggeration I feel, $25k per person?! So what, he has more money than the other candidate – lets hope that ensures he wins. The fact that he’s raised more money than any other President in history just proves that he is popular with those people who have money to give, and that how determined some of the American public are to seeing Obama win. Instead of the determination of the companies, it is the people that are willing to give him the money to succeed the Presidency. Perhaps McCain has set limits because he cannot raise any more money from those that have given money already.

This point is too scandalous to even go deep into without defining a moral code to judge by. Can we even develop that? He may not be going after the big salary, but each dollar donated to his campaign benefits him in the long run. Can you say campaign reform? I would rather have the one who stuck to his word when he said he will choose to use the limits of $84 million rather than the up to $25k per person. Obama has already raised more than any other president in history. McCain now has guidelines: Obama does not. Congratulations-you want him to buy the Presidency? McCain chose the finance reform because he brought the bill into law. Obama is buying the election; the media is giving him more ridiculous publicity and questioning McCain for lesser fine tunes than OBAMA.

He has the most experience as an elected official and legislator with over 10 years in state and federal public service. He is the only top Democratic candidate who understands both state and federal government as an elected legislator. "Obama worked as a community organizer and practiced as a civil rights attorney before serving in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004" Seems to me he’s got a few years experience of public office – that’s federal service. Perhaps he has not held Federal Office, but that’s not the same as a federal service. The failures/success of his housing schemes in Chicago does not mean it was Obama’s fault, he proposed the idea and set it in motion, it was the contractor who failed to supply adequate housing, not Obama.

There are a lot of definitive terms in your point in which you use "the most experience" and "The only top Democratic". I would say his experience or lack there of is a weakness. You cannot say with any reason or logic that Obama has Federal service of more than a few months. Almost immediately after being elected into the Senate he began his campaign for President. His lack of experience has been noted in his need to fine tune his views which more often than not will change 180 degrees from his original stand point. He has done so on issues such as the Iraq war, Iran and Oil, as shown on July 15th when Bush said we are going to drill and oil drops 9$. From 1997 – 2004 he was in the State senate not Federal senate. He has no national record to speak of and has failed before in the state senate… do you know about his so called affordable housing failures in Chicago? How there were hundred of millions of $ allocated to repair/rebuild "projects" The money was given to his connections like Resko and those who were supposed to make things liveable. The housing is still in shambles and the money is gone. No, it is OBAMA’s fault he gave the contracts to his friends like Resko! Federal service is for the entire country! He was a state servant and a poor one at that.

He has received an A+ score from the Genocide Intervention Network for being a "champion" and taking crucial action to end the genocide in Darfur, co-sponsoring and voting for all significant Darfur legislation. Actually it was Bush who started the Genocide of the Kurds in Northern Iraq. The ILLEGAL [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_no-fly_zones] no-fly zones across northern Iraq were implemented by Clinton, but in 2003, the year of invasion, Bush ordered ‘Kurdish rebels’ to be bombed. This, along with the Turkish bombing, killed 30,000 people and displaced 3 million. Bush has murdered 1.2 million Iraqis [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ORB_survey_of_casualties_of_the_Iraq_War] in 5 years. Saddam Hussein was a very nice man in comparison; he only murdered 550,000 people in his 8000 odd days of power. I have friends in Iraq who have come to Britain now, and some of their friends and their families weren’t killed by militants but by US forces. These incidents only fuel Anti-US anger. Therefore, no, Bush is not a humanitarian.

This is a good point but it would have to in-turn give a similar point to Bush for ending the genocide of the Kurds in Iraq.

Barack Obama is committed to universal health care by the end of his first term. It will never be perfect, but to have free health care for all is not only noble, but a good idea. Here in Britain we have free health care for all; if I nearly lose a leg, I get a £15000 operation for free. I don’t have to worry about any premium on the insurance to pay off, and the system has nearly been perfected now. There are some problems but nothing major.

Name one thing the government runs efficiently?

You wait until it goes bankrupt and you have to bail it out

He has sponsored, co-sponsored and advocated for significant and realistic legislation to end global warming by capturing and safely disposing carbon dioxide, raising vehicle fuel economy standards and replacing petroleum with home-grown biofuels like cellulosic ethanol

How would you try to rid the world of Carbon Dioxide?

Obama has worked to promote civil rights and fairness in the criminal justice system throughout his career. As a community organizer, Obama helped 150,000 African Americans register to vote. As a civil rights lawyer, Obama litigated employment discrimination, housing discrimination, and voting rights cases. As a State Senator, Obama passed one of the country's first racial profiling laws and helped reform a broken death penalty system. And in the U.S. Senate, Obama has been a leading advocate for protecting the right to vote, helping to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act and leading the opposition against discriminatory barriers to voting.

First, provide Americans with disabilities with the educational opportunities they need to succeed.

Second, end discrimination and promote equal opportunity.

Third, increase the employment rate of workers with disabilities.

And fourth, support independent, community-based living for Americans with disabilities.

Obama has been a leader on educational issues throughout his career. In the Illinois State Senate, Obama was a leader on early childhood education, helping create the state's Early Learning Council. In the U.S. Senate, Obama has been a leader in working to make college more affordable. His very first bill sought to increase the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,100. As a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee, Obama helped pass legislation to achieve that goal in the recent improvements to the Higher Education Act. Obama has also introduced legislation to create Teacher Residency Programs and to increase federal support for summer learning opportunities.

Crack Down on Employers: Obama championed a proposal to create a system so employers can verify that their employees are legally eligible to work in the U.S. Fix the Bureaucracy: Obama joined Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) to introduce the Citizenship Promotion Act to ensure that immigration application fees are both reasonable and fair. Obama also introduced legislation that passed the Senate to improve the speed and accuracy of FBI background checks. Respect Families: Obama introduced amendments to put greater emphasis on keeping immigrant families together.

Barack Obama opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning. In 2002, as the conventional thinking in Washington lined up for war, Obama had the judgment and courage to speak out against the war. He said the war would lead to “an occupation of undetermined length, with undetermined costs and undetermined consequences.” In January 2007, Obama introduced legislation to responsibly end the war in Iraq, with a phased withdrawal of troops engaged in combat operations.

point has been moved to correct column -->

Just one of the things I came across; http://www.topix.com/forum/us-senate/barack-obama/TDE0J07PAHTB3R192 For more in depth research check out www.zeitgeistmovie.com or look up a film called MONEY MASTERS in Google video or Youtube. Bottom line is, if you really want "CHANGE", then there is no point voting for someone who isn’t planning on changing the BANKING SYSTEM.

The Federal Reserve regulates money flow. It is a PRIVATELY OWNED (by Rockerfellers, Rothschilds etc) corporation that loans money to the government AT INTEREST. The way the government pays this back is through the TAX that YOU pay. Here’s an example using hypothetical monetary values but in a real world situation. In 2007, the Bush administration borrowed $1 trillion from the Federal Reserve (the money used to pay for schools, health, defence etc). Just say the Federal Reserve loaned this to them at .2% interest… at the beginning of 2008 the bush administration would have to pay back $1.2 trillion. So, in just one year,the need for money rises by $200 billion. This is known as INFLATION. But wait, how does the Government pay back an extra $200 billion?? They raise your taxes. The Federal Reserve owns your government, and it owns you. Until people realise how badly they are being used by these people who are literally 'above' the rest of us we will continue to see this world become even more horrible than it already is.

Let's face it, our country needs change; we've got an illegitimate war, record oil/gas prices, housing is down, etc... Something has to give, and I'm sure we all agree it won't be us.

Whether or not Obama is the man of change that we need - I truly believe he is the one that while even if he can't bring about significant change in his first of second term, he will still set the deal in motion. It's undebatable whether he's revolutionized grassroots politics, he's made people believe in their voice again.

(And this is coming from an Obama supporter and grassroots activist.)

As per the argument regarding racism and America, racism is still alive and well; it will always be alive and well so long as there are people who are ignorant and susceptible to it. It's unfortunate, but the sad reality of it. A good example can be my cousin's fiance; he's from a small town in the far south-east area of Georgia. He explained to me one day many years ago that where he's from - it's as if nothing has changed.

Obama is defiantly not the "change" we need.

The BEST listener of all points

he has common sense to run the USA. thats what McCain and Bush dont have

barrack obama is the best democrat you could ever vote for ..<333

lies.

I've just read a <a href="http://twitter.com/bloggerheads/status/4733762413">tweet</a>; that reads:

MitchBenn: It's official: George Bush was such an asshole you can win the Nobel Peace Prize just by not being him. (via @lisybabe)

I, too, take this stance.

However, on a serious note, Obama's attempts to secure talks with the world's most unpalatable leaders, is surely something to admire. Dialogue with the enemy is a brave move - often dangerous - but it may just be the single most genius move this century, to curb at the root the expansion of miscreant nations.

For more, <a href="http://raincoatoptimism.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/taliban-dialogue-what-is-all-the-talk-about/">see my blog entry on the subject</a>

its true.

seriously.

Mr. Obama is intelligent because of the grades he got at the Number 1 University in the world. He has the ability to make the right decisions when he is in a period of learning. Unlike the current President, Bush, who, after doing a History BA, came third from bottom in his year. Which aint that samrt in the begining which reflected on his 8 years of presidency. Fine tuning your policies because it’s not what the public wants only demonstrates that he is a man of the people, and listens. To change any policy, if he has, surely only shows how he wants to give America back to Americans. You don’t have to be flag waving to be Patriotic, you don’t have to wear the pin to be Patriotic; it is what is in your heart that counts. Iran isn’t a threat unless Iran feels threatened, war causes war, and unless it is threatened in ways of sanctions or otherwise, it won’t do anything. They are not stupid; they don’t want to challenge the biggest single power on earth to a fight. the only reason we got terrorists is because they think we is terrorists over there. He has to wear a lapel pin now because there are people out there who don’t consider him a patriot if he doesn’t wear one, so he feels compelled to wear it. Rev. Wright, although should have given some kind of restraint to gain respect, was quite right to make such a speech, a lot of things he said were correct. Killing hundreds of thousands of people in foreign countries, with wars not ordained by the UN, is only going to antagonise the rest of the world. Terrorism is a last act of desperation for most. But to say Rev. Wright reflects the opinions of Barack Obama is absurd. It’s like being in the Republican Party: just because the President at the moment says something, it doesn’t mean that every single member agrees with it.Rep. tell the dem. what to do and so do the dem. to the rep. No,you don’t let a 5-year-old play with a knife or gun, but Iran (Persia) is not 5 years old, and is over 10,000 years old! In comparison America is a new born baby. America has no rights over any sovereign nation other than itself. It is something for the UN to decide, and the US to back. Not the other way round. Perhaps you’re saying that Iran is dangerous and should be controlled. I’m saying that Barracks policy of talking to them diplomatically and not engaging in war would be the most sensible, not a war-hungry McCain who would pursue military action. It’s not in the US’ jurisdiction; they were not elected as the ‘World Police’. all im saying is john mccain shouldn't be president becaus ebarrack obama is the best choice not because of his skin color but because of his way of thinking.

I will start at point one and wait until it is refuted. Mr. Obama is not an intelligent leader since he is basically still learning. The evidence is in how he has "fine tuned" his policies when he realizes they are not what the public wants. His greatest weapon is a great speech, but what will be his downfall is if people ever question him. He is already trying to hide his flaws through his speeches (e.g. Patriotism “I won’t question yours if you don’t question mine" Or saying Iran is small and no major threat; then days later Iran is a grave threat.) It is an intelligent move to say what needs to be said to get elected, but a bit wiser to have known it from the start. The problem with pointing out these things is like trying to debate football teams. If you have a favourite team it takes a total insult from the team to possibly let the fans disown them. I am not for McCain but I am definitely not for Obama. Fine tuning your policies is what McCain does as well. There is a difference between fine tuning and changing completely. If Barack was to change his opinion in the near future on drilling what would you personally think? Why does Paulose refuse to allow such a bill to reach the floor for vote? Yes, you don’t have to wear a lapel pin, but why does he now? Why does he have to give a speech to redefine patriotism? Why did he sit in his church with Rev. Wright for all those years? I do not think Iran is that stupid. However, they are dangerous. The point is, you don’t let a 5-year-old play with a knife or gun do you? So why do you let a presidential candidate say how little IRAN and other terrorist countries are, then days later realize he could have cut his fingers off or killed him self with the gun… THE FIVE YEAR old is Barack and his foreign policy is the infant!

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