I don't like Barack Obama

but will vote for him in the general election.  Call this my "endorsement" .. as deliberately small as it is.

At this point, my agreement with Obama supporters revolve around these things:

1.  Hillary is not, at this point, a good Democratic candidate.

2.  She cannot win the primary without funny business.

3.  Hillary's lies, insane threats about nuclear annihilation of foreign countries, being sniped at in Tuzla, where she was not sniped at, and so forth.

So our choices are three, McCain, Obama, and keeping Hillary Clinton's increasingly Quixotic campaign alive.

That being said, there seems to be a lot of discussion about Obama's behavior relative to Clinton in this campaign.

Quoting from myself, tonight I said the following, to an Obama supporter saying that he should ignore Hillary and focus on McCain (a sentiment I agreed with):

I think Obama should refocus on winning back the constituencies that are in some part alienated from him by either the campaign, his campaign's actions, or sniping from other candidates ...

Some white men,

Some white older women,

Some Hispanics, and last but not least,

Some gay people (men, in particular).

I think ignoring Hillary is fine -- great, even.  

As someone who will vote for (but is not in the least fond of) Obama, he can do much more to appeal to Democratic groups outside his core bloc.

In particular, I think Obama should, while setting his sights on McCain, also should tack left on the hot button social issues -- especially women's and gay rights.  The only significant people who will find this a deal breaker probably wouldn't vote for him anyway, when push came to shove.  And doing that would do much to cement two constituencies that have a -- shall we say -- complicated -- relationship with him and his campaign.

If Obama is the candidate of unity, let him be the candidate of unity.  Let him speak up for the rights of the oppressed in more than just words, but in policy proposals as well.

Unfortunately, three trends on Daily Kos worry me:

1.  The pathetic gratitude on the part of many Obama supporters for supposed Republican defectors to Obama, to the point where commenters who say they are Republicans, who say they support Obama, appear on the Rec list,

2.  In my perception, the increasing tendancy on the part of certain people on this site, some of whom are known trolls themselves, to troll rate to oblivion anti-Obama comments that are not in any conceivable sense (as far as I know) troll ratable, thus shutting down discussion of Obama's weaknesses -- and yes, he is a man, a politician, and does have weaknesses, and, finally,

3.  The meme and perception that all dislike of Obama comes from either a). the right or b). racist impulses.

For the record, I don't like Obama, and yes, I am a white man.  A white, gay man who doesn't like Obama's hypocrisy -- as I see it, concerning social oppression at all.

Should I, too, be troll rated to oblivion?  I don't like Obama, and don't accept the various faux-apologies offered about homophobic statements and actions during this campaign, but in the final analysis, he is the best of a sorry bunch for this election, and yes, I will vote for him.

So Obama supporters talk about unity.  Some Obama supporters offer comfort to the Republicans who have voted for people who have destroyed this country in the past, on the basis of their professed support of Obama.

Now Obama supporters are talking about why Hillary Clinton is still alive in this campaign, and how to blow away the Hillary skeleton for once and all.

Could it be -- maybe -- appealing to core Democratic constituencies, including gay people, women, Hispanics and others, who might vote for Hillary not out of like for the woman, but out of distaste for Obama?  And, not from the right, but from the left?

Here's a clue -- maybe some traditional and loyal Democratic constituencies actually have reason to be a bit bitter.  And are not clinging to religion or guns.

Obama does not have to worry about including Republicans, winning them over, appealing to their sensibilities, or otherwise appeasing them, as long as there are more Democrats than there are Republicans who might be talked into voting for him on election day, despite any legitimate misgivings.