Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Barack Obama Gets My Support


Published: January 27, 2008

OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.

I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved. (excerpt, title link)

(Buddha) Now that the Green Party is out of the running I am throwing my support to Barack. I love the idea of a three party system and really like the greens' platform, but they're out. In my opinion this nation needs a serious overhaul, and of the candidates with a shot Barack is the most likely to do that in a positive way. If you insist on voting Republican (don't do it) please consider John McCain. I believe that he has the backbone and integrity to do as good a job as any republican could hope to,or at least do the least damage, if we as a nation are able to pressure the government to end the current wars (and not start new ones).

The Democratic candidates have very small differences in matters of policy so it becomes a question of integrity and the ability to positively impact the citizens of this and hopefully many other nations. From what I've seen, Barack Obama is the most articulate, charismatic, and optimistic among the candidates. He's also fresh enough that he's likely the candidate with the fewest puppeteers pulling his strings. The election of anyone other than a caucasian male suddenly opens our political process to allow for the most qualified person (who can raise the money) to pursue and attain our highest public office from this point forward. This greatly increases the number and quality of potential candidates (open competition is good for the vitality of any market or arena). In addition to all of this HE OPPOSED THE INVASION OF IRAQ!!!

Caroline Kennedy's support is intriguing, as she and many others have been comparing Barack Obama to her father, JFK. What a breath of fresh air that would be, to have someone with the gravitas to engage the energy of the nation's youth in moving us in a radically different direction. Imagine pulling away from empire building/maintenance and redirecting the resources of war. We could have the equivalent of a moonshot for environmental sustainability with all of the social, economic, and environmental benefits of a vibrant green economy. This change would also do a lot to improve our national security (much more effectively than invading multiple countries for fossil fuels). We could lead the way forward in this up-and-coming worldwide paradigm shift.

Barack is much more environmentally aware and progressive than Hillary Clinton, and I think that this is the most crucial issue we face moving forward. He wants to ban legal concealed weapons carry, which I believe is a seriously bad idea, but overall I feel that he is absolutely our best choice.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

my friend -


you write that Barack is much more environmentally aware and progressive than Hillary Clinton..... I would say that is far from certain... You mentioned to me last night in conversation that you always want to know who is "pulling the strings"...

In Obama's case it seems one of the largest string pullers is Exelron....
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/us/politics/03exelon.html?hp


I am grateful that it appears that McCain seems ready to win the Republican side and we are left with Clinton and Obama on the Democratic side.... this is good news.... I will likely support Obama over McCain if that is the choice.... But I am a little concerned about all the Hype.... Obama is a gifted orator and is a magnetic force on the campaign trail..... but he still is a senator one that is long on oratory and short on accomplishment... he still represents interests and people should be a bit more careful in finding out whose before he gets a pass....

adam

Anonymous said...

Barack Obama, like all politicians, has little understanding of the scope of our energy problems, or a real understanding of this complex issue. He will take money from the energy industry and keep us on the same dead-end path.

"Obama’s Energy Equivocations"
http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/obamas_energy_equivocations.php