Why Intelligent Voters Should Be Offended by Barack Obama

CNN reports that in the tight Democratic race for the Presidential nomination, voters are not divided among the expected gender or race lines. They are however divided by income.

Democrats earning less than $50,000 overwhelmingly support Hillary Clinton, while Democrats earning more than $50,000 lean toward Barack Obama. No doubt endorsements by Northeastern Blue Bloods like Ted Kennedy and John Kerry promote support for the junior Senator among America's royalty. But is this what the Democratic Party is really about? And does the fact that a few Kennedy's support Obama mean that he is the best choice for President?

Barack Obama preaches about his ability to bring people together. He says he will reach across party lines to get done what is best for this country. But who has the history of working across party lines when the media and the Republican party least expected her to? Hillary Clinton.

Barack Obama preaches about tearing down the walls of racial prejudice, yet the Christian church of which he has been a member for twenty years, clearly states in their mission statement that they support Africa. Not America, not Christ, but Africa. Forget about black and white for a moment. What does this say to all of America's Hispanic, Middle Eastern and Asian citizens?

Barack Obama claims he has a strong platform and understands the challenges our nation faces. But early on in the election, before the first caucus or primary, Obama's website raved over the work he had done in Illinois to protect children from lead-based paint, and how he worked to get sidewalks built along all city streets. Are these the kind of policies that are timely and relevant to our country's current issues?

As for his platform, he admits that his ideas are very similar to those of Hillary Clinton's. Perhaps this is because he modeled his platform after hers. Universal health care? Hillary was working on that issue when Obama was still a student. Getting all children insured? Hillary worked to get that done through the CHIP program before Obama became a Senator.

The one ace in the hole that Obama thinks he has over Hillary is his lack of support for the Iraq War. At every public appearance, he reminds voters that from day one he did not support going into war. Well, even though the Bush Administration twisted this war into a battle in the wrong country against the wrong enemy, I vehemently believe that all Americans on September 11, 2001 wanted the same thing: to defend our country, and to go after those responsible for the attack.

The media continuously raves over how inspiring Barack Obama's political speeches and rallies are. It seems every month there is a catchy new slogan repeated over and over by his supporters. This is because Obama uses a technique in his speeches that is designed to make the listener remember them. He repeats the same words so that they will be recalled later and repeated, resulting in a popular catchphrase. What's interesting about this is that ancient storytellers used this same technique when relaying stories to the masses. The idea was that by repeating the same phrases over and over, the uneducated and simple-minded masses would still be able to repeat the story, thus continuing to pass down these legends orally. Does this mean that Obama believes his masses are simple-minded?

Perhaps Senator Obama is the simple-minded one. He's a little fish trying to compete against a big fish by taking her beliefs and policies and calling them his own. He thinks that catchy slogans and Baptist-style preaching to voters will land him in the White House. He thinks that saying he doesn't want to fight terrorism will make him popular among voters who are ready for our troops to come home. He thinks that endorsements by extremist Democrats will win him votes.

Poor Senator Obama. He doesn't realize that he is the one being played, by the likes of his big name supporters, who know that his lack of power and experience make him a good Yes Man for their cause.