Those are good talking points, but if Obama has indeed changed positions weekly, give me two. FISA, yes, he switched his positions. And I won't get into the nuance of the bill because it's very complicated. But for the sake of argument, yes, he switched on FISA. That's the position that gave the Left pause, if any at all.
In terms of the war in Iraq, both the current Administration and the Iraqi government are most definitely leaning toward Obama's withdrawal timeline, which he proposed from the very start of this election and has maintained throughout. So no switch there. No flip and certainly no flop. He cited sixteen months at the start and his rhetoric has changed one iota. Now, if he get's in office and things warrant staying longer, should he hold fast to sixteen months for the saking of keeping his word, that would be foolish and a display of poor leadership. But based on the current conditions, as Obama sees them, sixteen months is probably a good starting place to begin to draw down.
Voting present in the Illinois Senate is not simply "present" or ducking responsibilty as some would imply. This is funny how it came up during the Primary, but no one cared to investigate what present actually means in the Senate. The Illinois Senate operates quite differently than most state legislations in the United States.
www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/opinion/16mikva.html
Speaking of missing votes, did you know that John McCain has missed more votes this year than any member in the U.S. Senate?
Obama's speeches, take it or leave it. Personally I don't think people being inspired for change and hoping for a new direction in our country is a bad thing. Especially when over 80% of Americans think we're on the wrong track. What, should we feel the opposite way? But I get what you're saying, you can do without the all the hype. Or stylistically, you're not feeling Barack. I can respect that.