George Will poses seventeen questions for Barack Obama. These aren’t the top questions I would ask him, and I don’t share some of the assumptions behind some of his questions, but I wouldn’t mind a more detailed explanation from Obama as to his beliefs on these issues.
This got me thinking about what I would ask Obama if I had the opportunity to question him. If I had the opportunity for follow up questions, I would begin with just two questions which might get to the heart of a major theme of the Obama campaign to get beyond the current partisan stalemate and change the direction of American politics.
My first question would be, “Which beliefs which are more commonly accepted by conservatives and Republicans do you agree with and would be seen in the policies you would pursue as president?” My second would be, “Which ideas which are commonly accepted by Democrats (if any) do you reject?”
In 2003, John Kerry could have answered these questions with satisfactory answers. Kerry supported balanced budgets before it became popular among Democrats. Kerry has a long history of supporting small business. Kerry made opposing the trial lawyers and backing malpractice reform a part of his health care proposals. Unfortunately in 2004 far less was heard of these ideas as he listened too much to his handlers and simplified his message.
I’ve also seen traces of answers to these questions from Obama, but I also fear that as the campaign goes on he will increasingly become a generic Democrat as Kerry did in 2004. Hopefully Obama proves me wrong on this prediction.
Do we really want another theocrat in the White House?
Earlier this month, Obama spoke at an evangelical church in the traditionally conservative city of Greenville, where he demonstrated a casual familiarity with Christian vocabulary, telling the crowd, to much applause, that “I am confident that we can create a kingdom right here on Earth.”
The campaign has vigorously promoted the candidate’s faith, launching “40 Days of Faith and Family” in September, which used Bible study groups to tap into the black electorate.
Campaigners have run three radio ads, one of which called Obama a “Christian family man,” that aired on gospel stations across the state.
cnn-10-28-07
“Do we really want another theocrat in the White House?”
The question is whether Obama is a theocrat. I’ve had several posts on this topic. On the one hand he has made statements such as you quoted. On the other hand when talking about religion he has also included non-believers and stressed the importance of separation of church and state.