"Barack Obama will do politics, make both deals and appearances, and if he continues his current voting practices you can probably be satisfied…the worst that will happen is he'll do no harm."

I disagree that he can't do any harm. The system is corrupt, and his willingness to go along to get along to further his "political" ambitions signals to me that he is part of the problem not part of the solution.

Admittedly, it is not easy to avoid being plucked and fucked by the Washington establishment upon arrival. Even Paul Wellstone, who demonstrated early in his career that one could serve one's constituents and the nation without climbing into bed with lobbyists or making backroom deals with crooked politicians, eventually found himself compromising his positions against his better judgement. 

Obama barely arrived in the Capitol building built by black slaves on the Hill when he started flirting with whoredom. His vote to confirm Condoleeza Rice, a war criminal of the worst ilk, and his endorsement of Joe Lieberman, Bush's bitch, denote, to my way of thinking, a Faustian pact. This deal with the devil has cast a huge shadow over his first term and his future, and marks him as anything but "progressive." Despite a credible and creditable career at the state level, he's become just another tired ass pandering "liberal" politician more focused on career advancement and self-aggrandizement than real reform of the system.

Carol Mosley Braun sans drag. But if he becomes comfortable being a whore, the mini skirts and stilletto heels won't be far behind.

I disagree that he can't do any harm. The system is corrupt, and his willingness to go along to get along to further his "political" ambitions signals to me that he is part of the problem not part of the solution.

He CAN do harm, yes. Any national officeholder can. I don't think he will though...by which I mean his presence won't make things harder on Black folks than things already are.

You can be a Democrat in Illinois and be elected -in fact it helps.

You can be a liberal in Illinois and be elected to statewide office -it' easier in a Congressional district on the South or West side or off of the Lake but it is still quite possible.

You cannot be elected on a statewide basis in Illinois as some kind of Marxist radical, an anti-white firebrand clone of Louis Farrakhan or a conspiracy theorist ( or for that matter, as a far right kook or militant anti-abortionist). The last time that happened, when two followers of Lyndon LaRouche won Democratic Party nominations by stealth, it destroyed the entire ticket.

Illinois voters like the middle of the road

Illinois voters like the middle of the road

I've got no beef with that. In fact, I find it significant that they elected a Black senator so quickly after Ms. Mosely-Braun's exit. 

"Votes are not demonstrations of ideology. Votes are elements of tradeable agreements."

I think we could agree that they are both. But, in the final analysis, we cannot judge a politician by what he or she says they stand for, we need to consider their actions. Looking at their voting record provides a window into their souls and/or their campaign bank accounts. In Obama's case, the Black Commentator, which has devised a comprehensive method for evaluating the voting records of the CBC and the lone black Senator, awarded him a grade of C. I think their position pretty much sums up my own. Of course, they primarily are looking at it from a standpoint of black partisanship. Which suits me just fine. Nevertheless, I realize Obama isn't a "black" Senator; he's a Senator who happens to be black. Frankly, I would be satisfied if he served as a Senator and not a prostitute. From my standpoint, the jury's still out on that.