Obama no shoo-in, says conservative author

Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 6/20/2008 6:00:00 AMvar addthis_pub = 'onenewsnow';

A New York Times best-selling author and political pundit says he doesn't think Barack Obama will have an easy time putting together the coalition necessary to win the presidency this fall.

Despite the almost messianic appeal Senator Obama (D-Illinois) has demonstrated on the campaign trail, Peter Schweizer thinks the Democratic presidential candidate is simply too far to the left to win the election.
 
"I think Barack Obama is going to have a hard time putting together a coalition to win," says the author. "He is very liberal ... more liberal than Hillary Clinton -- which is a hard thing to say, but is definitely the fact. And I think that his cultural attitudes are very much out of touch with a lot of the American people."
 
And Schweizer says there is also the nagging question about Obama's experience when compared to that of GOP nominee John McCain.
 
"This is not an individual who really has a track record," he notes bluntly. "I think when people look at McCain and ... Obama, they're going to look at the one hand on somebody who has a lot of experience; and [then] they're going to look at Barack Obama and say [to themselves]: 'Here's an individual who gives a good speech, but I don't really know what he's done, and I really don't see any track record -- so I am going to go with the safe bet.'"
 
While he thinks McCain will win in November, Schweizer predicts it will not be as big a victory as it should be.
 
Schweizer's latest book is called Makers and Takers: Why Conservatives Work Harder, Feel Happier, Have Closer Families, Take Fewer Drugs, Give More Generously, Value Honesty More, Are Less Materialistic and Envious, Whine Less and Even Hug Their Children More Than Liberals.