I don't really care what church he goes to.

I agree (except for maybe the church thing--I would want to know if our future president belong to a church that preached hate or intolerance, especially to other religions--not everyone is a Christian and we all deserved to practice what we believe), but seriously we need to know who will be running the country and its not so much the president as his team of experts that run the country. I mean if you are a CEO or a Head Scientist, you can't know everything about everything so you hire experts in the different fields that you will be working with and you trust their judgment about their areas. Same for the president, he can't know everything about everything, so its important that he has good experts giving him advice. Bad advisers make for a bad president.

I think at the moment people are so blinded by the media encouraging all the Obamamania that there is no room for really serious issues. Actually I would not believe or rely on who Obama chose today because he would flip-flop to someone else tomorrow.

I have often felt the same. It is ridiculous for the candidate to say "I will do this" or "I will do that". He only will be able to do those things in the event that Congress supports him. He or she cannot possibly have his mind made up about so many things unless he has studied all of the issues in depth. He needs support of other leaders. I like this discussion.

Yes waiting to see who Obama will surround himself with, my opinion it will be people that he owes a favor to, Obama isn't going to put anyone in there that is going to fight him on what he believes or wants. i don't trust the man, and it is his well educated speaking and his clean looks that is getting the attention, never mind that he has only been a senator what a short time, where is any experience does he have in running this country, he screams change but I am wondering if it is the change that we are going to like. And I don't bel;ieve you will get any information from him as to who he will get to serve under him before he is elected then if you don't like them too bad, he is in. My opinion he needs to surround himself with all the people that he knows would be approved by the people but don't think that is going to happen, I think he owes too many favors to too many people and it will be based on that.

In the end, the job is President of the United States of America. I want a person who is willing and able. I understand what you mean, "you are only as strong as your weakest link", but we won't know who the running mates are, until we are told. Americans can demand all they want, but Americans have let "them" get away with far too much....so they aren't giving us anything.... We need to stand up and start making some real changes....before it's too late I don't believe the running mates are that big of an issue. I think people are more surprised by the fact that our country has been neglected for 8 years....and how for almost 4 of them, we should never have had to deal with it.... I don't understand why now, because of election time, people are now realizing how messed up America is. "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, well..shame on me." I remember, I was about 14 and I was absolutely heartbroken when I heard George W. was going to be President, couldn't wait until I could vote, and when I turned 18 I didn't even imagine so many people could honestly vote for Bush... I don't know which day was worse....The first or the second joke...

i don't know about your country,i know my country the next president. usually in my country i can see clearly who is the next president.becasue our country only has one goverment party called China communist party. how many party in your country? are there have many ones in same party run to president? my country's president will nominate the next president.and the the most of probable the nominate one will come be the next president. and the president will decide the premier.do you think is that right? i think it is more fair that have many person to compete the president.and the best one will be the president.

I agree! I'm all for a "don't ask, don't tell" policy when it comes to politicians religious affiliations. One's religious faith or lack thereof is personal and should be so for politicians and Presidential candidates as well as the rest of us. I don't think anyone should be told they CAN'T talk about what church they go to but why would they WANT to since you can't please everybody, no matter what someone will be offended so let's just take it off the table altogether. As for their "team", I also agree, it would be helpful if voters could have some idea of who would likely be in various cabinet positions in each possible Administration as well as who the VP candidate will be. The running mates should be announced fairly soon since the conventions are coming up in a matter of a few weeks now. Annie

Getting elected isn't about qualifications, experience, or even the people you surround yourself with. It's about buzzwords and gimmicks. If you say "CHANGE" enough, you'll get elected. You don't really need to change anything. You don't need to keep your promises. It's no different than being homecoming queen or winning any other popularity contest. If John McCain looked like George Clooney and said "change" a bit more he'd probably have the lead in the race right now. His experience is meaningless when faced with a better looking, younger candidate who says change.

You are absolutely correct. The president is only one player albeit an important player, it is the rest of the team that is important. Who the key advisors are, who surrounds him (her) and whispers in his ear. Who speaks for the country to foreign leadership. All of this is also what should be important to us.

The people surrounding the candidate are most certainly an important point. I'm still waiting, which VP candidates there'll be. A lot can be concluded from such people and campaign contributers. Especially, whether buzzwords and campaign promises/slogans/statements/.. can be trusted. All those supporters have their own agenda and usually stand to gain something from their support and contributions.