Is Obama really a liberal?

[BayCityProgressive]

I really don't know much about Barrack Obama. Is he really a liberal in the Boxer, Wellstone, Feingold, Kennedy tradition, or is he a moderate that liberals are giving undue praise like Hillary Clinton? Where does he stand on Welfare, gay rights, healthcare, civil liberties, taxes, war and peace ect ect? How did he vote in the Illinois legislature?

[DrWeird]

1. I read some where that he's against gay marriage.

So if that's true, then he sure as hell isn't a liberal.

[MrUnderhill]

4. Not many "liberals" at all by that standard.

Not Clinton, Gore, or Kerry.

And not the vast bulk of the populace.

[DrWeird]

7. Liberals aren't bigots.

If you're against gay marriage, you're a bigot. No ifs and or buts. Doesn't matter who you are.

[MrUnderhill]

15. Had a hard time supporting Kerry, eh?

You wouldn't vote for a "bigot" would you?

So do we have you to blame for the loss? What state are you in?

[Forkboy]

20. Yes..DrWeird is the reason we lost

:eyes:

[MrUnderhill]

23. Thank goodness!

I was having trouble coping with the whole thing...


But now that I have someone to BLAME I feel much better.
:-)

[Forkboy]

25. Or you can be like a lot of other dems

and just blame the gays.

[MrUnderhill]

26. Yeah! They're either liars or unpatriotic. Right?

Exit polling showed 4% of the electorate considered themselves gay/lesbian.

So that means that only a quarter of them showed up to vote in our largest turnout election in decades?

What... the issues weren't important enough for them?

< /tongue in cheek>

[alcuno]

17. You can be a liberal and a bigot.

I'm intolerant toward Christian fundamentalists. I still consider myself liberal. As for gay marriage, many people look at it in a religious context rather than as a matter of equal rights. The question is how to get people to see it as a matter of fairness and separate from their religious views.

[sonicx]

12. Clinton and Gore aren't liberals

some say Kerry is, but i don't think so.

[Thurston Howell IV]

10. I heard him speak at length on this in a radio interview

It was before the Newson/SF Gay marriage media fest. He essentially played the very smart politician on this one. He said that he felt that there was not a consensus in the gay community on whether to push for gay marriage at this time. Does the gay community feel that it should expend its "political capital" (my interpretation of his statement) on this issue at this time? His position was that he was waiting to see where they wanted to go, and it sounded like he would lend his support once a consensus developed.

I take this to be a politically "rational" position. But I certainly sensed that he is in favor of equal rights. The question is how/when to pursue the particulars. As we can see, the push for gay marriage at this time may have backfired in the short-term.

[NervousRex]

2. Time will tell...

but I have my suspicions.

[BayCityProgressive]

5. Well

I am a gay Democrat and Boxer, Feingold, AND Wellstone were all opposed to gay marriage. While I am extremely dissapointed in them and wa sin Wellstone I still consider them liberals. they do support civil unions. I think only Kennedy supports gay marriage. No other senators.

[gordianot]

3. He got star status very quickly.

Speaking for myself I'll wait and see.

[Rowdyboy]

6. Any particular issues you're interested in?

http://www.obamablog.com/

I believe the man is honest and his political persuasion is obvious to anyone who considers his record objectively....

Just my opinion...

[Kitka]

19. I agree. Look at the man's record. That will answer your question.

[Her Blondness]

8. And is he really black?

[Merlot]

9. Did you see him on Letterman?

Yes, he's eloquent and telegenic. But he had nothing nice to say about Kerry, and when Letterman asked about the race, he said "mistakes were made" and praised bushes campaign. Letterman asked him to name an example of a "mistake" and he said "windsurfing."

Gotta say, I lost some enthusiam for Obama with those remarks.

[saracat]

13. I posted a thread saying that and argued for days. I was informed NO ONE

saw Obama's statement like that and I must have been watching another show in my head. Thank you for posting this. Now I have proof I am not alone! I lost ALOT of enthusiasm for Obama with those remarks.

[sonicx]

14. he meant that the windsurfing thing played into the 'elitist' label Kerry

was given. don't you agree?

[leyton]

11. Just because he might not be a liberal doesn't mean praise is undue.

Even if Obama is a mainstream Democrat or a centrist, he gets major kudoes for the sentiment expressed in his convention speech, which is that the whole red-state/blue-state paradigm is divisive and full of crap. This guy is the real thing when it comes to uniting, not dividing. The guy's potential for leadership, IMO, outweighs his stance on any particular issue as long as he's not a Republican.

[Obviousman]

16. For goodness sake, we have to stop eating our own

Obama will be a great senator, but just because he does not embrace every ideal you have doesnt mean we should turn the firing squad on him.

[paulk]

18. since he has yet to serve a single day

as a seated US Senator....

it's kind of hard to tell?

[NervousRex]

31. Agreed

I will wait a few years before I hate him.

[Guarionex]

21. I don't like Obama

Something about him don't jive well with me...can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's his perfect "race-uniter" status...he got famous too quick...and his message is not one of fighting for our rights, but rather more of the wishy washy "hope" talk that we get from left Democrats..

I want leaders that will talk clearly...and fight the Fascist juggernaut.

My support for the Democratic Party was conditional this election cycle...conditional on removing the fascist, Bush. But, now that this is not a consideration, I will examine more radical parties for support.

[imenja]

22. No one gets a break here

Give the guy a chance. He's just getting started at the national level.

[alcuno]

24. Well he's my senator and I wish people who don't live in Illinois

would get their own PAIR of Democratic senators and stop expecting our freshman senator from Illinois to save them.

[Withywindle]

37. THANK YOU!

WTF do people insist on putting the kid (in political terms, he is) on a pedestal and knocking him off it again 40 times before his first day in the Senate?

He's not going to save the Party heroically or betray it to its doom any time soon. He's going to be doing a whole lot of unglamorous grunt work, and maybe...maybe...get the chance to make a few speeches once in a while.

[Kitka]

27. That's ridiculous.

Obama is so much a progressive that there was no way I thought we had a chance of actually winning the primary in IL. You'd give condititonal support to a Dem like Kerry but not Obama? I think you should look at his record.

[Hippo_Tron]

28. Your low post count doesn't help your case...

But I I won't yell troll just yet.

[Hippo_Tron]

29. Dupe (n/t)

n/t

[amandabeech]

34. Something about Obama doesn't jibe well with me, either,

and I can't put my finger on it.

I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I've had the same feelings about others whom everyone loved, but my doubts turned out to be accurate.

[bluetrain]

35. I can't say that I don't like him but

it was obvious the Wrongs threw the IL election. From the go I've felt he was being set up for something whether of his own accord or not I don't know.

[Withywindle]

38. Threw it?

Nah. They're just FUBAR in Illinois. Corruption scandals, mostly--years and years of them. Not to mention that George Ryan's last stand (moratorium on the death penalty and then mass commutation of sentences) was actually pretty damn amazing to progressive eyes, and demoralized the RW something fierce.

Obama wasn't even originally the frontrunner in the Dem primary. That was Blair Hull, who got taken out by allegations of domestic violence against his former wife.

So then as the race proper starts up, he's against Jack Ryan, kind of your typical Republican stiffy, but kind of handsome and with some claim to "compassionate conservatism." Would have been closer, anyway--but then Ryan's divorce records came out, and it turned out he'd tried to pressure his wife Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine on Star Trek Voyager, BTW...you can't make this stuff up!) into believing that "public service" was something you did in adults-only clubs. Even before this point, though, Obama was opening up a lead.

Now, because the Republicans in Illinois are in such disarray--and such a state of war between the old-guard moderates and the foaming freepers, they were having trouble finding someone who wants the job, much less can win. I still don't know how they hell they came up with Keyes, but I know the old guard was NOT happy.

Why is Obama such a media/party darling? I think it's many reasons (not necessary in order of importance, but maybe):

1. He's extremely intelligent and eloquent. First Black Pres of Harvard Law Review ain't shabby.
2. He's a very, very attractive man. (Yes, this does matter! More than it should.)
3. Really interesting background. Immediate family on three continents, and he's even part white/Red State (Kansas, specifically, though he grew up in Hawaii).
4. Nationally speaking, Illinois is blue to the bone (for much the same reason New York State is--it's got that 800-lb. urban gorilla in the corner). Unless he gets caught molesting a Doberman, Obama's probably in as long as he wants to stay. But it's also genuinely midwestern, so it improves that Heartland cred.

So no, I think it's not some kind of conspiracy, just a dramatic convergence of X factors, a sort of Perfect Storm of Senate races.

[Meshuga]

30. We will just have to sit and wait...

...to find out. Won't we? We need to judge him for his actions as Senator. Only time will tell.

[AlFrankenFan]

32. gawd didn't you guys want him in 2012 just a few months ago?!

do your research first....:grr:

[Swamp Rat]

33. We need MORE Obamas, especially in Louisiana

[Doomsayer13]

36. He had a solid liberal record in the State Senate

but he was also popular with his Republican colleaugues becuase he was a consensus builder and worked for practical problem solving in government. He's well spoken, articulate, and a proven winner. Those three considered, I predict that he'll be unpopular at DU in about a year.

DU has proven time and time again that they respect losers more than winners.

[0rganism]

39. Here's his page at issues2000.org

http://www.issues2000.org/Senate/Barack_Obama.htm

FWIW, he's rated as slightly more liberal than Hillary on their graph thingy, both socially and economically.

[Zhade]

40. Fairly sure he is, though the DLC tried to claim him as their own.

He put a stop to THAT bit of body-snatching, though, and none too soon!

I'll be watching the guy. He seems promising.