Today I endorse Barack Obama.
I'm not a Kennedy. I don't have a record of accomplishment that makes my endorsement meaningful. But I'd like to think that my endorsement is meaningful because of my past criticisms of Obama.
I guess you could say my doubts came from how Obama handled McClurkin, Reagan, and Krugman. But more than anything, it was Obama's silence that irked me. Okay, reach out to conservatives. Okay, you understand how Reagan sold conservatism. When are you gonna sell progressivism?
Well, Obama shut down my criticism on Thursday:
"... we can afford to pay a little bit more so that that child in east Los Angeles who is in a crumbling school, with teachers that are having to dig into their own pockets for school supplies, that they are having a chance at the American dream, as well."
(APPLAUSE)
"I'm happy to have that argument."
Not only did Obama just advocate to raise taxes. He fought for the most unpalatable part of progressivism. And made the crowd cheer.
That's the kind of candidate I want fighting for me.
Let me take you back in time, to how I made my decision.
I liked Edwards for almost every reason. I liked his principled opposition to NAFTA, and his principled refusal of lobbyist cash. Having the most progressive platform to pick up delegates since Jesse Jackson is a nice touch, Johnny. But what really got me was all of those things combined with his willingness to fight for them.
And by fighting, I mean his unflinching, passionate advocacy for progressive principles:
"It is time to be patriotic about something other than war." - John Edwards
That's not just a criticism of the Iraq war. That's not just a logical statement about redirecting funds from foreign policy to domestic policy. That's a powerful statement that took a negative -- the Iraq war -- and turned it into a positive progressive agenda. He took something really unpalatable -- sacrifice -- and made an argument that REALLY connected: heart, mind, soul, and spine. Even Republicans are talking about fixing global warming. But Edwards was the only candidate who could make people excited about SACRIFICE.
It made sense.
It was congruent with his progressive platform.
It stirred something deep inside people.
And it took guts to say it.
That's a guy you want fighting for your side.
Let's take another great Edwards quote:
"[The Great War on Terror] has been used to justify a whole series of things that are not justifiable, ranging from the war in Iraq, to torture, to violation of the civil liberties of Americans, to illegal spying on Americans. Anyone who speaks out against these things is treated as unpatriotic. I also think it suggests that there's a fixed enemy that we can defeat with just a military campaign. I just don't think that's true." - John Edwards
It made sense.
It was congruent with his progressive platform.
It took guts to say it.
Did it really connect with voters?
Which is where Obama people jumped in. They said what John Edwards was doing was political suicide. I disagreed. In fact, I still disagree. If Edwards failed to gain traction, it wasn't because of what he was saying, but because of his inability to broadcast his message. Show me a debate that John Edwards didn't win. Check those focus groups. When Edwards talked, people were persuaded.
Obama's most passionate supporters offered a theory for Obama's superior strategy. Look at Obama's record, look at Obama's huge rallies, look at Obama's fundraising dollars. This strategy became nicknamed "the stealth candidacy". Obama would talk about quintessential American principles and democratic (small d) principles. Representation. Freedom. Security. Entrepreneurship. Being practical. He'd attract support from ALL Americans. But when he finally got into office, he'd give us all those traditional American values and add a few new ones -- sustainability, equal opportunity. I even heard people say that Obama was secretly going to give us single payer health care.
I tried to buy it, but Obama was sending a very different signal to me:
"Their essential argument is the only way to get everybody covered is if the government forces you to buy health insurance." - Barack Obama
Obama supporters stuck with the "stealth" argument. You can't fight head on. You knock Bush, but you can't knock conservatism. And by all means, NEVER say anything bad about Reagan.
Speaking of which:
"I think it’s fair to say that the Republicans were the party of ideas for a pretty long chunk of time there over the last 10-15 years in the sense that they were challenging conventional wisdom." - Barack Obama
I don't think anything Obama said about Reagan bothered me in of itself. He's right -- Reagan made the case FOR conservatism at the right time, when people had perceived failures after years of liberalism.
What bothered me is what Obama DIDN'T say. Shouldn't that have been followed up with a big "but...?" For example, maybe he could have said it's now time to challenge the conservative conventional wisdom that privatization is king?
Nope, not Mr. Unity.
"I think they felt like with all the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s and government had grown and grown but there wasn't much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating."
Again, you can parse this. Obama is right. People saw failures under Jimmy Carter, and even Nixon. Reagan made the case for small government, and people bought it. It created a mandate for union busting, privatization, and dismantling the social safety net.
The problem is what Obama didn't say. And what he didn't seem to understand. Reagan was a belligerent asshole who demonized supposed welfare queens driving around in convertables, liberals who were secretly Marxists, and weak Democrats who didn't love this country enough to stand up for it.
Reagan had the backbone to say crap like this:
"Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the Democrats believe every day is April 15." - Ronald Reagan
Read that again. Reagan says Republicans are patriotic every day. Regan says Democrats are not patriotic at all, and just want to tax you to death.
When has Obama EVER tried to swing the conservative/progressive debate with that level of fierceness?
I'll tell you when.
My 27th birthday, January 31, 2008.
"You know, Mitt Romney hasn't gotten a very good return on his investment during this presidential campaign."
(APPLAUSE)
"And so, I'm happy to take a look at my management style during the course of this last year and his. I think they compare fairly well." - Barack Obama
BOOM. THAT'S what a progressive Reagan looks like. Applause is nice. A nice little jab at an opponent is ABSOLUTELY necessary, no matter how much people tell you to take the high ground. But the most important thing is that Obama just challenged the conservative conventional wisdom to make the case for progressives.
Conventional Wisdom: Republicans are fiscally responsible. Democrats are not.
Barack Obama: Reality check.
"I don't think the Republicans are going to be in a real strong position to argue fiscal responsibility, when they have added $4 trillion or $5 trillion..."
(APPLAUSE)
"... worth of national debt. I am happy to have that argument. If John McCain, for example, is the nominee, I respect that John McCain, in the first two rounds of Bush tax cuts, said it is irresponsible that we have never before cut taxes at the same time as we're going into war. And somewhere along the line, the straight talk express lost some wheels and now he is in favor of extending Bush tax cuts that went to some of the wealthiest Americans who don't need them and we're not even asking for them."
COT DAMN. Somebody call John McCain's mama! That one is gonna STING.
When Obama finally advocated for raising taxes, saying "we can afford to pay a little bit more", I was on the edge of my seat.
And when he finally said "I'm happy to have that argument", I realized this dude has some serious cajones.
It made sense.
It was congruent with his progressive platform.
It stirred something deep inside people.
And it took guts to say it.
And that's when I decided to endorse Obama.
And by endorse Obama, I mean get totally shitfaced because it's my birthday. Who sits at home watching a debate on their birthday?
... I decided to endorse Obama the next morning.
Epilogue: For the first chunk of the debate, Hillary really had me on health care. I stopped seeing her as "another Clinton" and started to judge her on her own merits. Hillary had a very logical and reasonable quote:
"in Barack's plan, he very clearly says he will mandate that parents get health insurance for their children. So it's not that he is against mandatory provisions, it's that he doesn't think it would be politically acceptable to require that for everyone. I just disagree with that. I think we as Democrats have to be willing to fight for universal health care." - Hillary Clinton
I am starting to believe that Hillary will fight for something very dear to me -- universal health care. I also think she remains much more open to single payer health care. It pains me to endorse someone who has gone on record nixing the idea, repeatedly. But this is not a purity test. No candidate is perfect.
Obama's position on lobbyists makes up for that. And it's not just that he's willing to fight for change. He's able to do it with humor, intellect, charisma, and inspiration. I think Hillary would be a good president, but I believe Obama has a real chance at creating that re-alignment his supporters keep talking about.