I know that I’m breaking my own rule about discussing politics on my blog (given my dislike of fashion magazines that cover politics and social issues on one hand and fashion and fashion and beauty on the other), but given the enthusiasm that my fellow beauty bloggers have expressed via Twitter concerning Barack Obama’s clinching the Democratic nomination for President, I find it hard to restrain expressing my own opinions.

Now since Obama will face national elections, he’s going to have a hard time of persuading Americans to vote for him. The United States of America, as a whole, is centrist to conservative in its politics. In past elections, liberals who have secured the Democratic nomination have been decisively trounced in the general elections.

If his associations are evidence of his own views, Obama is not merely a liberal, but a leftist. Diehard conservatives might not share my opinion, but what distinguishes a liberal from a leftist is that a leftist has contempt for his/her country, while a liberal essentially wishes his/her country well. Rev. Wright (“God damn America”) and Michelle Obama (“for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country …”) are leftists, while those Democratic nominees (McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis) who crashed and burned in prior elections were liberals.

Another concern I have about Obama is his willingness to negotiate with anyone, even a nutcase like Kim Jong-Il of North Korea or a religious fanatic who uses violent and genocidal rhetoric like Mahmoud Ahmedinejad of Iran, without pre-conditions. After Obama was criticized for his stance, he has been furiously back-pedaling to say that “preparations” are necessary, an approach that a recent commentary in the International Herald Tribune call “nuanced”!

On the other hand, I’m not ready to commit to McCain, as he pledges to maintain the U.S. presence in Iraq.