Obama
August 28th, 2008 by 
Alica
It’s official. Barack Obama is the Democratic candidate for president. What do you think of his choice for running mate, Joe Biden? As a team, what do you think are their strengths and weaknesses?
Some people are skeptical of Obama’s ability to run a country, citing his youth and saying he doesn’t have enough experience. Biden has been in the Senate since 1972. It’s said he’s on a first name basis with many world leaders.
What do you think their chances are of winning in November?
Posted in Uncategorized, Presidential election | 
August 28th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
I think it will take Obama’s youth to see into the future. It seems the older the candidate, the bigger chance of status quo — something that seriously needs to change for things like oil dependence & exports to change.
August 28th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Why is it, that “change” for the sake of change is good? I think it is absolutely ridiculous and the biggest cop-out in the world that people cling to the mantra, “We need change.” It doesn’t matter at what level, City, County, State or Federal Government. The easiest thing in the World is to say the way it is being done is wrong, I can do better, we need change. It is quite another to actually be able to affectuate that change and will your “change” be better than the status quo? Non-incumbents have always relied on that BS tactic and often find themselves on the sh&t-end of the stick once they are elected and have to stand on their own record of achievment. Now, suddently “change” isn’t such a nice word. English Songbird and all of you who are undoubtedly shaking your heard in disagreement with me, explain to me what exactly is Obama’s vision and why would inexperience and youth be better than experience and wisdom in age? I’ll listen, I promise.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
To #2: I agree that I’d like to learn more about the specifics of Obama’s vision. Once I have an idea of what he has in mind, and how he plans to achieve it, I can make a more informed decision on whether to vote for him or not.
In general, the word “change” just means “not the status quo.” For me, infinity minus one isn’t a sure enough bet.
August 29th, 2008 at 2:40 am
Change is not a bad word or idea but a message that is clearly lost to South Dakotans. The reason the state is last in almost everything is fear of change. I and many others moved out of state because there was no future in staying. Senator Obama may not be the total answer but staying the same is no answer. Obama wants to hold big corporations accountable for how they conduct themselves. Sending jobs overseas and cutting pension plans while still seeking handouts from the government. South Dakota already passed on a great leader in Tom Daschle, dont miss out on a chance to bring some hope of a better future to your kids.
August 29th, 2008 at 5:45 am
Amusing for you (#4) to say there is no future in SD — many of us have found and/or created great opportunity here, as well as a high quality of life. South Dakotans do change, as seen in the example you used — we wanted a change from Daschle.
We all change — we just don’t like change we don’t like!!!
August 29th, 2008 at 7:17 am
Everyone is talking about change, and in the world of government that means changing who is in office, RIGHT? The individuals that are there now need to be changed, does that mean Mr. Johnson also? He’s been there for a long time and is responsible merely because he has been there. Mr. Obama will make everything OKAY, yea right! Excuse me, a politian has to be the crookedest individual in the world and all of them should be given one term to prove them selves, do want they campaign for or there OUT.
I have always wondered why a person will spend millions of there own money for a job that only pays what $100,000 a year, oh, that’s right they get that for the rest of there life for retirement. They decide that, must be nice, Sorry Obama will not change a thing, kid yourself and live in the political fantasy world.
August 29th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Does anyone think it’s ironic that a presidential candidate who campaigns for change has chosen a running mate who has been in the Senate for 36 years?
August 29th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Alica, that is exactly what I mean, they all say this country needs change, yet it the same old people driving the same old machine. Here is a man for 36 years that has helped drive up the defeciet, help steal from social security fund and give billions of dollars away to foreign countries that will never repay us, let alone hate us. Yep, were in for a change allright!!!!
The only way that a change is going to occur is to get rid of ALL OF THEM!
August 29th, 2008 at 10:04 am
The older you get, the smarter your parents are. Meaning, both of these people will be able to hear and listen to each other. Ironic, not so much. This is a ticket that will balance. For #2 — do you think we should continue to dump money & resources into economies other than our own? Yes, children are starving, families are torn apart by civil war, standards of living are deplorable in OTHER countries…yada yada yada. What about what is happening in Michigan…California…New Orleans…Kentucky…[insert any state here]? This is the change we need. I know that foreign policy is necessary, however, should it be priority? Clean your own yard first, and then you will have the means to go clean another yard.
August 31st, 2008 at 7:02 pm
the reason we need change is the eight years of bush and cheny
August 31st, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Sure John & English, again it’s easy to say, “…we need change.” We of course would agree that Bush & Cheney will NOT be in the White House after this election, NO MATTER WHO gets elected..right? With that in mind, you have to admit that the “change” will happen regardless of who is elected. So, perhaps we can get over the semantics and vote for the ticket who will benefit this country for the next four years, not the ticket who has the cleverest sound bites and hot-air speeches. Obama has admitted and stated in public he, “…started running for President about 10 seconds after he was elected to the Senate…” Talk about cart before he horse, or the Country for that matter.
September 1st, 2008 at 11:00 am
Yes, you are absolutely right. Vote for the ticket that will benefit the country. And what is so wrong with high goals & aspirations?
September 9th, 2008 at 9:43 am
What’s in the heart comes out via the tongue!
From Rush Limbaugh’s radio show yesterday…..
Hey, folks, you want to tweak the Drive-By Media with me right now?
You are aware, probably, that Barack Obama lost his bearings recently and said that he was going to campaign in all 57 states.
You heard this? And everybody chalked it up to, ‘Well, he’s tired.’
You know, this is a Dan Quayle moment. I mean, Dan Qu ayle goes out there and misspells ‘potato,’ and we still hear jokes about it.
Barack Obama says he’s gonna go out and campaign in 57 states, he was just tired, you know, it’s been such a long campaign, he’s been so many places, he probably thinks there are 57 states.
Well, I have here a printout from a web site called the International Humanist and Ethical Union. And here is how the second paragraph of an article on that website begins.
‘Every year from 1999 to 2005 the organization of the Islamic conference representing the 57 Islamic states presented a resolution to the United Nations Commission on human rights called combating.’
Obama said he’s going to campaign in 57 states, and it turns out that there are 57 Islamic states.
See http://www.iheu.org/node/2546
So did Obama just lose his bearings, or was this a more telling slip, ladies and gentlemen?
September 9th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Oh, for crying out loud, Community Advisor! Maybe Obama read the same article you are referencing and had a brain fart. Are you going to tell me you have never misquoted a number? And if you did, could we not find a million references to the number you misquoted and link that to all kinds of scandal? Fifty Seven is also the name of a swank restaurant in California and New York. It is also the name of a Rock Band. By the way, it was also fifty seven days until the election when he was making that speech.
Trust me, if the mainstream media haven’t found links between Obama and Islamic organizations by now, then no one ever will. He also referred to Sioux Falls as Sioux City when he was campaigning here, so does that mean he is a terrorist? Ooooo…Obama thinks Sioux Falls is Sioux City so, um, well, ya know, his name is kinda weird, and uh, his mom lives in Africa, and, um, well, ….come on, Community Advisor…why not just admit you are a hard line right winger and looking for ‘an angle’ to topple the opposition. You were listening to that blow hard, racist Rush Limbaugh…what more do I need to say?
September 10th, 2008 at 8:26 am
The truth is in the middle of both 13 & 14, it’s hard to forget your roots no matter who you are. To have changed your religous beliefs simply to run for public office, not sure what that tells you about a person.
As for the media digging up things on this with Obama, they started and then the race card was played, they cried foul.
They want to have there cake and eat it to.
September 10th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Wow, #14 I did not know wthat you were releated to Osama? Sorry to hurt your feelings, now go take a prozak and chill. It’s just a bit odd to me?
September 13th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Wow, Community Advisor, you don’t care who you mouth off to. do you? I have to give you credit, at least your consistent and an equal opportunity jerk.
September 14th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Community Advisor, your comment “I did not know wthat you were releated to Osama” (are you drinking again, or just that poor at typing?) merely tells everyone how ignorant you really are. Your name, Community Advisor, is a misnomer. Arrogance and ignorance is a miserable combination.
And, dkjk, Obama didn’t change religious beliefs just to run for office. You are paying too much attention to the drivel that comes from people like Community Advisor. Perhaps you should read Obama’s bio, and McCain’s for that matter, before you make statements like that. By the way, since when is it “playing the race card” when a candidate sets the record straight about their background?
September 16th, 2008 at 9:16 am
18 that is my concern he changed to a christian religion but did not change his beliefs, still muslum
September 16th, 2008 at 11:45 am
#19, what makes you think he still has Muslim beliefs? He was raised in the Baptist church. You are getting misleading information. Let’s face it: Obama is black and has a ‘funny’ name, so you, like many, think he must be a terrorist.
September 16th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
The Web site athiesm.about.com contains the following quote from Obama’s book “The Audacity of Hope.” I haven’t seen Obama’s book myself, so I don’t know if this quote is pulled word for word from the book, but that is what the Web site claims:
“I was not raised in a religious household. For my mother, organized religion too often dressed up closed-mindedness in the garb of piety, cruelty and oppression in the cloak of righteousness. However, in her mind, a working knowledge of the world’s great religions was a necessary part of any well-rounded education. In our household the Bible, the Koran, and the Bhagavad Gita sat on the shelf alongside books of Greek and Norse and African mythology.
On Easter or Christmas Day my mother might drag me to church, just as she dragged me to the Buddhist temple, the Chinese New Year celebration, the Shinto shrine, and ancient Hawaiian burial sites. In sum, my mother viewed religion through the eyes of the anthropologist; it was a phenomenon to be treated with a suitable respect, but with a suitable detachment as well.”
Also, I found the following quotes on the Web site barackobama.com:
Obama Found Faith During Community Organizing Days. “It was at Trinity United Church of Christ here, in the late 1980s, that Senator Obama says he found religion. Raised in a secular household, with ancestral roots running from Islam to Baptist to atheist, Obama had grown up a skeptic. But Mr. Wright’s blend of scripture and social action resonated with Obama, then a young community organizer in black neighborhoods ravaged by steel-mill closings.” [Christian Science Monitor, 7/16/07]
Obama Was Baptized And Attends Church Once a Week When He is Able. In the Audacity of Hope, Obama wrote, “I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity United Church of Christ one day and be baptized.” In 2004, he “attend[ed] the 11 a.m. Sunday service at Trinity in the Brainerd neighborhood every week — or at least as many weeks as he is able. His pastor, Wright, has become a close confidant.” When asked about his decision to be baptized, Obama said “Kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side of Chicago, I felt I heard God’s spirit beckoning me,” he said of his walk down the aisle of the Trinity United Church of Christ. “I submitted myself to his will and dedicated myself to discovering his truth.” [Audacity of Hope, p.208, Chicago Sun Times, 4/5/04; AP 6/28/06]