When Sen. Barrack Obama announced his candidacy to rockstar crowds, I shook my head and said, “oh boy - this guy may be the real deal. He may be lightening in a bottle.” My colleagues, some of them democrats, got me to change my initial impression of Obama, telling me how Hillary would ultimately beat Obama in the primary/caucus process. Their logic was, that while Obama was popular, ultimately his views on policy and his inability to connect with the core constituency of the Democratic Party, combined with the massive organization that Hillary would have at her disposal, would crush Obama.

I should have stayed with my initial instincts.

After South Carolina, the most telling revelation of a colleague of mine was this - he said to me “America is just dumb enough to vote this guy President, even though they know really nothing about him, and what they do know should given even Democrats reason to be concerned.”

Today’s polling shows McCain quite the underdog against Obama. Apparently, if the election were held today, Obama would win by the largest electoral margin since Reagan whollop’ed Mondale. Thankfully, the election isn’t held today.

When you think about it - even for the Democrats - it’s kind of amazing Obama is the nominee. He’s clearly sympathetic to America’s enemies, but no one cares. He’s clearly someone who believes that America should become a nanny-state, but no one cares. His attitudes on race and racial equality (vis a vis the Wright affair) would normally have doomed any candidate. His association with Ayers doesn’t even seem to make a dent. And the latest gaffe - today - apparently he had his staffers push muslim women out of a promo photo (although who knows what actually ever happens with Mr. Obama - it’s like one screw up after another, but everything is always well covered in the veil of plausible deniability.)

I must say, however, I’m less than encouraged by our man McCain. To quote a friend of mine, “McCain isn’t the kind of politician who excites. He makes me think of Ike, though I am too young to have actually seen Ike, but he was a no-nonsense military guy.” That’s probably true - but Ike ran against Stevenson (both times) - and Stevenson didn’t connect with people the way Obama does. Although Obama is so liberal - Stevenson would look like a hard-nosed conservative by comparison.

I just don’t get it. Is America so backwardly screwed up at this point - they want change no matter what? And if they do - then why are they voting for Obama? Every policy Obama proposes has been done - confiscatory taxes, been there done that. Punishing growth and wealth creation in America - been there done that. Deciding to put America at the mercy of OPEC - been there, lived through that! (I remember the long gas lines myself!) Socializing welfare at the expense of the middle-class, been there done that. Pursuing a half-baked foreign policy of “we will do what makes people love us”, been there done that. The halls of the White House are filled with the portraits of the men who pursued these policies - John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, William Clinton.

And Mr. Huckabee - let me just say that while I have great respect for your position - no one but Democrats are really talking about Mr. Obama’s skin color. Most of us on this side of the isle have been recoiling from his policies - and not his melatonin. You forget, perhaps, that Republican administrations have had no problems appointing minorities to senior positions in the cabinet. Policies are what matter here. His ideas and his policies.

There is absolutely nothing new about Barrack Obama’s policies - they’re all failed policies of Johnson, Carter, and Clinton. Tax the rich, screw the poor, and make us all sing “kumbaya” as the SS America sinks under the waves. If anything, Barrack’s theme song should be “Gimme that old time Religion” - except instead sing “Gimme those old time policies… Gimme those old time policies… Gimme those old time policies… it’s good enough for me!”

But it is about Change, and Hope, and a Better tomorrow. It’s ridiculous.

I can somewhat understand the lemming like approach of Democrats to Obama. The party was never particularly fond of the Clintons - despite the revisionist history about “Bill” - the myth, the man, the legendary philanderer. In comes Obama talking, quite frankly, like Ronald Reagan. There are many elements of “it’s a new day in America” I hear in Obama’s speeches. I find it almost ironic that the way a Democrat gets elected is to pretend to be a Republican. It confirms what I have believed all along - that America is essentially a right-leaning society, and that Republicans are the party of “the majority”.

Obama talks about change and hope - but will there really be change? I mean - how can there be change - when you never know what Obama stands for. And when he does stand for something - it’s not for very long - as soon as the first criticism hits it - it’s gone, woosh, like grains of sand in the desert, it changes shape.

I for one am not interested in being taxed to oblivion, socialized to death, and having my foreign policy based on Winnie the Pooh books.

At a time when America should be looking for a President to solve significant problems - instead - it’s fallen in love with a guy who demonstrates very little national acumen in terms of policy, actually demonstrates significant errors in judgment, but gives great speeches, and looks good on TV.

Wake up America. This isn’t American Idol.