Obama to Black Conservatives: 'I don't want people voting for me because I'm black'
On Tuesday near Detroit, Michigan I spent about 10 minutes one-on-one with Barack Obama. In our conversation I asked him about his message to black conservatives who may be struggling with the fact that they have an historic chance and a real viable shot to vote for an African-American candidate for President yet may have to sacrifice some of their core principles to do it.
Read his answer below. Click play to watch the video.
"I don't want people abandoning their principles, and I don't want people voting for me because I'm black. What I'd ask is people take a look at my positions on issues, not what floats around the Internet, but rather what are my actual positions on issues. I think on some issues I would be considered left of the spectrum, there's no doubt. The fact that even though I've acknowledged abortion is a deeply, difficult moral issue, I continue to believe that women should be in a position to make that decision. That's something, that for some, and I respect this, is a deal breaker. On the other hand, I think there are a lot of conservatives out there who would say that my position on the importance of faith in our culture, my position on the need to care for the poor, my belief in individual responsibility - those are all issues that I think are compatible with many conservatives and so I'd ask people to not buy the political caricature, but actually take a look at my positions on the issues."
A couple notes to the answer above.
Obama acknowledges that he is left of the spectrum on some issues including abortion. That may be a problem for you as a Christian. He clearly understands that and respects that but as you can see what he is doing is trying to find common ground on some other issues. Is it enough for you, especially as a black conservative to vote for him? The McCain camp truly believes that there is NO WAY a true conservative will vote for Obama. Maybe not but will they be "juiced" about McCain enough to get out of their Lazy-Boy armchair and go vote for him? What say you?