Voting for Obama
With his endorsement today of Barack Obama, Colin Powell began to rehabilitate himself from his shameful performance at the United Nations during the Bush administration’s run-up to the Iraq War.
I am voting for Obama without reservation. He is just about the complete opposite of George W. Bush in approach, temperament, and substance. This is someone you can vote for, rather than against the other guy.
But I am also more and more afraid of a McCain presidency. In the past, because of McCain’s stance on a few issues where he broke with his party, I didn’t have that fear. Now, however, it’s clear that McCain is fundamentally unsuited for the presidency. He has sold his soul to the Right, has engaged in politics skirting the edge of hate speech, has surrounded himself with the same people he used to find repugnant, and has displayed an impulsiveness in the selection of Sarah Palin (among other decisions) that indicate a McCain presidency would be at best a mediocrity, at worst a train wreck.
Please understand that although I self-define as a liberal, I would vote for a centrist Republican, depending on the qualifications of the Democratic candidate. The problem is, true Republicans are rare right now. What you have instead are mostly Neocons, Apologists for reckless behavior on all fronts, and candidates who apparently think that governance is just leverage for a never-ending political campaign.
One thing, too, that the last eight years proved–the President is as important as he wants to be. (And thus not voting because “it doesn’t matter” sounds even lamer than usual.) Even just through a flurry of executive orders, not to mention legislation and through manipulation of the justice department, George W. Bush managed to push through a decidedly anti-people agenda. Which is to say, for eight years, the government of the United States has waged a war against its own population. More pollutants in the air, water, and land, resulting in more cases of cancer and other diseases. Fewer freedoms. Etc. Basically, this president is responsible for contributing to a systematic, wide-spread oppression on so many fronts that trying to combat it has frozen many of us in place. McCain was generally in lock-step with W in this agenda, and traded his credibility for access and the leverage to make a bid for the presidency one more time.
McCain is fond of lambasting Obama for being a “celebrity” and “the one”, as if Obama has no real reason for running for president. But the fact is–McCain is “the one” running for the presidency as if it were his birthright, without any other compelling argument being made.
October 19, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Agreed.
May I add that most of the minor points made during the debates, regarding who voted for what bill, are largely irrevelent? What I mean is, most people know that bills often sound good but contain provisions that negate whatever good they might contain. So when either side says, “You voted against this” or “you voted for that,” there is almost always more to the story.
I look at the overall mindset of the candidate. Would it really bankrupt America to provide health care for everyone? (as if we’re in great financial shape now). Is it really true that some countries only understand force and violence, so sitting down to talk is useless? I can’t believe that.
People say I am too naive. They say, “Bill, there will always be wars and rumors of wars. This isn’t Star Trek, where the Vulcans come down and scare all the Earthlings into working together.” I say, WHY does it HAVE to be true that the world can’t live in peace? And if we do need to use force, wouldn’t it be more effective if we haven’t depleted our military personnel and budget on bogus, unnecessary crap?
October 19, 2008 at 9:17 pm
If I was an American, I’d probably be voting for Obama as well. Having briefly seen a couple of debates that have aired here in Australia, he certainly seems to have a better grasp of the issues he’s talking about, and doesn’t feel the need to respond to McCain by attacking him personally, as McCain seems to, but rather addresses problems he sees in the actual issue McCain brings up. It’s been an interesting campaign to watch as an outsider, to say the least.
October 20, 2008 at 2:27 am
Same here, Seth. I’m also an Australian. It’s a damned shame the rest of the world doesn’t get to vote in American elections when the whole world can be plunged into recession or war when they pick a naff president.
I’ve been railing against McCain and Palin (shudder!) on my blog for a while now in the hope that an American might read it one day and take pity on the rest of us.
October 20, 2008 at 8:00 am
Something has been bugging me and I finally figured out what it was. The same people who are trying to convince me that war is always necessary are also trying to say that the deficit is not George W’s fault. They say the deficit is a result of some mismanagement by Clinton’s administration. I knew that didn’t sound right.
Finally, I remembered something Bush said in the 2000 debate with Al Gore. It had something to do with a surplus (Okay, so I’m a little slow). I did some Googling and found a
transcript of the 2000 debate on CNN.com, in which Bush says, “There’s enough money to pay seniors today in the current affairs of Social Security. The trillion comes from the surplus. Surplus is more money than needed” and “I want to take one-half of the surplus and dedicate it to Social Security, one-quarter of the surplus for important projects, and I want to send one-quarter of the surplus back to the people who pay the bills…â€
So let me get this straight. Eight years of Clinton gave us what even George W. Bush considered an ample and remarkable surplus, and now we have a massive deficit. But someone wants me to blame Clinton for the bad economy.
October 20, 2008 at 8:58 am
Yes, I voted via absentee…Obama.
October 21, 2008 at 12:09 am
OMG, where did you find that photo? I nearly peed myself laughing.
If you haven’t already, you may want to check out “Make-Believe Maverick” by Tim Dickinson, which was recently published in Rolling Stone. I was wary of McCain as president before reading it, but I’m downright terrified now. It’s uncanny how closely his life mirrors Dubya’s, though he’s actually crashed more planes.