People, come on.

This is not helpful, necessary, constructive, or positive. There's a reason Obama has a strong vetting team for the VP slot - to find stuff that we don't know about possible candidates. I have no interest in second-guessing a process that I'm not a part of.

There are valid reasons for Clinton to be VP, and valid reasons for her not to be. I personally think Wes Clark is the best for the slot, but it's not my call. Nor is it something I should be getting invested in. Find a race or contest to get invested in where you can actually make a difference - there are lots of local candidates who could use some help.

Let Obama's team do its job, and lets stop fighting the primary wars. There are too many constructive subjects to write on that don't get enough attention - Congressional races and current policy issues, such as the Medicare vote that Ted Kennedy returned for.

Update [2008-7-10 12:43:59 by Falsehood]: - Added Clinton's name, and commendations for those in the comments who have been thoughtful. If you want another idea of an area for Obama to talk about, we can discuss the Party Platform that needs to be written. I've yet to see a diary on that. Thanks for the rec's - rest assured I know I don't deserve them, but that this diary expresses a common sentiment.

In high school, I went to a summer program that had a large number of religious conservatives. When I arrived at the program (which had no religious basis), I had the goal in my head of being an evangelical in the other direction. I thought I could convince them of their errors and show them that those with different politics didn't match the stereotypes that are still propagated today.

Instead, I came away from that program convinced that there was much more bringing us together than binding us apart. I spent a good two hours with one of my friends, and all the discussion and argument over homosexuality and morality came down to one word: "Natural"

We had different definitions, and no amount of reasoning or logic was going to change that reality.

Hello All,

It looks like today has seen a bit of "buyer's remorse" for Barack Obama.

We've seen the meme loud and clear. From FISA to the faith-based funding to (apparently?) abortion, everyone seems convinced that Obama has moved massively to the center, dragging the support of Liberals along.

Let me be clear: I am a moderate. My individual positions vary, but I don't agree with many of you on some areas of policy. I don't think that invalidates my opinion, however.

Hello All,

There are currently two diaries on the rec list expressing anger about Obama's proposal to make federal funding available to "faith-based" programs.

The popular quote at my family's large gatherings is that we don't discuss politics or religion. MyDD isn't going to avoid the first, but I think we all know that Religion is an area of, er, heated discussion, especially over the internet.

I attend a church that runs a very good program for addicts. We have also been kicked out of a few conservative organizations for our views on homosexuality, so be forewarned that I do have a bias here. Biases run in all directions - some are convinced that atheism is evil, and others are convinced that religion is evil. This question - WHO IS RIGHT? - isn't going to be answered here, as we all know.

Yet that's the discussion I see going on in some comments.

Hello all,

I'm real confused. Clark's comments have engendered a wave of protest on sites like Kos and MyDD, as well as defenders.

I really don't understand what's so controversial about what he said.

Update [2008-6-24 12:1:43 by Falsehood]: I just found an interesting quote from an old Times article:

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut has said that the general's joining the Democratic Party was a matter of ''political convenience, not conviction.''

Hello All,

I'm sure that more than I know goes into the Vice Presidential Selection, and I don't think any of us will be able to judge the outsome from the outside, but I'm very confused as to why Wesley Clark isn't on the VP short list.

Howdy folks,

There's been a lot of talk about Obama's statement on FISA - here's my perspective.

Obama is running for President, and his agenda in office will require congressional cooperation. During the time we were all waiting for Obama to say something, my bet is that his staffers were talking to a whole bunch of Congressional types about how and why various leaders (especially Pelosi and Hoyer) took this position.

I think Obama realized he couldn't bring Pelosi and Hoyer against FISA, and made a decision to generally preserve party unity at this stage of the race.

Up until today, the campaigns of McCain and Obama have avoided a major conflict, in part because of the attention focused on flooding in the Midwest. (Donate here)

Thus far, the campaigns have conflicted on the proposed town halls, gas policy (Carter's 2nd term versus Bush's 3rd), taxation, the Supreme Court ruling, Obama's VP vetter, and the "9/10 mindset."

However, this story is different for a few reasons.