Now I thought he wasn't registered with any party (so he is therefore an independent) but he adhered to democratic socialist ideology.

Any one from any party can be our president, but the two major parties are really to hard to beat,

Obama is a bit better then Clinton on all but the US economy, on that she is a tad bit better. The republicans have NO hope of winning this one, with the republican we just had...

Oh I don't know about that mate, your economy's not looking so good, and American voters know that Democrats = more spending, more regulation and higher deficits.

Hu, compare Bush and Clinton...

The Democrats are going cream it. The Republican party is deeply unpopular, the economy may turn little of the support back to the GOP, but the Dems are sooo far ahead anyway and they are likely to produce quite similar economic recovery packages, except the Dems' will be more populist (e.g. Lower-Middle class tax cuts and spending where it matters) as opposed to the neo-liberal policies of Bush (except when it comes to the military) that have lead the US economy to the recession. The only chance the Republicans have is if they pick McCain and the Democrats pick Hillary. Obama could successfully counter McCain as most independents would vote for someone who is seen as less polarizing (conservatives, even moderate ones just can't help but be polarizing),and Obama is the Uniter. He also has the important advantage of not being Hillary, as she attracts those protest votes (against her) which could just tip it McCain's way.

Obama all the way!

Obama has little chance in winning the primary and even less of a chance winning the presidency.

He has almost no experience in politics, business, or leadership. He is simply a below average lawyer (which we don't need anymore in government or anywhere else in the universe for that matter) who happens to have charisma and speaks well. He also is very religious and only supports black interests.

My biggest concern is that he has absolutely no foreign policy experience or education which is what America needs the most right now. After Bush's disastrous (and stolen) presidency, improving the poor American image around the world should be the top objective. Obama will not do that. Hillary might, so long as she sends her husband who actually was a decent diplomat and fairly popular around the world.

Ultimately, the Democrats will loose (again) due to poor candidate selection. John McCain is a moderate Republican, hates Bush, and will attract moderates from both parties for a decisive win in November.

For image, I do believe in the Republican camp John McCain has some nice ideas with good intentions. Though for domestic policy, Ron Paul all the way. Media's not paying attention but he's picking up a lot of good caucus results and should fair well in the convention, for a former Libertarian Party President, that is.

True, Ron Paul is a good guy, but as usual the people do not decide who becomes a viable candidate or even president. The electoral system in America is one of the worst in the world, only slightly above dictatorial rigged elections (and I'm not even sure about that).

The European parliamentary system is far better in representing the people through coalitions. People always forget that the US president is not elected by the people, but by the tiny and antiquated Electoral College. The entire process of US presidential voting is just for show and in the end counts for nothing.

It might be a bit better here, yes. But in fact, the top of all established political parties is manipulated by the economy leaders - so superficially it seems you have a choice...