You are right and there are a few topics on which McCain is clearer and more direct. Even though it doesn't change my overall perception of Obama being the better candidate, these points do exist.

Example: McCain wants to close Guantanamo. Something very unpopular in his own party.

(I can't sift any videos right now so here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQZP7hrCS4I)

I wondered the same exact same thing today. Are there no clips pointing out Obamas flaws? Surely there must be some but it seems the McCain camp is not too good at getting them out there. Maybe they can be found on sites I never visit.

In any case: Freedom of Speech = *quality!

Awarding xxovercastxx with one star point for this contribution to Sift Talk - declared quality by maatc.

Yes,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_third_party_presidential_candidates

I posted campionidelmondo's suggestion here and my own contribution here.

My problem with McCain is that he is so wildly inconsistent in his views, there was alot I agreed with him before, but his straight talk express doesn't always stay straight. Especially on the question of torture.

Obama, we'll he's just so wishy washy I don't think you can nail him down to any view. But that's the Democratic way sometimes, they don't really carve out a definitive stance.

Obama's stance on the second amendment. Google It, I'm tired of posting his voting record on gun rights.

The list is too f-ing long. FISA, now supporting the "surge", plans to keep troops in Iraq (yes two more years is 2000 too many dead Americans).

How about keeping with the Democratic tradition of doing everything he can to lose. Explain to me how with this economy he is so close in the polls and losing in electoral votes. How with the disaster that Bush has caused and all the GOP scandals and convictions and unpopular war, unemployment, current stock market crash... How can he be losing? It's truly insane.

good post, and appeal for more balanced commentary.
i especially appreciate it, as a libertarian, being accustomed to agreeing with each party half the time. was actually considering putting my blog to halfway-decent use again, by posting my very conflicted views on mccain, while it's still relevant.

i was a big supporter of his getting the republican nod in '00. went to a big rally of his, here in rochester, just before the NY primary. shook his hand. wanted to be able to take him aside, tell him that i knew what happened. once again.

i really do miss that john mccain, with an immense sincerity.
i may not have always agreed with him, but straight talk wasn't an eye-rolling punchline, in 2000.

both parties need to chill the fuck down and stop the bs, focus their attention on collapsing economy and greedy cheating bastards that made it such, not pointing out to yet another imaginary, self-fulfilling foreign threat as they do now, criticizing russia over georgian escapade they themselves orchestrated. don't they realize the mess we're all in? not just the states, asia, europe and the whole world will suffer from the eventual downfall of this global money laundry machine...

It took awhile for me to back Obama. The first thing that impressed me was his refusal to accept PAC/lobbyist money. I could easily see a candidate saying, "Yes, the system is bad but in order to change it I must win and in order to win I must accept their money", ad nauseam. The second thing was his race speech, which every one of his advisers warned him would be political suicide. Not only did he display the leadership to buck against these advisers, he wrote the speech himself and delivered it with much needed vigor. I have watched Obama mature and I thank Hillary (in hindsight) for her relentless tenacity. McCain, on the other hand, didn't have to exert nearly as much poise, endurance, or leadership to win the Republican nomination. And now that he has won the nomination I see him being led against his will by his advisers. He had an uphill battle coming off of Bush Jr. That said, I'm in complete agreement to weigh in on both candidate's merits and faults. Simply put, Obama has been more vetted this year than McCain already. Let's just not lie when we bring in criticism of either candidate.

"refusal to accept PAC/lobbyist money"

bwhahaha... If you believe that seriously, then I have a box of Hope I would like to sell you. I even have a bridge made out of ponies, any takers?

Obama is not anti-nuclear-power.

http://www.intrade.com/

If you're so sure that McCain will win, you could try to make a fortune in the futures market. Obama is considered there to be almost twice as likely to win as McCain.

Let's have som REAL political diversity and start sifting political vids from Poland and Brazil. Everything here is so focused on the Anglo-American perspective.

this really is a *quality proposal.

If anything, hold your candidate accountable by playing "devil's advocate"

xxovercastxx has already been awarded a star point for this post - ignoring quality request by rottenseed.

>> ^NordlichReiter:
Obama's stance on the second amendment. Google It, I'm tired of posting his voting record on gun rights.

Well, I did google it, and other than comments from a lot of right-wing blogs, I found zero conclusive evidence that he wants to do anything at all to the 2nd amendment.

From his website:
"Barack Obama is committed to upholding the Second Amendment and promoting policies that will protect wildlife habitat and ensure that hunters and anglers have access to open spaces for generations to come."

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/imsm?source=sem-lb-google-con-sport-search-national&gclid=CKbd3PKGhJYCFQKaFQodC391Eg

The first video I ever posted here was critical of Obama, and his weak stance on same-sex marriage:
http://www.videosift.com/video/Barack-Obama-on-Gay-Marriage


This is a high-quality discussion, yet at the same time I haven't thought those of us who are pro-bama are "in the tank" or agree with him on everything. He is definitely the most charismatic person to ever run for POTUS in my lifetime, but I'm not sporting Obama stickers on my car, or wear his tshirts.

What have you done? You've awakened the Obama cult! Don't anger them! They must enjoy their koolaid without interruption from such silly things as non-partisan perspectives! You may have endangered us all!!

lol, now all you liberals are "seeing the light" and suddenly you're fair and balanced?

and it's well known that Obama wants to do away with our guns, just look at his history

Why was my comment downvoted?

Who's the coward who won't publicly disagree with my comment, but will do the little childish downvote instead?

LAME

^ Just hover your mousepointer over the downvote-button on that comment and you'll see it was BillO.

>> ^jwray:
Obama is not anti-nuclear-power.


Nobody said he was.

There are Republicans I respect and admire, but most of them are either dead/retired (Lincoln, Nixon, Bush I) or never on the airwaves (Olympia Snowe). Most GOP supporters on TV now are idiots or liars, or just mundane enough that their videos wouldn't be sifted.

Yes, the Lies channel and its friends are dominated by Republicans, but I welcome any videos of lying Democrats.

>> ^BillOreilly:
and it's well known that Obama wants to do away with our guns, just look at his history


I just did:
http://www.gunlawnews.org/Senators/Barack-Obama.html

There are all of his votes.

One for providing a trigger lock with all gun purchases (except private sales).
One for allowing the AG to define what an "armor piercing bullet" is.
One for letting children under 17 right to trial.
One that says the DHS can't use its funds to confiscate weapons.
One (S.397) that even pro-gun activists called a "non issue".

And a couple of others that contain a lot of confusing language, and many many bills, but nothing that says "let's do away with our guns".


I really REALLY dislike Obama's stances on: FISA, Iran, same-sex marriage, and the unconstitutional scam that is "faith based initiatives".

>> ^xxovercastxx:
>> ^jwray:
Obama is not anti-nuclear-power.

Nobody said he was.


Somebody did -- I forget who -- but it was edited out of this thread.

Obama is the "not Bush" candidate of 2008.

He and Hilary were both the most right-wing of the Democratic contenders, aside from that rimjob Lieberman.

I don't think he's the answer to all our problems, and he said some things in the debates that ruffled my feathers, but a person has to face facts and the fact is that four more years of McCain will perfectly translate into four more years of George W. Bush.

One of the bad things about voting Obama is that we'll be seeing four solid years of attack-dog journalism just like we saw during the last four years of Clinton.

Lieberman was never in the 2008 primary. He left the democratic party in 2006 and endorsed McCain and the entire neoconservative agenda. He's a Hagee fanboy to boot. Gore shouldn't have picked him in 2000.

Political variety? I thought this was going to be a call for videos about Canada's national election, announced less than a month ago, happening in like two weeks.

>> ^jwray:
Lieberman was never in the 2008 primary. He left the democratic party in 2006 and endorsed McCain and the entire neoconservative agenda. He's a Hagee fanboy to boot. Gore shouldn't have picked him in 2000.


My mistake. Lieberman pretended to be a Democrat for so long that I got mixed up. But the gist of what I said is true.

Obama and Hillary are right-leaning candidates in the Democratic party.

They're no Kucinich or Wexler.