I'm happy to say I'll be voting for Barack Obama in the super Tuesday primary next week. I wish I could say I was doing it with all the enthusiasm with which I'd have voted for Dennis Kucinich, but I think I will be able to vote for Obama with significant peace of mind.
His message of hope and change are inspiring, but I feel that on the essential issues we face - the war in Iraq, civil liberties, the economy, health care, education, poverty - he will move us as far as possible from the Bush doctrine as is possible in a country now ruled by fear, xenophobia, racism, and zealotry.
I think he is more capable of this than other candidates because he exhibits the qualities of a unifying force. He's not afraid, for example, to talk about homophobia to a homophobic Christian audience in a church. He is also, ultimately, the most electable candidate.
I don't like the idea of a continued family dynasty in the White House, nor the conduct of Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail. It's unfortunate that the first credible woman candidate for the office is saddled with a charismatic, out-of-control, ex-president of a husband whose liberal credibility is questionable.
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I think he is more capable of this than other candidates because he exhibits the qualities of a unifying force.
I couldn't agree more.
On what is easily the most important foreign/domestic issue facing our country right now -- our continued occupation of Iraq -- I firmly believe that every "electable" candidate will do pretty much the same thing, albeit with different spin, diplomacy, and competence. (And none will do it as poorly as the neocons have.) I'm not sure mere presidents get to significantly alter the U.S. course of action in the middle east, at least on its most basic level.
But in their potential to heal the American psyche, there seems to be great differences between the candidates. We could have been so much more unified as a nation, and as a member of the global community, if we had only had the benefit of true leadership in the white house for the past six or so years since the September 11 attacks. Instead, we were purposefully splintered and taunted into heated but irrelevant ideological conflicts with our neighbors, both internal and external. Any common ground we manage to find among those of us with differing opinions is being re-discovered in spite of the best Rovian efforts to prevent it.
As you can maybe tell, I'm more than just a tad cynical. Yet I find myself inspired by Obama's message, and by his potential to change the national dialog. Forget competence, never mind experience, you can even discard positions on the invasion of Iraq (we're gonna be there 'till the oil runs out). What we seem to need more than ever is a leader that will help us to see that we have more in common than we have differences.
Something tells me Hillary is not that person.
--Pete T.
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