I decided to open up a thread to solely discuss Obama because he seems to have more support from the youth in America and around the world than Clinton or McCain.

I'm an open-minded person and very "global" in my beliefs. But I just don't see why people here and abroad are mesmerized by Obama into a near obsession.

Obama himself does not think he has the experience to lead:

Clip of Obama on his own experience.

People I've spoken to have quite a bit of difficulty in identifying exactly why Obama is the right person to lead America. Perhaps someone here can come up with something.

he's black and he doesnt have a half-bald head rounded by gray hair.

he is dynamic, energetic and calls for change on TV. whatever he means by that.

but what are his politics? most people dont have a clue. i dont either.

From what other people in my school has said to me, they seem to like Obama because they think USA needs to be led by a fresh pair of eyes who hasn't been in politics as long as others.

Well, Obama may not be a Washington insider, but he's not new to politics. Politics is the only thing he's ever done in his life, so considering him a "fresh pair of eyes" may not be accurate. He's had scandals from Rezko to his church and a poor performance record in the Illinois legislature and US Senate.

He to me seems like a guy who is more interested in the title of president than actually being president. It's got to be one of the worst jobs in the world and one which attracts men (and women now) who are egomaniacs and simply interested in power and personal legacy. The Kennedy's, Clinton's, and Bush's are perfect examples of this.

But Obama is not much different, probably the same as McCain in terms of ego. The difference is that McCain has an enormous amount of knowledge but is a terrible speaker. Obama is an excellent speaker, but is not very intelligent.

But then again does the US president really have any power or is he/she just a puppet for big business and special interest to control?

Well that is my impression of Obama: he won't be controlled bei the high finance (Hochfinanz - a pretty much better word in German) as much as his antecessors or as McCain.

Hey, if you go to http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/ and read the directions you can find out all of the stances by Obama, Hillary, and John.

P.S. I am a pro Obama person, so despite my poltical know-how I will most likely be biased in this forum.

CNN does an ok job of trying to explain candidate positions, but we must remember that CNN is primarily about entertainment and not in-depth analysis. The same with Fox, MSNBC, and the other cable outlets. Network news (CBS, ABC, NBC) is slightly more reliable, but not by much. NPR is probably your best bet for looking into issues. The problem is that the candidates purposely make it very difficult to figure out exactly where they stand. It's the job of an American politician to speak for hours, but say nothing.

You pretty much have to ignore everything that the campaigns spew. All we can go on is history and records and that is a major problem for Obama. His record in Illinois and the US Senate of dodging votes and issues is appalling. McCain on the other hand has been fighting right-wing conservatives for years, but that damages him among the Republican establishment and the big donors.

McCain has big problems with connecting to people and his speaking ability is poor. While Obama doesn’t look good based on his history, despite all the glitz and glamour speeches of “hope”. In fact, part of the reason I will not vote for Obama is because I’m tired of his empty rhetoric and getting people whipped up into a cultish frenzy.

He is relying on the fact that most Americans are naïve and ignorant about our government and will buy into his used-car sales pitch. You can “hope” that used car will go, but if the salesman neglected to mention the bad transmission, you’re not going far.

The only reason the Obama is popular with the youth is because he pays the media to give him lots of attention, and because he's young and he's got that JFK thing going on. I used to like him until he began to flip-flop his positions, especially on foriegn policy. He used to talk about how much he was against military involvement and how he was going to withdraw, now he talks about invading Pakistan and continuing American occupation of Iraq. At about that point, he completely dropped away from any possible vote from me. Another candidate that probably surpasses Obama in terms of passion and following is Ron Paul. Obama's supporters clearly outnumber Paul's, but Paul's supporters, including me, are very mesmerized by his campaign platforms. And unlike Obama, he tells you very clearly what he's going to do, why he's going to do it, and how he's going to do and is far more sincere than probably any other Congressmen out there.

As a UK voter I will be glad to see a change of policy. Current policy is a mess and as UK policy is so closely aligned another 4 years of Bush policies is not welcome. I hope Obama wins

http://www.whotovotefor.com

I'm glad that you're not so delusional as other Paulites out there. I think that Paul is extremely dangerous, but I agree with most of what you've said about him: he's direct, honest, and sincere, and his followers (who number far less than those of Obama) worship the ground he walks on, especially because of his platform (which features such gems as: a return to the gold standard, the abolition of the IRS, and opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964)

I disagree with the poster who said that NPR is the best place to get political news; they're a quite liberal organization. And I say this as someone who is liberal and listens religiously to NPR There are some nonprofits and such that do a pretty good job.