Fair enough … I tried.

You might be surprised.

there are VERY few people in this world that I don’t like.

I’ve visited your blog before. I disagree.

Yet they cannot point to a single instance where tax increases produced lasting economic growth

I’m not sure what this has to do with the topic at hand, but if you want to compare economic conditions under each party we can certainly do that. The data shows that household income and GDP go up at a higher rate and unemployment goes down under Democratic presidents as compared to Republican presidents. Interestingly, government spending consistently increases at a faster rate under Republican presidents as well.

That the videos demonstrating Obama and his supporters often view him in Messianic terms come from the Right have nothing to do with the Truth or Falseness of the premise.

No but it speaks to the bias of those making the claims. I could as easily point to Bush and Bush supporters behaving similarly. For that matter, if you had cameras trained on you 14 hours a day, I could probably even make the same claim about you. What matters to me isn’t what right-wingers have cherry picked to back up whatever it is they personally desire to see. What matters to me is the truth and neither myself, nor anybody else I know on the left thinks Obama is a messiah. You can characterize us that way for disagreeing with you if it helps you sleep better at night, but it doesn’t make it true.

Final point, what are some of those things that you think Obama has done wrong?

-Supports government-funding of faith-based initiatives in direct violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

-Opposes same-sex marriage rights.

-Has not introduced a bill repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in the Senate despite a similar bill being ready to go in the House, and despite it being politically safe since public opinion is overwhelmingly in favor of a repeal.

-Voted in favor of the FISA bill in June.

-Suggested that it would be OK to drill off our coasts as long as it was part of a larger energy plan.

And I could go on. Fortunately for him, I don’t need the president to be perfect. He’s still leaps and bounds above John McCain.

Evangelicals praying FOR W doesn’t make him a Messiah. Were they to pray TO him, you’d have a point. Using the term Messiah to mock Obama is something Evangelicals would do. Using it as a term to connote personal confidence in anyone besides Christ Himself is decidedly NOT an Evangelical option.

Please take care when speaking of my personal feelings. I understand you were likely just making a point, but there are VERY few people in this world that I don’t like. And the basis for my dislike has absolutely nothing to do with their political persuasions. My dislike would be based in their demonstrated lack of character.

That having been said, I have no problem at all with partisanship. I appreciate, however, intelligent partisanship. For instance, Democrats consistently call for tax increases and pillory those who call for tax cuts. Yet they cannot point to a single instance where tax increases produced lasting economic growth nor can they dispute that every tax cut enacted anywhere has produced increased revenues for the government. Thus, I am completely partisan on this and many other matters. There’s a real and often dangerous difference between the Left and the Right. But it’s not personal. It’s just reality.

That the videos demonstrating Obama and his supporters often view him in Messianic terms come from the Right have nothing to do with the Truth or Falseness of the premise. You can deny that Obama has presented himself in larger than life terms and in terms of a Savior if you wish. That doesn’t make it true. If you examine the examples given by those on the Right, perhaps you might see what they mean.

Finally, I think you probably caught me on the “No one is engaging in bashing the other side’s guy except Democrats.” comment. I read that again myself a half dozen times and have no earthly idea what I was thinking. Taken on its face, it certainly isn’t true. I can only surmise it had some connection to your point from an earlier comment and the Obama as Messiah meme. For the life of me, I don’t know what that connection was. When you’re right, you’re right. And you’re right on this one – stupid choice of words to make whatever point I was making.

Final point, what are some of those things that you think Obama has done wrong? You would be the first Democrat that I have heard admit to anything. But then, I don’t spend a lot of time in Obama supporting circles.

I can point out several blog posts I’ve made that condemn the actions or statements of Obama (and I like Obama, he’s the first politician I’ve ever liked enough to actually give money to). He’s not a messiah. There are plenty of things he’s done wrong. He also happens to be a politician who has a far better plan for the future of the country that John McCain.

George W Bush earned the nickname “messiah” simply because Republicans refused to acknowledge that he had ever done anything wrong. That’s changed somewhat in the last year though you’ll still find many who are that way. Hell, watch the documentary “Jesus Camp.” When evangelical churchs are bringing out cardboard cutouts of George W. Bush so they can lay hands on “him,” the messiah complex has gone a bit further than anything I’ve remotely seen about Obama. False idols indeed.

The point is that George Bush was consistently painted as a messiah figure for the right by those on the left (including the BushisLord.com satire site and numerous other examples), but most on the right thought the accusation was stupid and without merit. Now the EXACT same thing is happening the other way around.

I don’t get my news from YouTube, but the YouTube clips citing Obama as the messiah are all produced by the right.

He’s a popular politician among people you don’t like, so you claim he’s a messiah figure. Bush was a popular figure among people those on the left don’t like, so he was claimed to be a messiah-figure. I even engaged in it briefly before realizing how incredibly stupid the who thing was.

You say “The Left” is fawning over Obama. I’m on The Left and I’m hear to tell you that it doesn’t look that way from where I stand. Take off your partisan glass and you’d see the same thing. Geez, I’m tired of this kind of partisan nonsense. I’ve gotten to where I’m reading a lot of less petty blogs these days and I forget that there are still a lot of people on both sides who engage in this nonsense playground name-calling.

No one is engaging in bashing the other side’s guy except Democrats.

I do appreciate that you offered this line. That kind of irony is difficult to come by and always amusing.

Michael didn’t say Obama WAS the Messiah, he said he was AKA The Messiah.

No one is engaging in bashing the other side’s guy except Democrats. Because if you simply look at YouTube clips, Obama calls forth the day when the planet is healed and the waters recede and the earth is saved and all that in it is … That is Messianic language. And he said all that in connection with himself.

While most on the Right are willing to admit that W has said and done any number of goofy and unwise things in the last 8 years, please name me **one single thing** that many Democrats believe Obama is wrong on. You can’t.

So spare me the standard victim response that the Right is beating up on the Left and it’s all partisan meanness. The Right is beating up on the Right and the Left. The Left is fawning over the man they see as the Savior. Just vote for Obama and all will be right with the world.

Messiah indeed!

Precisely, which is why it should be something McCain can handle without even thinking about it (particularly since it’s on his supposed area of expertise). If he can’t manage a debate alongside a crisis, what will he do if he has a crisis alongside a crisis?

I think McCain is attempting to look like the knight in shining armor rushing in to save the day. How he plans to do that, since he isn’t on any committee related to the bailout, remains a mystery. Meanwhile, pushing back the debate to replace the VP debate may well mean that the VP debate needs to be canceled outright. Keeping Palin out of the spotlight is something the campaign has been diligent about (and I’m not 100% sure why, but the sheer effort they’ve put into it makes it clear something fishy is going on). He’d go along way to dispelling some of the obvious political taint to his decision to postpone the debate if he instead proposed switching the dates of the VP debate to friday to take the place of the Presidential debate (though that wouldn’t exactly be fair to Biden on this short of notice).

George Bush is no more a messiah to the conservative movement than Obama is a messiah to the liberal movement. Yet, you feel free to make the claim about Obama. Low-brow politics is only fun when you’re bashing the other side, no?

Gov. Palin should be able to take over the campaigning. That would make plenty of sense.

George Bush is neither conservative nor a messiah.

My question is where is Palin in all of this? Obviously she can’t vote in the Senate or debate Obama, but why isn’t she taking over the campaign while McCain is otherwise occupied?

As for Obama, we’ve tried out the conservative messiah for the last 8 years, and seen the result. It’s only fair we give the liberal messiah a chance.