I trust Obama.

[Smith_3]

Call me naive, but I do. I think he's a good guy and will do what he can to fix things.

[On the Road]

1. I Do, Too

My support for him is unaffected by the controversies over centrism.

[NNN0LHI]

2. You are not naive

He is a good guy who will do the right thing when he knows he is in a position to exact some sweeping changes.

Be just a little longer.

Don

[exothermic]

4. Politicians depend on trust and especially love the blind variety.

It's what keeps them in business.

[Double T]

3. I don't. His 'YES' on FISA says it ALL.

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. His yes on FISA says

"I'm not going to give the republicans ammo - saying I was against surveilling terrorists - particularly when the outcome of the vote was a foregone conclusion. I'd have sabotaged my own campaign and then been unable to do anything to fix this mess."

[Double T]

11. Spineless 'hope and change'. Got It!

Wonder if $200,000+ in Telecom campaign contributions had ANYTHING to do with it?

[RaleighNCDUer]

14. I've heard that rumor - seen nothing to back it up. nt

[lame54]

13. They're going to fucking say it anyway and what's worse...

is now he'll be forced, in his defense, to remind us all how he voted against the 4th amendment
he will have to say it again and again

[RaleighNCDUer]

17. ??

In defense of what? Who on the right is going to make his vote an accusation against him? By voting with the majority, he took the issue off the table for the GE.

OTOH, had he voted against the bill it would have been trumpeted from the rooftops that Obama does not want to protect us from our enemies.

The only people who will hammer him on this vote is the LEFT, not the "they" you are talking about.

[Art_from_Ark]

27. If he really was such a great speaker

why would he have to worry about "giving the Republicans ammo"? Why wouldn't he just make an impassioned, factual speech about why FISA is mostly about infringing on the Constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans? He's going to have debates before the election-- he could have easiliy presented his case to the public then. But instead, Mr. Hope-and-Change Constitutional Scholar chose to support an unconstitutional law that bu$h eagerly signed.

[Winterblues]

5. He is a politician

He will do only what Democrats in Congress allow him to do just as Clinton was not allowed to put National Health Care into effect even though Democrats held a substantial majority at the time...Obama is a good man I believe, but he is still a politician and will say and do what is expected of him at the time..

[atreides1]

6. You're Naive

There feel better now?

I trust the Senator also, but not as blindly as some do. I would like to think that he will be able to fix things, but the realist in me thinks that he won't be able fix everything that needs to be fixed.

If he follows through, then my level of trust will increase, and I don't expect all the fixes to happen in his first term, just some of the more important ones.

[TwilightGardener]

7. I do as well--not blindly, but in comparison to most other politicians.

He's one of only a handful of politicians who seems to hold consistently good motives and to act with the best interests of the country at heart. It's a distinguished group, and he still belongs in it, FISA notwithstanding.

[LWolf]

9. You're naive.

Politicians, and politics, and trust don't go together.

[kpominville]

10. Trust, but verify.

That was the last intelligent thing Reagan ever said.

[readmoreoften]

12. Great. Politics by "good vibes". We might as well use horoscopes.

His voting record is counter to everything I believe. I like facts.

[Bobbie Jo]

18. How about a "gut feeling" ?? Mine has pretty consistent accuracy...

Here's the deal....out of the gate I was 100% Hillary. The day I watched her official "I'm in" announcement, I realized what I was watching was something I thought I would never see in my lifetime.... my heart wanted her to win, but my gut told me...ummmm, awesome and brilliant woman, would make a kick-ass POTUS, but.....but trust just wasn't something I associated with her. Don't misunderstand, I know she would have gotten the job done, and done well. Trust her methods?? No.

Cut to the chase....I knew Obama was the real deal the night he won Iowa. This man was meant to do this, and this IS his time. He knew it then...and I knew from that point forward, no one was going to take it from him. No way...As much as I would have loved to see Hillary show them all how it's done, when you KNOW this is it....you just KNOW.

I don't care how much you want to analyze voting records, statistics, facts, bowling scores, or polling data....bottom line, when you can communicate like this at the gut level, those things don't have the impact you might imagine. Trust can't be measured or spun to fit the point you're making. You either have it or you don't. :shrug:


Edited to add: Oh yeah...this is getting a rec, alright. :kick:

[readmoreoften]

20. Well, there's a lot competing "guts" out there.

My gut tells me that Barack Obama is a raging center-right candidate who will say anything and do anything to make sure Barack Obama looks good. My gut also told me the same about Clinton, but my gut said that the powers-that-be prefer Barack Obama so Barack Obama was going to be "our" candidate.

It was also my "gut" that said Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. My gut also said that the Democratic congress would be little more than Petainist. The thing my gut has been most wrong about is that the Democrats would produce one or two really positive pieces of legislation despite all their failures. My gut was wrong about that.

Now my gut tells me that it's a matter of voting for the least compromised candidate and to expect no change whatsoever from elected officials. You can trust your gut I'll trust mine.

[Bobbie Jo]

22. Your gut appears to be malfunctioning....perhaps if you flipped a coin or something??

"My gut tells me that Barack Obama is a raging center-right candidate who will say anything and do anything to make sure Barack Obama looks good."

"The thing my gut has been most wrong about is that the Democrats would produce one or two really positive pieces of legislation despite all their failures. My gut was wrong about that."

"Now my gut tells me that it's a matter of voting for the least compromised candidate and to expect no change whatsoever from elected officials. You can trust your gut I'll trust mine."

First of all, you seem to be confusing gut instincts with thinking and reasoning. Your gut doesn't analyze the number of quality pieces of legislation they're cranking out in Congress, nor does it serve as a yardstick lined with well researched expectations used to define and measure success (fit) and failure (doesn't fit) Apparently your gut comes equip with a handy labeling system to keep all that stuff neatly organized and accessible.
Center-right, center-left, center-field.... Dude, you have way too much going on in there.

When you rely on thinking,logic and sound bites for guidance. ...prepare to be disappointed, a lot. Like I said....you just KNOW. :smoke:

[mmonk]

15. I trust no one. Nobody has earned it currently that has the presiding

power in this country. I just use my best judgment of the options.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

16. I don't. Trusting politicians is a fool's errand.

We're not supposed to "trust" politicians in a democracy.

[Flying Dream Blues]

19. Me, too, and you're not naive. nt

[Fumesucker]

21. A quote I find apropos..

"The mistakes (of leaders) are amplified by the numbers who follow them without question. Charismatic leaders tend to build up followings, power structures and these power structures tend to be taken over by people who are corruptible. I don't think that the old saw about 'power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely' is accurate: I think power attracts the corruptible."

- Frank Herbert, BBC interview promoting the Dune movie

[mmonk]

23. It is very very apropos in this day and age.

A bullseye in fact.

[Wizard777]

24. Currently he can be trusted to tell everyone what they want to hear.

Obama gave us many beautiful words. But that's all we've gotten from him, words. Meanwhile the right wing is getting his votes as they gut the Constitution. These are extreme times and we need more than words from Obama.

[Pastiche423]

25. I don't

He's a liar.

Why would you trust a liar?

[NattPang]

26. I trust Obama more than a whole lot of politicians

[Hekate]

28. Fixing what's wrong will be like cleaning the Augean Stables, & he'll need the Dem Congress...

I literally pray for the guy as I pray for the soul of my nation. We have never before been in such peril from within.

I try to refrain from projecting everything onto Obama. I like what I know of him, but fear for the outcome. He's just one human man.

But I trust him too.

Hekate

[Bobbie Jo]

29. A Dem Congress with a decisive majority....Senate numbers are too close to get anything done nt