Why I am supporting Barack Obama
May 19, 2008
Ok, context for the rest of my post. Here is a sample of public comments on a pretty innocuous story on a Wall Street Journal Blog (here … http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/05/08/clinton-talks-delegate-math-in-wva/)
Unedited quotes:
1.
Look at one particular survey measuring the ignorance of the youthful demographic that is supporting Barack Hussein Obama. 75% of adults between 18 and 24 (inclusively) years of age do not know that most people in Indonesia are Muslim. (Visit news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/0502_060502_geography.html for other shocking information about the utter stupidity of young adults.)
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Note that the particular age group measured by this survey is precisely the demographic that helped Barack Hussein Obama to win the Iowa caucus.
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In the Iowa caucus, “57% of voters ages 17 to 24 said Mr. Obama was their first choice, compared with 14 percent for John Edwards and 10 percent for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.” (Visit www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/us/politics/08youth.html?hp .)
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In Iowa, “Obama’s youth-oriented campaign drew under-25 voters to Thursday’s Iowa caucuses in record numbers, and these first-time voters gave him most of his margin of victory.” (Visit www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1700525,00.html .)
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You wonderful readers be the judge. Ignorant people are supporting Barack Hussein Obama.
2.
Hillary is only winning among Rednecks and illetrate people who will never change even if this country gets destroyed. She knows she can fool them easily but she was mistaken when she started telling lies to the people of IN and NC. I have great faith in the younger generation who are more civilized, have much information about our rotten political system and they are a force to reckon with. Obama has energized the New Generation!!
3.
To: West Virginia and Kentucky full of RED NECKS.
I am a Hillary supporter with $$ and time. I have a degree from UC Berkeley. I make over $200K. There are millions like me supporting Hillary. What is common to all of us at whatever income level or walk of life is sanity and common sense. We are not possessed like the Obamaniacs are. It is sad to see you all being utilized by the cunning charlatans in the Obama campaign. Come on over to Hillary’s side.
Comment by – May 9, 2008 at 2:24 am
These are people who are reading the WALL STREET JOURNAL. And these are tame compared to the crap spewed on Fox News posts. I don’t get it. Where does this hate come from? It’s an election, not a trial of child molestors. None of these comments is focused on ideals, issues, or challenges in America. They are vitriolic rants that are bashing the people involved … not the CANDIDATES, but the people SUPPORTING the candidates. This is the America we live in. The one where ‘if you don’t agree with me then you are evil, deluded and dangerous.’ And our political process FEEDS THE HATE.
So, I support Barack Obama. Not because I agree with him on everything. In fact, I disagree with him on most of the issues that have come up in this election cycle. But it’s complicated.
Here is my view on actual issues:
- I wholeheartedly agree with Sen. Obama that we never should have gone to Iraq.
- I disagree that we can remove troops from Iraq without letting it spin into chaos.
- I don’t know whether I agree with him on immigration because the Democrats haven’t been talking about immigration at all. But the Republicans are dead wrong on immigration, so whatever the Dems want to do can’t be worse. Probably agree.
- Gas-tax-holiday? Only Sen. Obama is realistic about the actual effects of a ‘gas-tax-holiday’. Agree
- Health Care reform. I absolutely agree that the health care system needs an overhaul. Both Democratic plans are deeply flawed though. Is it better to do something than nothing? Probably. And Sen. Obama’s plan is the one that actually has a chance to pass. Agree — very, very mildly, but agree.
- Free trade agreements are the best long-term economic plan for our country. Opposing them is protectionism rife with short-term thinking. Strongly disagree.
- Mortgage bail-outs … who exactly does this help? I’m undecided on this one. I don’t think the government’s place is to accept responsibility for it’s citizens stupid decisions – whether they were the stupid decisions of lenders or borrowers (in this case both!) If I did, well, I could use about $20K to bail out my stock portfolio and 401(K) losses. I am one of the real victims of the mortgage fiasco. My retirement funds are paying the price, and I’ve never had a mortgage. But it’s my own fault for investing, not the Treasury department’s. Probably disagree.
So, like most Americans, none of the candidates fits exactly what positions I want supported. How do I decide who to vote for? Honestly, it comes down to one thing for me. Sen. Obama is the first candidate I have seen in my lifetime who is publicly saying that the political process is ugly, divisive, and part of the problem. And for the most part he is participating in the process in a way that I admire. He doesn’t say that his opponents are not qualified. He doesn’t pick up on isolated comments (with the exception of Sen McCain’s 100 years in Iraq comment) and beat them to death. He shows that he can think about the issues, listen to experts, and reach conclusions. Whether his conclusions are right or wrong in my view is for me secondary to the fact that he has a legitimate rationale for reaching the conclusions that he does.
Sen. Barack Obama is proving that politics can be treated with the seriousness and integrity that it should have … instead of the nasty name-calling and superficiality that have pervaded the politics of my lifetime. He hasn’t been perfect. I wish that he would hold to the ‘no negative campaigning’ ideal even more firmly than he has. But he is the only choice I’ve ever seen who has come close. I’m casting my vote for a better political process.
