Re: Obama's lack of experience. I believe Obama made this point brilliantly himself. W's team had decades of experience, and they almost ruined the country for good. They still might. Also, Obama isn't going to make every presidential decision himself. He is intelligent in a "got into Harvard Law without daddy" kind of way (and graduated top of the class), and he is surrounded by intelligent people (for instance his wife, second in the class), who he will listen to more than his own gut.

Re: The Equal Rights Amendment. It was already passed, but the states did not ratify. Was this / would this be the president's fault? A professor of mine claimed that it was opposed by insurance companies, who effectively defeated it by bribing legislators in key states. Assuming this is true (and I have no reason to distrust her), the long and short of it is that the ERA was defeated by corruption. Obama repeatedly stumps for transparency in government. But for transparency, we would already have it.

Re: Obama doesn't take any real positions on issues. Please read Glenn Greenwald's last 10 or so posts. McCain isn't taking any positions on issues. Could you at least concede that if Obama's and McCain's "phantom positions" make up two distinct continuums, Obama's is clearly further to the left?

Re: Why Clinton lost. Please see the June 2008 issue of The Atlantic, which details Obama's superior campaign strategy. While you're there, consider the article on his foreign policy, which is distinct from both Clinton and McCain's.

Re: Four more years of Republican control of the White House. Can you count to five? Let's see...Thomas, Alito, Scalia, Roberts. How old is John Paul Stevens right now? How old is Ginsburg? 88 and 75, respectively. What kind of Justices did McCain say he would appoint?

Re: The non-participators. I notice you all seem to be approaching this from your own ideology, but all you really keep talking about is yourself. Individualism is such a white, male, fundamentally conservative concept. Try collectivism, for a change.

And should you remain unconvinced, please know that I am not concerned. I will personally replace every one of you. I have a lot of lifelong Republican family and friends, and between now and November, they will all be convinced to vote Obama. Not because he is a messiah or a saint or even a particularly wonderful guy, but because his policies (vague though they may be) are profoundly better than McCain's. That is what rational people base their votes on.

Finally, kudos to Hillary. I would have voted for her without reservation, but I was on the fence about actually liking her until today.

Dear Diehards:

Imagine Clinton won, and an Obama supporter came to you with a list of things Clinton needed to do for Black voters before he/she would vote for Clinton. Would you be incredulous? Would you say "Damn it all to hell, can't you see Hillary is CLEARLY the better candidate for African-Americans throughout this country, and there is no possible argument on the issue?" And how would you respond to people who claimed that Obama lost because of racism? Would you say that claims like that denigrated Clinton's amazing achievement, that sexism clearly worked against Hillary, but she overcame it? No?

A couple years ago I worked with juvenile delinquents. They mostly suffered from abuse, many were severely bipolar. My wife works in a residential school for children suffering from autism. This is the kind of behavior I put up with every day, the behavior she still sees. A screwed-up (be it emotionally or suffering from from a developmental disorder)kid can't have his or her way and does everything he or she can to ruin it for everyone else in the house. They would scream "But I am so mad" and I would respond "You still have to take responsibility for your behavior." Aside from a few harsh responses, everybody here has played the supportive case worker role: they have tried to support you, address your concerns, empathize with you. You know what, this isn't a residential home. Consequences are not limited to getting your level dropped or your points taken. This is the real world. There are people dying because of Bush's policies, Iraqi citizens burying their children and parents while you take damn chocolate milk breaks. It is like there is a murder taking place a room away, but you won't do anything to stop it because you're pitching a hissy fit over dessert.

The people suffering as a result of this administration's policies all over the world don't care about your hurt feelings. They want their basic human rights back. Could you be troubled to care about them?