Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Whoever wins, some big political hitters will have lost their chance to fight another election.

Thanks for the blog post. Excellent.

I hope more people vote with a free mind also. Whether that takes them to Obama or McCain. People should vote on what they value and which direction the "point of the arrow" is going to be facing.

To consider: If the pilot has got the nose pointed one way, but the rudder (congress) is going the other way, that plane is going to drop out. Now currently congress is Demo, but that's not a guarantee for Obama that it'll stay the same. Things can go either way for either campaign. Who's pilot skills (experience or change) are able to steady the ship and continue to direct it to the best path for our Country.

One more point. I'm glad Obama's not carrying all the black just because he's is half black. Racism (either way) shouldn't be involved. My view is Age, Race, and Marital Status aren't included on work application forms in America and neither should they be on our ballots.

I'll be following your trek across America. Good luck!

The story about "Michael" isn't really about race, or even "free thinking" (if one's large cheque book means one is now a free thinker): It's just like a song familiar in England, "The working class can kiss my arse, I've got the foreman's job at last." Big up to Michael for his cushy job, but it's no shock his family may think he is losing sight of people in the rear-view mirror of his BMW

Jon,

Just your second interview and you are starting to learn Why this country confuses
visitors no end...You think you figure it out,
and then you perceptions get whacked...
and you will see this over and over on your trip.

I really wish the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ would use you like Alister Cooke in Letters from America. What a learning experience that what be for you and us..

Phil

While there may be some truth to Metrodash's comments regarding Michael's politics, those comments rest upon some assumptions that may not prove true. For example, Michael's exasperation with the elitist, utopian liberals in the Democratic Party may be genuine and may be based upon well-reasoned theories. And he may disagree with many of their policies for very good reasons that have nothing to do with protecting only his own chequebook. To assume that his motivation is primarily selfish is unfair to Michael, I think.

I sort of envy you traveling across the U.S. in your own digs. So, when you step out of your door you are in a real place rather than an airport or motor lodge.
While you're in Ohio, I suggest you drive through New Concord and talk to some of the freshman class at Muskingum College. They are spending all the semester studying and writing about a novel, "Ecotopia" ( about U.S. west coast states seceeding - led there by a woman president. She does this on a pro-environment platform - greener than green. (The college has a woman president, too.) The author is a Berkeley U. friend of mine, Ernest Callenbach ([Personal details removed by Moderator]) and he's been invited to address the assembled students in New Concord on October 8.
Enjoy your trip!
-excellentalligator

Excellent interview, and insights.

Valid, enduring values and ideas trump all, including color of skin. That we now see 10% of African-Americans openly identifying themselves as conservative is a sea-change from even ten years ago. I would suspect that number is much higher, but can't cite any sources to verify that.

I suggest you read some commentary by Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams as the miles roll by.

Happy travels.

I'm not sure how Obama's loss would kill the career of Jesse Jackson and his style of politics. I'd think quite the opposite would happen. My guess is we'd see a resurgence in radicalism if "mainstreaming" doesn't work.

Then again, Michael's opinion does correspond with many of the ideas I hear from conservatives who were once more socially liberal in their views. They availed themselves of the helping hand up the ladder of success their parents fought for and now their pulling it up behind them.

Poignant. Thank you.

As a White Mennonite Pacifist in Philadelphia, I sport an Obama sticker on my car...

But, my Black Baptist neighbor has a McCain placard in his yard... because he votes conservatively on Abortion/GayRights issues.

Race and Gender Stereotypes - they ain't what they used to be.

Guessing that more 'blacks' will turn from the Democrats and join the Republicans or conservatives--if the Republicans can shake the perception that they're the party of racists [segregation was supported by Southern Democrats, and the shift of the South from the Democrats to the Republicans came after de-segregation; that was the result of the Democrats turning from 'traditional values', not racism].

After all, more and more 'blacks' are joining the ranks of the middle income bracket, and many are socially conservative. The Republicans should work harder to woo more 'minorities', but the Democrats should lose more of that demographic as 'minorities' rise economically.

Gavrielle_LaPoste:

"They availed themselves of the helping hand up the ladder of success their parents fought for and now their pulling it up behind them."

""It annoys me when Democrats take the black vote for granted," he told me. "But I think it's inevitable that more and more black folks will start thinking the same way I do."

A lot of Hillary women are feeling exactly the same-taken for a ride by dimwit, hubris-ridden Dimmicrats.

Nice blog btw.

Good blog and good comments here. Much less biases and emotionalism here than other sites. At the same time, most of us want better rather than worse leadership/government, so this election is serious!

Please try to be as better informed as possible before you cast your vote. And I second the comment/suggestion that you read this excellent black writer Thomas Sowell and his recommended book titled The Case Against Barrack Obama.



Best wishes!

Michael David is a splendid example of "conservatism" in the USA. Once they get to the top, it's to hell with all the others! It's the "American" way of life.

Michael reminds me of the 1960's civil rights struggles when most of the Blacks and Hispanics in high positions in the GOP today or in the high paid bracket at the taxpayers expenses hid or stayed in the sidelines while their people were being beaten, hounded by police dogs, dragged into prisons, or tortured by the police. These "neo-conservatives" are the ones who emerged later and took all the advantages and benefits the the civil rights struggles brought to blacks and Hispanics.

But make no bones about it, these born again neo-conservatives really don't give a damn about anyone except themselves!

It's the Michael David Cobb Bowen's that are perhaps even worse than the Political Party they support!