I agree Tom -- I feel McCain also does that -- as evidenced by his request to the North Carolina GOP

******************************

I think it's a one time thing there.  Once Obama secures the nomination, the kid gloves come off.  The Obama will be forced to either get down and dirty (going after McCain for flip-flopping, Hagee, etc.) or lose the election.

 If Obama gets the nod then I won't be voting *for* McCain but instead will be voting *against* Obama.

***************************

To be honest, if you don't like either candidate, then don't vote or write in someone.  Voting for someone you dislke makes no sense, even if you dislike the other candidate more.....  It's really at the point you should vote FOR the person you feel would do the best job.

"To be honest, this is perhaps the biggest reason I LIKE Obama....  To me, this is all Hillary is: a say-anything, do-anything, win-at-any-cost candidate who doesn't care about the party or the constituents."

-----

I think you're half right. I suspect Hillary doesn't give a good god-damn about the party to which I say, good for her. I long for a candidate who refuses to blindly follow the dictates of their party.

The DNC's decision to disenfranchise the voters in Florida and Michigan was reprehensible. It is absurd to say that Clinton's decision to visit those states despite her party's finger-wagging indicates she doesn't care about the constituents. On the contrary, Obama's refusal to visit those states indicates that HE is the one who doesn't care what the voters think.

I like Obama; I really do. But I think his decision to toe the party line in this case is a mark against him.

 think it's a one time thing there.  Once Obama secures the nomination, the kid gloves come off. 

Maybe.  But remember John McCain was one of the first, and most supportive, politicians to speak on behalf of John Kerry and his service in Viet Nam when he was being "swiftboated."  McCain offered to tell anyone who asked that he thought those ads were bunk.  There is a history of integrity with McCain as well.  Has he traded it for his shot?  We don't know but based on his past I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.

QUOTE: To be honest, if you don't like either candidate, then don't vote or write in someone.  Voting for someone you dislke makes no sense, even if you dislike the other candidate more.....  It's really at the point you should vote FOR the person you feel would do the best job.

It'd be great if that were always possible, but it's not.

As I noted upthread, I'd love to see the day there's a candidate that makes me say, "THAT'S my candidate!"

Now, granted...feeling someone would do "the best job" is a relative thing.  If I feel Candidate A is a horrible choice, but Candidate B is an even worse choice, personally, I feel that my vote "for" Candidate A is really a vote against Candidate B, but from your perspective, I'm still essentially "voting for the person I feel would do the best job;" I don't like Candidate A, but I think s/he'll screw things up less than Candidate B.

So, I definitely get where Scott's coming from, regarding voting "for" someone vs. voting "against" someone.  It's like deciding if you want someone to kill you with a knife or a gun...you're not so much choosing the option you want as avoiding the less attractive (for want of a better word) of two bad options.

[edit: clarity in final metaphor]

Agreed Geoff.  She hides behind this "it'll be much worse from the vast Right Wing Conspiracy" riff, which somehow excuses her doing the same thing. 

Remember Civil Discourse and when that phrase actually meant something? 

I can happily say that, for the first time in my adult life, I am voting FOR someone - Barack Obama!  So there's that.

The icing on the cake is that I'm also voting against someone - Hillary Clinton.