Does it bother you even one little whit as a Democrat ??

[JDPriestly]

70. I'm hoping we can educate Americans to understand their own interests and choices so that

we aren't left with the paltry choice between two Republicans as we have been in recent elections.

Since McGovern ran in 1972, we have been presented in each presidential election with two Republican candidates. The first version was the Republican candidate that was like an Eisenhower. That is the legacy of Obama. He poses as a Democrat. But when unions were demonstrating in Wisconsin, he did not bother to go there, to march with them, to support them, not until it was "safe," not until he could be sure that he wouldn't lose any political support from the rich conservatives, the bankers, if he went there. The other Republican choice was the John Birch Society gang, the Tea-Baggers today's extreme Republican right wing.

I have had great hopes for Obama. I thought he could step forward, get into a liberal stride, in his second term. I worked hard to get him elected and re-elected.

But Obama is extremely weak on economic issues. I really don't think he knows what he is doing with regard to the economy. He talked superficially about the disparity between rich and poor, but he has done so little to end homelessness. I hope he vetoes any bill that cuts food stamps. I watch the moms, the poor in my neighborhood pay with food stamp cards in my local grocery. I'm so thankful that they have that alternative in these tough, economic times.

Obama has no clue as to how families have suffered in this recession -- no clue at all. People are all smiles when they meet the president.

Obama is, to my mind, not so bad on foreign policy although he relies too much on advice from the military. In fact he had the opportunity to achieve true greatness for our country and his presidency by emphasizing his unique ability to negotiate with other countries. Sadly, he is too frightened to take strong stances and to follow his conscience and his instincts. He has too many very conservative advisers including the Clintons, but not limited to them.

I wish better for my country than Republicans posing as Democrats.

When it comes to the NSA scandal, it is a terrible shadow on Obama as a man, as a president and as a Democrat. He should have informed himself more fully about what the NSA was doing in terms of limiting freedom and privacy on the internet. And he should have stopped the excesses. That is what a man of courage, a moral man, a man of conscience would have done. That is what a Martin Luther King would have done.