Election 2008: A Vote For Hope
April 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment
On October 9th, 2007, I saw Senator Barack Obama speak to a crowd of over 800 in Plymouth State University’s HUB Courtroom. Coming into election season this was the candidate I had the most hope for. After his now famous DNC speech from 2004, I was sure this would be a strong candidate for exciting new and positive directions for America.
Unfortunately, Obama had done little to impress me in his campaign so far. He speaks platitudes without information or actions to back them up. He has done very little as a Senator, except run for president. This does not endear him or his potential as commander in chief to me.
In person, Obama was even less inspiring. His foreign policy experience and knowledge is weak. He even admits this, claiming the Rumsfeld and Cheney have long resumes and a bad track record, so his “lack of resume” can’t be worse. This doesn’t inspire me.
However, when election time finally came, I was left with only hree options: Obama, Clinton, or Edwards. I had come to like Biden, but he’d dropped. Richardson always seemed like a bit too much of a long shot.
Seeing Edwards stuck out for me as terrifying… During his speech he stated that the best approach with Iraq would be an immediate withdrawal which would lead to a complete anarchy, which would lead to genocide, which would force an international humanitarian effort, which would allow the US to get together with the international community to raise a new Iraq from those ashes. Frankly, this stance is entirely unacceptable. There may be problems in Iraq, but genocide should not be your plan. Ever.
I liked Hillary Clinton in person. She spoke well, her policies were well thought out. However, I find her political maneuvering and style distasteful. I find it easier to hate her, than to like her; even when I agree with what she is saying. This causes her to be seen as divisive. We don’t need division in this country. I’d rather see McCain get the nomination than more division in the country.
This leaves Obama. He’s not perfect. I think he needs more experience, but hopefully this can come with a well chosen cabinet. His inspirational nature could be healthy for the nation. So in the end, not sure which way to go even as I walked into the voting booth, I chose hope. Hope that he surprises me and goes the distance. Hope that he can improve America’s image. Hope that what he says is what he’ll do. Hope for change.
Tags: Barack Obama, clinton, election, election 2008, hillary clinton, obama, politics
Election 2008: Joe Biden
November 25, 2007 | 2 Comments
When I heard Senator Joe Biden would be in town, I knew I would have to see him, but my hopes were low.
Like Richardson, I had also seen him on the Daily Show, but this was a couple years ago. At that time I had him seriously pegged as a potential contender for the presidency. Yet as this campaign season progressed, he put his foot in his mouth a couple times and the media latched on to this pushing him further and further down the list. For me he had joined Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich as a long shot candidate.
Seeing Biden speak caused me to do a complete 180. Without question, Joe Biden has been pushed into his current position in the election by bad media coverage. I think this is unfair and dangerous. I passionately hope for Biden to find some momentum and begin to be mentioned alongside or above Clinton and Obama.
Biden is unbelievably strong on foreign policy. Where Richardson had good experience, Biden has that and more. He has even managed to get a bi-partisan non-binding agreement for a plan on how to succeed in Iraq passed in the Senate. This is a huge accomplishment, but better yet, he explained why a non-binding agreement was useful politically. Taking a complicated political maneuver like that and putting into useful understandable terms was great.
His plans for health care seemed reasonable and incremental. Rather than attack an overwhelmingly huge “universal health care” plan, he instead has broken it down into goals that can more easily and independently be accomplished. He also explains where he’ll find the funding for this initiative…
Along with that topic, as he talks it occurs to me that with every initiative and plan he talks about, he states an estimated cost and where he can find the money to fund it in the budget. This level of fiscal responsibility is refreshing.
This is certainly a candidate I can throw my full support behind. Sure he’s had a few controversial comments, but that bit of humanity doesn’t scare me. Down the road, this guy can talk the talk and walk the walk on all the issues.
Tags: 2008, biden, election 2008, joe biden, nh primary