The Obama campaign is just plain tone deaf. They keep rubbing it in. The theme "Now is OUR time" offended me. Having young Obama staffers call me to get me involved while Hillary was still giving her speech offended me. Finally I, a lifelong Democrat, Central Committee member, Meetup leader, precinct captain, etc., have stopped all the emails, stopped all my monthly donations, and opted out. I will vote for Obama and I will donate to my local candidates and to the campaign to stop the anti-gay marriage group in California. My precinct work will be for those issues. I am tired of being shoved out of the way by eager young men, who are happy to see us out in the neighborhoods getting support for them. And above all, Hillary was the better candidate.

Sharon Toji

One of the reasons I supported Hillary over Barack was because I thought that many Americans would not vote for a black man at this point. I think they were ready to vote for a woman. As Clinton's VP, he would have had a chance for the American public to get to know him in a non-threatening way. On top of that, he could have garnered some much needed executive experience. He could have then stepped right up as the next Democratic candidate and had a good chance of winning.

That brings up the second reason I supported Hillary over Barack: I think she has much more experience, even if it's second hand observation of the day to day executive duties of the president, that would have helped her fill the federal "potholes." Most people don't realize all the day to day stuff that starts from the White House down, in terms of regulations and executive directives, that really makes an impact on the lives of people. So, although their views on the "big issues" are actually pretty similar, I think Hillary was the better choice right now.

It's a shame Obama did not pick Clinton as his VP, because I think that McCain might not have picked Palin at all in that case, and even if he had, Hillary could have demanded the same "deference" that Sarah is demanded. But Hillary would have beaten her cold on knowledge and comfort with the issues.

It's too bad the Obamas were so ambitious that they were not willing to wait. They may have blown it for all of us, because another 4-8 years of "Bush Doctrine" (and I do know what that is, unlike Sarah Palin, but I'm using it in a broader sense), will devastate this country.

One of Obama's implications was a sort of tit for tat. "He invited me to speak at his church even though we differed, and he stood up to his congregation about it, so now I've invited him to my inauguration, even though we differ, and I'm standing up to my supporters about it." But Saddleback Church, no matter how large and important it is, is not the entire country, and Rick Warren, no matter how important a preacher he is in the evangelical world, is not President of the United States.

Also, if he wanted to include Warren to prove to the evangelicals that he was welcoming them, the benediction would have been a better place for him. The Civil Rights preacher should have had the place of honor, which is the invocation.

The fact is, Obama is never going to convince the most rabid evangelicals that he is OK, and they are never going to be willing to compromise on many of these issues. I get the GOP materials just so I can see what they are thinking, and just today they were trashing Colin Powell and speaking AGAINST diversity as a value. And Rick Warren is not going back to his Megachurch and tell his congregation that they ought to at least consider equality for gays, or abortion in some cases. He believes he is speaking for God, or God's will, and people who believe that won't be convinced by Obama or anyone else that they should consider other views.

Even though his normally Republican 48th CD voted for Obama, our Bush clone Congressman, John Campbell, has just sent out a newsletter praising Obama but saying that he will vote against the bill, and suspects that not a single Republican will vote for it. I wonder if his consituents will continue to be so satisfied with him next election as they have been in the past.

Sharon Toji

Orange County, California