"Whoever said that all their Republican friends were voting for Obama I would only say this. You have very confused Republican friends."

I said that and I don't know about confused but certainly unhappy with the choices on the Republican ticket. Many of these people also voted for John Kerry so while they are registered Republican they don't feel they have to tow the party line when what the party is doing is wrong. I certainly don't call that confused.

They don't like McCain, Huckabee, or Romney and they won't support Clinton...hey, in this I feel like we have some unity. Obama has sort of become a default choice because so many people can't tolerate voting for any of the other 4. Didn't you say, Pat, that you might also vote for Obama? This is why I felt Edwards was such a strong candidate, it seemed as if he would get the votes of all the unhappy Republicans and he was the only Democrat that could have done that nationwide.

I think what we are looking at in this election is how split these parties are. The Republicans during the Bush years allowed the rise of and gave a much greater voice to Christian Conservatives and now those folks are helping to tear the Republican Party apart. When you use certain issues for years to stir people up and separate them...well...that will come back to haunt you. Now Republicans are seeing the blowback from what they have done and their party has splintered. You've got a camp (neo-cons) that wants Romney, a camp (Christian Conservatives) that wants Huckabee, and a majority of voters that want McCain.

Also I think McCain is appealing to Republican voters because of Dubya and Bushco being so dishonest with the American public. It's not just Democrats that think Bush and all of Bushco are liars...a boatload of Republicans believe that too. Romney made huge mistakes in being very dishonest during his campaign and that has cost him huge. Getting caught telling stupid lies about MLK and his love for hunting among other things, and changing his positions whenever the wind blows proved him exactly the kind of guy Republicans want to get away from. They have already had 8 years of Bush and the result is now they want "The Straight Talk Express"...so thank Bush for the rise of John McCain. McCain appears to be the most honest Republican and I think most Republican voters want honesty after what Bushco has done.

I also think "real conservatives" have been silenced or at least drowned out by all the nutjobs that have claimed that they represent what conservatives are. These talk show idiots, wingnut authors, and "Focus on Family" freaks are all screaming much louder than real conservatives and they have confused the hell out of Republican voters. Now you've got all these people claiming they are conservative because they are Christian, or because they support the war, or support banning abortion, or support the president, or because they want to amend the Constitution to define marriage, or because they want to build a wall and shoot Mexicans trying to cross the border, or because they believe in bombing countries before they bomb us, or because they support Israel because Jews are God's chosen people...it's all pretty insane really and all of it has nothing to do with being a traditional conservative.

Hey, welcome to what the Democrats have been dealing with for years, Pat. The Democrats have had all sorts of segments and splinter groups in their party and it has often caused them to lose elections now the Republican Party is the same way...thank Bush, Rush, O'Reilly, Coulter, Dobson and all the other wacky dishonest noisemakers that have been changing all the rules and rewriting all the definitions.

Reap what you sow, baby...blowback, bigtime!

People now don't even recognize "real conservative" talk. They think it's "crazy" just ask Ron Paul. His whole platform is pretty much based on what would be considered the foundation of conservative principles and he is called a "nut" by you and a lot of other people...oh well...

Hey, my guy is out of the race already too, Pat, so really we're in the same boat. I was kind of sad when I looked at my ballot yesterday and the name right at the top was John Edwards and I had to pass that over and move down the list...then Hillary takes Massachusetts to top it all off, even after Kennedy and Kerry and their pals endorsed Obama.

Just a bad day at Plymouth Rock...