Ed:

"Not in the least. I just don't know what has you all so convinced that Obama is a radical, socialist candidate who will refuse to work with the opposition. Everything I've read seems to me to support the notion that he's aware of the need for coalition building and a 'moderate' agenda."

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I hope you're right because I think his ability to succeed if he's elected depends directly on his ability to do so.  Reading his online positions, he's actually slightly to the right of Hillary Clinton, but his Senate voting record is a bit different.  That said, he hasn't really had to vote on the largest government expansion sort of bills as would be Hillary's health care plan. 

I don't see Obama as a socialist, but I do think a healthy portion of his base would like to take us in that direction.  He's going to have to risk disappointing some of them in order to take a realistic approach.  If he goes too far, he'll get chewed up by the right wing attack machine AND by the silent majority moderates.

One thing that has been very impressive about Obama so far has been his ability to put together a team that functioned so well under the fire of the campaign.  Even if he's the candidate with the least experience, the fact is that neither he nor McCain (nor Hillary) has much executive experience.  But unlike McCain and Hillary, Obama looks like he's done well with it so far.  There's a discipline and consistency to the Obama campaign that the others didn't have.  It's like one group was professional while the others were . . . less so.