By Susan Heathfield

Daniel, I’ve written earlier about my concerns about Sen. Barack Obama’s relationships. And, no Andrew, I do not think Mr. Obama has been closely vetted as a candidate for president. Only recently has much of his background come under public scrutiny. He has not been scrutinized for several reasons:

• the mainstream media has been squarely in his court, rooting him on, during this entire election - the liberal bias of both media and college and university personnel has been well-documented at this point;
• the Obama campaign has consistently refused to release information – now ordered to release - about Mr. Obama to the American public, and has threatened lawsuits and fought in court when others have tried to research his past and his associations;
• Mr. Obama has written two books but whole chapters of his life are missing including information about one of his only executive leadership positions; and
• the political machine in Illinois has been uncooperative in allowing exploration of his past actions such as his membership in the New Party, an organization dedicated to hijacking the Democratic Party and moving it into socialism.

Consequently, I don’t think the American public knows Mr. Obama and why the scrutiny, even at this late date, can make a difference. I’d like to see voting America have a better idea whom they are placing into office when they vote for Mr. Obama. Thus, the McCain campaign and yes, even Gov. Sarah Palin, need to make sure that the American public is informed.

They must raise consciousness in the minds of American citizens that Mr.Obama lacks the judgment, the character and integrity, the record and experience, and the ideas and solutions needed to serve as president of the United States. We are living in a time of wars, economic collapse, and potential nuclear threats. Mr. Obama is not the man to steer our national interests.

Even more troubling to me than his associations are Mr. Obama’s ideas and his record. The more I learn about his record, the more troubled I am about electing the most liberal member of the Senate to the presidency.

William Ayers troubles me for several reasons. He bombed America and he got away with it, by some accounts because of his father’s connection to the Illinois political scene. That’s not enough? Need more? He worked with Mr. Obama to imbue Chicago schools with political activism, not knowledge.

It took serious investigative reporting by Stanley Kurtz writing in the Wall Street Journal to uncover the real story. Mr. Obama headed up the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) from 1995-1999 and served on its Board of Directors until 2001. During his tenure, $100 million was given to groups purportedly for educational reform. But, Mr. Kurtz found, by spending days combing through old board records in the Daly Library at the University of Illinois at Chicago, that Mr. Ayers was certainly more than just a guy from Mr. Obama’s neighborhood.

"CAC translated Mr. Ayers's radicalism into practice. Instead of funding schools directly, it required schools to affiliate with ‘external partners,’ which actually got the money. Proposals from groups focused on math/science achievement were turned down. Instead CAC disbursed money through various far-left community organizers, such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (or Acorn).

"Mr. Obama once conducted 'leadership training' seminars with Acorn, and Acorn members also served as volunteers in Mr. Obama's early campaigns. External partners like the South Shore African Village Collaborative and the Dual Language Exchange focused more on political consciousness, Afrocentricity and bilingualism than traditional education. CAC's in-house evaluators comprehensively studied the effects of its grants on the test scores of Chicago public-school students. They found no evidence of educational improvement."

ACORN is another interesting association of Mr. Obama’s. Apparently, the Obama campaign has had to revise their Web site which originally denied that Mr. Obama was an ACORN trainer. The campaign has also had to revise its statement about how it was using the $800,000 it paid an ACORN subsidiary; the Federal Election Commission told the campaign that it had to disclose that it was using ACORN for get out the vote activities. The campaign then claimed that its failure to appropriately disclose, according to Ms. Carpenter, was a “clerical error.”

ACORN is currently under criminal investigation for voter fraud in 12 states. The Wall Street Journal’s John Fund calls ACORN:

"…the left-wing housing lobby that was at the heart of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. They pushed Congress, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and banks to put out loans to people who weren’t credit worthy, they helped tip this crisis into the disaster that we have now. And they are out registering voters, mostly for Barack Obama, and in 12 states there are investigations into their fraud."

Then, there is the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. How can Mr. Obama claim that the anti-American, pro-racial polarization, anti-white attitudes and words of his religious mentor were unbeknownst to him – for twenty years? Give me a break.

Mr. Obama favors driver’s licenses for illegal aliens – more voter fraud in addition to ACORN? And, why not? Illegal aliens and immigrants from third world nations generally vote - or try to - for the Democrats who promise to take care of them.

Mr. Obama is a man who as a Senator in Illinois, voted to allow babies who lived through botched abortions to die untreated and untended. According to Amanda Carpenter, Mr. Obama claims that he would have voted for the "Born Alive Infant Protection Act (BAIPA) had it included language to protect abortion rights guaranteed by Roe v. Wade, as the federal version of the bill did." Well guess what? Ms. Carpenter says documentation that contradicts Mr. Obama is available:

“…a 2003 Health and Human Services Committee report recorded by Republican committee staff. It documents a unanimous 10-0 vote by the 2003 Illinois Senate Health and Human Services Committee, which Obama chaired at the time, to amend BAIPA to include the exact same language that was added to the federal version to protect Roe v. Wade."

Contrary to Mr. Obama’s statements, he voted to defeat the bill even after his stated concern was met. I’m not sure what others call this vote, but I call it allowing potentially viable babies die. A man with integrity tells the truth.

This week there has been a liberal hue and cry to condemn the McCain campaign, and especially Ms. Palin, as rabble rousers and anti-Obama fanatics who are stoking fanaticism among their supporters. The media miss the point. As facts emerge, a large portion of the American public is scared of an Obama presidency – and they are beginning to demonstrate this view - and they fear they are too late. That’s what’s really going on.

Worst of all? Mr. Obama has portrayed himself as a middle-of-the-road candidate who can unify the country, reach across the aisle and create real change for America. I can find absolutely nothing in his track record that lends credence to this claim. In my opinion, his record and his actions are divisive, racially polarizing, left of liberal, supportive of fraudulent organizations, damning of the beliefs and values of much of the country, deceptive and shifting, demonstrative of a lack of integrity, and unfortunately, not known by most Americans.

How sad. Buyers’ remorse looms. Or, perhaps it’s more appropriate to say that the Obama campaign has effectively kept potentially volatile information from reaching mainstream America. As a business person, I admire the effectiveness. As an American, I see a tragedy unfolding.

This week's previous posts (most recent first): Why Associations Matter, Our Political System Needs Overhaul, Extremist Election Makeover, Are We Sure They Are Obama's Friends?, Not A Lot Can Happen, All Those Associations