It was a tough choice
Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 12:31:39 PM PDT
It took me a while to do it, but I've finally made my choice, and it feels good. I've been reading a lot of the diaries on candidates here, and a lot of them truly turned me off, but some of them turned me on as well, from all sides of the campaign.
That's why I decided to share here the post I made on my blog talking about the process that went into my choice for the next President of the United States.
The meat and potatoes is below the fold.
I've been wavering on whether or not I wanted to declare my support for a particular candidate in this year's Democratic primary. Although I've been something of an Obama cheerleader to friends and family for the past three and a half years, ever since his speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, I've been leaning strongly towards John Edwards.
John Edwards is an excellent man and candidate. In regards to the issues I care about most, namely environmental issues and healthcare, I probably like his positions better than any other candidate. He's also the one person I trust the most to work to alleviate poverty and rebuild the middle class. When you're an unemployed technology worker like I am, you realize just how important it is to provide a base of support for the lower and middle classes so that they don't collapse when things go wrong.
In choosing who I wanted to support for President, I had a few criteria I used to judge the candidates. First, who had the policy positions I like the most. Edwards wins that one by a long shot, except for technology. Obama has a much more detailed plan for using and expanding technology, at least in my opinion and it fits better with my own views. But on healthcare, the environment and climate change, my two big ticket issues, Edwards has the better policy position.
Second, I looked at the candidates and in my head tried to determine who I thought had the best chances to win in a general election. Personally, I think Clinton, Edwards, and Obama all three have a nearly equal chance of winning the general election. Edwards though came in last in this category, however. While he had amazing success raising money early in the primary campaign, I do think money is going to be an issue with him. He really didn't have a choice about using federal matching funds, which limits how much money he can spend and where and as sad as it is, he's going to need a lot more money than he seems to be able to raise in order to win the general election.
Clinton and Obama are more or less on equal footing in the money race, so that's not really an issue. The issue with these two candidates to me is who has the best opportunity to bring in that extra support when the time comes for the general election. Right now, I'd have to say it's Obama by a slim margin. He more than anyone else is getting the crossover votes, and as Iowa showed he's getting a fair amount of independent voters as well.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, I wanted a candidate who, after winning the Presidency, had the best chance of actually getting things done once he or she is in office. Again, Edwards unfortunately came in third. His two nations philosophy of the haves and have-nots is a fair assessment of the reality in our society. At the same time it's also a very populist approach to take, and as true as it is, it invites confrontation with opponents and from the start pits one against the other. I don't think that's intentional by any means, but I do it's reality, just as it's a reality that we are living in a nation separated by class.
Hillary Clinton on the other hand, didn't beat John Edwards by much in this category, and I'm tempted to say that she didn't beat him at all, but she has one edge that Edwards doesn't on this front. She has a lot of political chips to cash in. I don't like it, but it's a truth. People owe her a lot of favors, and as President I think she be able to use a lot of them to get things done with the Congress. All the same, she's also a very polarizing figure, and pretty much anything she proposes is going to draw strong opposition, just because she's a Clinton. It's not right, and certainly not fair, but a lot of people both inside Washington and outside vehemently dislike her. If Clinton wins this thing, she's going to take office with half the country already holding a negative opinion of her, just as they do now, and I don't want that in my President.
In the end, I've decided I'm going to support Barack Obama. While his positions on the environment and healthcare aren't my favorite of the candidates, I don't actually disagree with them. I like Eward's positions better, but I do like Obama's positions as well. The difference is that I think Barack Obama has a better chance of actually making his positions come to life.
Looking at his past, in Chicago and the Illinois legislature, it's obvious that he's a master at getting people to work together to accomplish good things. I've heard so many people who have worked with Obama, Republicans and Democrats alike, talk about how his gifted ability to take two opposing sides and find a good, solidly progressive position that everyone can agree on.
That's the other thing I like about Obama. When he forges a compromise, it's something that progressives can get behind and support. He doesn't seem to do the middle-of-the-road thing that other politicians do when they talk about compromise. I also don't think I've ever heard him utter the phrase bi-partisan (although I could be wrong on that) because he doesn't create bi-partisan compromises that are worse than nothing at all. He creates progressive compromises that actually do something good and builds support for his ideals from his opponents.
I also want my President to inspire people to get involved, take part in the government process, and make a difference in their own small parts of the world. Above all else, Barack Obama has the unique ability to inspire, lift up, and give people the hope that they, being you and I, can actually make a difference. Lots of politicians say it, but Barack Obama actually makes people believe it.
I want to be a part of that. I want to feel like finally, for the first time in my adult life, there's someone out there who can inspire an entire nation work for my principles, who will lead the way to making this world a better, safer place and set us on the path to a truly remarkable and peaceful future.
John Edwards and Hillary Clinton have the right ideas, and they've both said and done the right things to make me want to support them. They've both worked tirelessly for the progressive cause, but neither one of them make me feel like it can actually happen. They don't provide that spark of inspiration this nation needs to make change happen. Barack Obama does. As cliché as it sounds at this point, he actually gives me hope that we have a pretty good future ahead of us. That's why he's going to get my vote, and I hope he gets yours as well.
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