A renegade Republican such as Lieberman is to the Democrats? That seems like weak evidence to me, but if you say so.

I should add that I was disappointed when I found out what it meant. Perhaps it's a reflection of my personal depth, but I was hoping for a variation on the "Cougar" theme.

It's hard for me to conceive of two candidates whose philosophies both so differ from mine, that I would vote for one solely on my evaluation of his intellect. I'd rather go 3rd party.

And I've met some damned nutty intellectuals.

Obama hangs out with Coburn. They don't get any less renegade than Coburn.

Hey, if you like to think of Hillary and her supporters in that light, then more power to ya!

I was hoping it referenced maybe the adult daughters of "Cougars" or something.

As an aside (and to your statement) are Hillary supporters, as a sign of their almost Obamanista like devotion, assuming the "look" of their guy?

you asked for evidence of a willingness to bring in opposing points of view, no?

So those are they.

He can only do so much. Rush Limbaugh would not accept an invite, even if offered.

Hypo: which big name in the cabinet would offer you comfort of Obama's willingness to listen? What would Obama have to do? You ask for evidence....give me a few examples of what you are looking for.

Do positions matter? Sure, to an extent. But candidates' positions tend to change once in office. In my lifetime, I can't recall a president whose performance was more to the outward extreme than what he campaigned under; rather, each moved toward the center. I thought Clinton proved to be a lot less of a lefty than had been prophesied, and you can't tell me GWB has performed even remotely close to the principles and positions real conservatives hold dear. Obama won't be studying Up From Liberalism, but he's got an impressive group of advisers, the smarts to seek and consider opposing views, and the wisdom to know that an excessive leftward drift will ensure a one-term presidency, which he'll want to avoid at all costs.

And btw, I'm fine with being compared with Buckley, Jr. By no means am I completely comfortable with Obama. I've expressed concern for many weeks about what a Reid/Pelosi/Obama trifecta might wreak. And part of my Obama vote is born of an immense huge dissatisfaction with W and the neocons whose hubris got us into multiple messes that could have been avoided had they stuck to genuine conservative principles.

I have yet to hear any compelling arguments for supporting McCain, other than the faint praise that he's better than Vladimir Obama. That's not enough for me, and so, with misgivings, I'm voting for a candidate more liberal than any I've ever supported before.

It almost sounds to me like you are voting for the lesser of two evils. You are voting for Obama, but are you really supporting him?

Perhaps it's the same thing - I don't know.

How about he won't put your old pal landpoke out of work with radical and misguided energy policies?