Let me say that the proposed policies of Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen Barack Obama, while not identical, are similar enough for me to except either one as the nominee. That is, the direction they are going into is the direction I share, they just have different modes of transportation.
They have their pluses, which have been recounted on this site ad infinitum. So let me time a moment to gloss over what I saw/see as potential weaknesses. Please note that this comes from one of my incomplete diaries (in which I wanted to do a breakdown on every Dem candidate) so I'm using blockquotes to denote that. Also, note that these are things I see as a problem; it doesn't mean that it's Priority #1 for either candidate's campaign.
Clinton is not as experienced as she claims. At least, not in the "35 years" sense. If fact, it's Mike Gravel has the most political experience. He first ran for office (and won) in 1962, making his life in pulic service about 46 years. Of course, Clinton supporters will site electibility as a counter-argument, to which I would say, "Well, that wasn't your orignial argument; your original argument was her experience is a main qualifier."
Obama rubs civil rights leaders the wrong way. Why? Maybe because he can't fit into a stereotype; he's not Tom Dubois or Wayne Brady but neither is he Ice Cube nor Samuel L. Jackson. Maybe it's because he hasn't been through "The Struggle," but there's a whole generation of people who can relate to that. Maybe it's because he's gotten so far so fast, the Old School didn't have enough time to digest everything that's happened. Whatever it is, there are still those who have influence over votes and they have no immediate plans to aim those votes in Obama's direction.
Since the time I first wrote those words, Clinton has shifted her primary argument to saying that she's a fighter, which is a harder trait to review than her previous one. In a similar fashion, Obama has pointed out that methods like utilizing aged litmus tests to determine a potential candidate's credentials is precisely the reason he's calling for a new era of political thinking.
That being said, I'll move along to what I believe would be compelling reasons to vote and/or support either of them.
Sen. Clinton is equipped to fight the policy battles. By "equipped," I mean between her husband and her connections in Congress (and in the party) she can conceivably push through any of the major issues of the day (among them being Iraq, Health Care, Election Reform, the Environment and true economic stimulation). The catch is, I don't see her administration making any significant inroads in more than two of these issues; she's going to have pick. Which means they're be issues that go ignored or unresolved...which means alot of pissed-off Democratic voters. Nevertheless, her attitude during this campaign has been a confrontational one and I've seen little that makes me believe that she'd leave the White House without one major accomplishment under her belt.
Sen. Obama has positioned himself to be anti-Bush in a governance sense. Where Bush (and Cheney) played exclusively to his base, Obama has left little doubt that he's willing to work with Republicans to get legislation through. At the same time, he is not coming off as Republican-Lite...which in the past was almost a requirement for Democrats who expressed a desire to partner with anyone from the GOP. This message, that we can work for some common ground with people that we usually disagree with, is precisely the type of talk that can win you moderates and independents...yet lose a good number of die-hard liberals who either don't trust Republicans or hate the GOP's conservative wing to the point that supporting them is considered repulsive. Obama's approach would mean greater inroads for more issues, yet it's hard to say that this method would led to anything being accomplished in one term; it's more dependent on alliances and should it falter it's not clear whether Obama would extend another olive branch, make a compromise, or take off the gloves.
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Now, my voting story.
I asked my boss if I could leave early to beat any kind of rush, and she gave me the OK. So naturally I spent the last half hour doing last minute cramming, in particular the judicial candidates and delegates nobody seems to know exist until they get to the booth. Right before I had to go, the last person I was Googling brought up a story where the person in question was arrested (one of the judicial people). I couldn't get the link to open, and it was about time to leave, so I let it go.
Before I logged out, I received an email from one of my cousins, which is notable because I can count on on hand the number of emails she's sent me in the past six months. In it, she asked me to read this opinion article she found. I'm not going to say that it wasn't endorsing one candidate over another, because that would be a lie. It was written by Professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell of Princeton University, and it's entitled "Hillary's Scarlett O'Hara Act." Despite Prof. Harris-Lacewell's obvious allegiance, I felt that this paragraph was very significant, if for anything it's something that I haven't seen or heard being discussed:
Black feminist politics is not simple identity politics. It is not about letting brothers handle the race stuff, or about letting white women dominate the gender stuff. The black woman's fight is on all fronts. Sisters resist the ways that black male leaders try to silence women's issues and squash female leadership. At the same time, black women challenge white women who want to claim black women's allegiance without acknowledging the realities of racism. They will not be drawn into any simple allegiance that refuses to account for their full humanity and citizenship.
Now I was ready to go.
My drive through the icy rain was less than pleasant. It took me half a minute to realize that the windshield wipers where making a studdering noise as they tried to clean the water off. Oh, crap! The rain froze on my windshield while in the parking garage! After five-prayer-filled minutes, I got enough heat to see in front of me, and wanting to avoid any major delays, I decided to take the back way. Big mistake. As soon as I got near a little old bridge I've always passed with no incident, traffic screeched to a halt. Apparently the bridge had iced to the point where if you went more then 5mph you risked skidding out of of your lane.
So after another prayer-filled amount of time, I was finally at my desitnation: the proverbial elementary school. I noticed alot, and I mean alot, of mini-"Hillary" posters on my way. Not one Obama sign. As I got to the parking lot of the school, I saw a mixture of Hillary and Ron Paul signs (more proof to me that the only Republican who's getting votes in a state like Maryland is one who's pro-leaving Iraq).
As I parked, I noticed something different than my last visit in 2006: nobody was around to bombard me with flyers and handouts. Was it the weather, combined with the noticeably cracked and eroding pavement? Where people on break? I saw a box that had the "Hillary" logo on it not to far from a sign warning people from "electioneering beyond this point." Half-thinking I was at the wrong school, I pressed on and was relieved to see people leaving the building.
I went inside and got in line. The nice little old white lady (is there a prerequisite that all voting places have at least on nice old lady?) gave me instructions on what to do. I was directed to a table with three black men (none younger than 25 or older then 50) looked me up on a computer. I had to explain that the addy on my driver's didn't match where I currently live because I got it before I moved. No problem. He gave me a receipt that had more info about me than I expected, a voting card and pointed to (another) nice old white lady.
NOWL #2 brought me to a voting machine, took my receipt (?) and showed me how to used the card. Diebold; sigh. I put it in and began to push buttons. As I looked at the names, I felt good that I actually Goggled some of these people. One was a veternarian; another a nurse. One potential delegate was a fellow Terp! I have to say that this was the first time I voted where I knew a little something about everyone. I skipped the person who I was trying to get more info on back at work; I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I pushed that button and then learned latter on that the story was true. I went to the second page to complete my voting.
After finishing up, I was taken to the approval page, and I noticed something: I hadn't chosen a presidential nominee! I was kinda taken aback; how the hell could I have done the webresearch, take of early, and brave the subtle icestorm only to have this kind of brainfart? Was it something subconscious? Something I read here? My cousin's email? A soundbite I might have picked up on the radio? Or just plain doubt?
I paused. Then I had one last "conversation" with myself and asked: Aside from the big issues that are no brainers, aside from each person's campaign style, their promises, their personalities, what's something I'd want from them right now? My answer seemd to come from near the entrance of the school, where a woman who obviously had problem getting end was complaining to NOWL #1 about the poor pavement.
Then it dawned on me: I'd also like a candidate who'd help fix our roads, our streets.
So I looked back at the digitized screen, took a deep breath, and pushed the button...