Yes, I believe it will have an impact, obv. not an immediate ("magical") impact:

White people voting a black (half) man President will directly contradict what people like Wright, and others who share those views, are orating.

Blacks won't be able to rely as much on the crutch that they are in such a negative predicament because white people hold money/power away from them.

Black youth will have a positive role model in the top leadership in the country.

Black Americans will have significant representation in the country and likely more of them will take ownership and accountability in fostering America's prosperity.

America electing Obama sends a clear message: The majority of Whites in America are not racist and they view worth in a person in spite of his color. This belief has not been widely recognized by black Americans -- mostly because of the history (and current, to a lesser extent) racist culture in the USA.

If only.

Most elected Republicans aren't conservative. Most elected Democrats are liberal.

Here's another thing to consider, though I loath it at present. If your utility function is liberty based, it's almost impossible to vote for a Democrat. There exists nothing in the current Obama platform/pipe dreams that will increase your liberty. Most everything will do the opposite. Gov health care = less liberty. Any additions to the nanny state = less liberty. And the Republicans are only marginally better. McCain may not be any better.

LDO ... sadly as you pointed out the alternative is much the same

You are incorrect to use repubs as baseline and say Dems only get worse from there.

More war = less liberty
Warrantless wiretapping = less liberty
Secret prisons = less liberty
Corporate bailouts = less liberty

etc.

If you can provide ANY evidence of how Republicans have increased liberty in any area while they controlled the Pres, the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, and a majority of governships -- all simultaneously -- I'd like to see it.

If you can't, then you might want to shut up about the whole liberty issue or you might want to switch to a libertarian or other party.

Don't forget the Republicans tried to make it illegal to play poker and stole my fish from Party

This is a quote from his speech in Houston just before the Texas Primary:

(Edited because I origionaly quoted him from memory and didn't get the exact words) "But I have to say that it is my central premise that the only way we will bring about real change in America is if we can bring new people into the process, if we can attract young people, if we can attract independents, if we can stop fighting with Republicans and try to bring some over to our side."

That is his plan for "bringing people together" as long as they agree with his far left views. This is a far cry from someone who actually crosses the isle and works with those who have a different view.

Why exactly does the US need uniting anyway, other than to fulfill its name? It's not like we're in WWII (though some hawks would have you believe so). I mean sure, racial tension and such is a bad thing, but this whole idea of unity extends beyond that as some absurdly unrealistic metaphor, that there's some great big collective subconcious that all Americans share.

Of course it is the sad case of politics, not just Obama, that appeals to emotion are the most effective ways to be elected.

How will white votes for Obama contradict Rev. Wright's racist views? The fact that lots of liberal whites believe Obama's lies about not buying much of Wright's positions despite a 20 year close association doesn't mean jack. It only means they would vote for anyone on the democratic ticket, the same as many repubs would vote for anyone on that ticket.

The thing that would contradict Wright's racism, extremism and nutjob beliefs would be be Obama admitting the wrongness of those views totally without justifications, and then from now only refusing to attend that church or associate with Wright.

I'm not saying that it is even possible for any politician to unite the American public. I was more referring to the partisan politics in Washington. If the two sides don't learn to actually work together, nothing worthwhile will ever come out of Washington, earmarks will continue to flow through congress without debate, and we will continue to get screwed by riders tacked onto must pass bills in the middle of the night (UIGEA). I firmly believe that these are the types of things that have most Americans, liberal and conservative alike, fed up with Washington in general.

I have seen nothing from Obama, and quite frankly, very little from the others that would indicate a willingness to work with the other party. The closest I have seen has been McCain with McCain-Fiengold, McCain-Leiberman, ect. For the record, I am a conservative that wasn't too pleased with McCain-Feingold but it at least showed that a few members of congress could cross the isle and actually work together.

I believe Wright has retired, so quitting the church accomplishes nothing. Also, can't you imagine belonging to a church and disagreeing with the clergy? I really don't care for the head priest at my church, and he has said and done things I strongly disagree with (local and personal things, not political - which are harder for me to take), but I am not changing my community or religion over it, any more than I am changing countries when I think the leader does and says things I disagree with.

Also, don't you have any friends or relations that have some nutty or even hatefull views? Do you instantly disassociate yourself from all of them? If not, does that instantly imply that you hold the same views? Obama has removed Wright from his campaign and denounced his statements. The fact that he is unwilling to throw him under a bus and label him as evil incarnate for political reasons is not a big deal to me.

He isnt the one who needs to shut up.

Lets not forget his efforts behind the .30-.30 ban and the Joyce Foundation/VPC. He is alienating every firearm owner.

Regarding the original post, I'll refer you his website.


http://www.barackobama.com/issues/education/

"At a Glance

* Early Childhood Education
* K-12
* Recruit, Prepare, Retain, and Reward Teachers
* Higher Education"

"Barack Obama's Record

Record of Advocacy: 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."



http://www.barackobama.com/issues/civilrights/

"At a Glance

* Strengthen Civil Rights Enforcement
* Combat Employment Discrimination
* Expand Hate Crimes Statutes
* End Deceptive Voting Practices
* End Racial Profiling
* Reduce Crime Recidivism by Providing Ex-Offender Support
* Eliminate Sentencing Disparities
* Expand Use of Drug Courts"


"Barack Obama's Record

Record of Advocacy: 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."



http://www.barackobama.com/issues/poverty/

"At a Glance

* Expand Access to Jobs
* Make Work Pay for All Americans
* Strengthen Families
* Increase the Supply of Affordable Housing
* Tackle Concentrated Poverty"

"Barack Obama's Record

* Tax Relief for Low-Income Working Families: Obama created the Illinois Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income working families in 2000 and successfully sponsored a measure to make the credit permanent in 2003. The law offered about $105 million in tax relief over three years.
* Housing: In the Illinois State Senate, Obama championed multiple pieces of legislation to help low-income families find adequate affordable housing."



http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/

"At a Glance

* Quality, Affordable and Portable Coverage for All
* Lower Costs by Modernizing The U.S. Health Care System
* Fight for New Initiatives"


"Barack Obama's Record

* Health Insurance: In 2003, Barack Obama sponsored and passed legislation that expanded health care coverage to 70,000 kids and 84,000 adults. In the U.S. Senate, Obama cosponsored the Healthy Kids Act of 2007 and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2007 to ensure that more American children have affordable health care coverage.
* Women's Health: Obama worked to pass a number of laws in Illinois and Washington to improve the health of women. His accomplishments include creating a task force on cervical cancer, providing greater access to breast and cervical cancer screenings, and helping improve prenatal and premature birth services."



http://www.barackobama.com/issues/economy/

"At a Glance

* Provide Middle Class Americans Tax Relief
* Trade
* Technology, Innovation and Creating Jobs
* Labor
* Protect Homeownership and Crack Down on Mortgage Fraud
* Address Predatory Credit Card Practices
* Reform Bankruptcy Laws
* Work/Family Balance"


"Barack Obama's Record

* Housing: In the U.S. Senate, Obama introduced the STOP FRAUD Act to increase penalties for mortgage fraud and provide more protections for low-income homebuyers, well before the current subprime crisis began.
* Predatory Lending: In the Illinois State Senate, Obama called attention to predatory lending issues. Obama sponsored legislation to combat predatory payday loans, and he also was credited with lobbying the state to more closely regulate some of the most egregious predatory lending practices.
* American Jobs: Barack Obama introduced the Patriot Employer Act of 2007 to provide a tax credit to companies that maintain or increase the number of full-time workers in America relative to those outside the US; maintain their corporate headquarters in America; pay decent wages; prepare workers for retirement; provide health insurance; and support employees who serve in the military."


http://www.barackobama.com/issues/foreignpolicy/

"At a Glance

* Ending the War in Iraq
* Iran
* Renewing American Diplomacy
* Nuclear Weapons
* Building a 21st Century Military
* Bipartisanship and Openness
* On Israel
* On Africa"






http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/

"At a Glance

* Judgment You Can Trust
* Bring Our Troops Home
* Press Iraq’s leaders to reconcile
* Regional Diplomacy
* Humanitarian Initiative"

"Barack Obama's Record

* 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.
* Obama has a plan to immediately begin withdrawing our troops engaged in combat operations at a pace of one or two brigades every month, to be completed by the end of next year. He would call for a new constitutional convention in Iraq, convened with the United Nations, which would not adjourn until Iraq's leaders reach a new accord on reconciliation. He would use presidential leadership to surge our diplomacy with all of the nations of the region on behalf of a new regional security compact. And he would take immediate steps to confront the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Iraq."




Feel free to visit his website for more details and further issues.

www.barackobama.com

^^^^^^^ Socialism 101^^^^^

His policy on Israel is his biggest deficiency to me, he just rolls over to the israel lobby rather than going for some actually helpful "change".

I also mention this because it is almost never brought up, and I think his supporters prefer it that way.

OK, I'll try to tackle this ridiculously long list of vague tag lines, meaningless rhetoric, and terrible plans.

Obama has no record of being a uniter. He was voted one of the most liberal senators. The two party system is set up for perpetual obstruction and power hording.

lolz at republicans promoting liberties
from bill of rights under bush. only a fraction of these actually combat "terror"
and the obvious fallacy that we are at war with "terrah"
from the wsj. if anybody really thinks this is anything but an extended nation building exercise needs to turn in their voter card stat. stop voting.
at this point i think many people see through this whole obama is a politician of change thing, but at least with him, the dem congress has a chance of completing its 100 day effort. its kinda overdue.