Barack Obama Answers 10 Questions

Barack Obama has submitted his responses to 10Questions.com. For those of you unfamiliar with this debate format, you can see my previous coverage here, with a rundown of the questions, my answers, and the candidates' answers to date.

Here are Barack Obama's answers to 7 of the 10 Questions.

1. Net Neutrality - He supports net neutrality, and cleverly raises the spectre of Fox News vs. your Mom and Dad.

2. Is America a Theocracy? - Barack knows which side of the bible his bread is buttered on. He acknowledges the practical reality that we are overwhelmingly a nation of people that claim to be religious. I was a little offended by his characterization of non-religious people as "non-believers." Are we nihilists? Still, he can afford to piss off the 10%. He then makes elegant use of scripture to illustrate the folly of theocracy. In the end, I think he accurately paints a picture of an America that must constantly keep its theocratic tendencies at bay.

3. Medical Marijuana - I'm with him when he says to let the science guide our policy, but when he cautions against the slippery slope of "wink, wink, " medicinal use, I gotta say, "Let he who has not snarffled Doritos and Cheez Waffies at 3 a.m. cast the first stone."

4. Warrantless Wiretapping - "The Constitution works." (slow clap)

5. Campaign Reform - He calls for "public financing", but then, his specifics are a little weak. Free TV time, good. Matching funds? That's a half-measure, though it's probably the most that's achievable.

6. Corporate Personhood - No response posted. Watch Obama Girl.

7. Transparency - He's going to put government info online, and create a Federal Geek Squad to look after it. He also proposes legislative forums for the public to participate in. "The distinguished gentleman from Rhode Island says, 'FIRST!!'"

8. Is Our Voting System Broken? - Barack gets accosted by Jake Silver of "Why Tuesday?", who is a definite "close talker." Obama focuses on ways to make voting more convenient, steering clear of the technology issue, but then he steers the conversation to ways to make people want to vote in the first place.

9. Shrink Government - No response posted. Watch Obama Girl.

10. Two Party System - No response posted. Watch Obama Girl.

While it's tempting to give him the business for using bits from his speeches, you've also got to hand it to a guy who covers medical pot on his stump. As for not answering all of the questions, I'll talk a little about that when I do the 10 Questions Roundup, later this week. It's not necessarily a terrible thing.

So, there you have it, the candidates' answers so far. Again, go to 10 Questions and let them know how you thought they did.