It will come as little surprise to those who know me that I’m voting for Obama. Most of my friends and relatives seem to think I’m a raging liberal, which I’m not. I actually consider myself a fiscal conservative, with a libertarian slant on lifestyle. John McCain is a good man, and would have been a better president than George W. Bush. But he’s not the right man for the job ahead. Here are my thoughts.

The reason I’m voting for Obama is because I believe he represents the common man better than any nominee since perhaps Truman. I think the common man (and woman) has been forgotten in our nation’s politics and policies. When our representatives in Washington D.C. start thinking that an income of $250K/year is middle class, it just shows how out of touch they are. You can live a pretty dang comfortable life on that kind of coin. Most people will never come close to it. You’re not wealthy, but you sure ain’t average.

Obama grew up poor. He went to some great schools, yes, but he earned the privilege through hard work and intelligence, not connections or inherited wealth. His work as a community organizer had him down in the trenches with folks who struggled everyday to pay the rent and put food on the table. I can’t think of a more thankless job. I certainly wouldn’t want to do it. But I think if you want to know who is an American, you need to work in a soup kitchen once in a while, because the people who eat there are Americans, too.

The Bible teaches us the lesson that yes, we are our brother’s keeper. I believe that there are things that government can do to provide a safety net for the least fortunate among us, and for those in circumstances that might wipe out the entire value of their life’s work. [ Oh the horror! Let me put the brakes on the rhetoric here: Government programs can get out of control, and I do believe that there are things better left to faith organizations and state government. ]

I believe in compassion for our least fortunate, and competition for those who want to climb the ladder. In other words, everyone should have a warm place to sleep and access to some food on a daily basis, but if you want to sleep in a king-size bed and eat a steak, get off your butt and get to work.

I believe that Obama is a real candidate of change. Big, fundamental changes in the way we treat people and what is considered valuable.

Change is needed. Take health care, for example. What’s wrong with a plan that gives every person access to health care when they need it? Why not build a society that takes care of sick people by default instead of arguing about it? Some people say that Canada is a great model, other people will say that Canada’s health care system is terrible. Why not take the idea of universal health care and fix the parts that don’t work, and create a health care that’s better than any other system in the world? Let’s kick Canada’s ass rather than being scared of the whole idea. (Our approach to health care is like the guy who is so scared of being labeled gay that he won’t even hug his own dad). Our health care system is no longer the best out there, yet any suggestion of change is greeted with derision and cries of socialism. There has to be a better way. It will take courage and cooperation to find it. It will take someone who is not getting all of their ideas from corporate lobbyists and political strategists.

The whole socialism/capitalism thing is out of whack. We’ve recently socialized the losses of the banking and finance industry, but the profits will continue to be privatized. I don’t suggest privatizing these institutions, but why is it acceptable to spend $700 billion to bailout a bunch of banks but allow folks to lose their houses because they can’t pay their medical bills? This recently happened to a friend of mine, so I’m not speaking conceptually here — it’s as real as a colonoscopy, and less fun.

If we’re going to provide any socialism, let’s do it for the folks at the bottom, not the top. Let’s take care of our people, not our institutions.

The combination of socialism/capitalism works great in education. Our education system is still one of the world’s best. Everyone has the opportunity to get K-12 education, free. It’s not always equitable in terms of the teachers and resources at each school, but you can get a good education at any school in America if you’re willing to work at being a student. If you want even better education, you can pay for it. And if you want to continue on in your education after grade 12, you’ll have to pay for that too, unless you’re exceptionally gifted. We provide minimum coverage education for everyone, and if you want better, you can buy it. I don’t see why a similar model can’t work for health care.

We need to shift our national priorities. Maintaining a national defense is always going to be important, but we need to get our folks home and work on our own country rather than someone else’s. We need to focus on energy independence, creating real jobs for people, keeping our factories open rather than letting them move to China, and rebuilding our infrastructure before more bridges collapse and kill people.

Obama is impressive. He thinks through every decision, and chooses carefully and wisely. He does not act on whims or anger. He can stand up to the heat of the political debate and still make decisions based on what is good rather than what will sound good. And he can explain it calmly, reasonably, intelligently. (Intelligence in a president: what a refreshing idea!)

The 18th and 19th centuries were America’s childhood. In the 20th century, the US was the powerhouse of the world. In the 21st century, someone else will probably have their turn. We can be the adult country: strong, wealthy, healthy, and minding our own business except when called upon. Some of those European nations do some pretty great things for their own people — we can take a few cues from them and do it our own way, the American way, in a way that doesn’t kill all competition and put the government in charge of everything. But we’re not going to be the greatest country on the planet by widening the gap between the rich and the poor. I’m not in favor of universal poverty — I want everyone to have the opportunity to become as rich as possible.

I think McCain is a good man, but I like him less now than I did 12 months ago. His plans don’t make much sense. His health care plan in particular sounds like an absolute nightmare, and I don’t think it’s even a realistic plan. It will never pass congress. He’s running on a plan that sounds good to the free market diehards but will never go anywhere. It’s politics, not policy.

I’m not voting for Obama because I like every specific detail about his economic plan. I’m not voting for him because of any specifics. The reality is that he will need to work with analysts, both parties, and finally Congress to get any of his plans voted into law. His plans will get analyzed by the American people and the media, and the stuff that is too radical for most Americans will get dumped. His plans are likely to change, and the rough edges filed smooth.Obama has the potential to be a president who changes our society for the better. Teddy Roosevelt protected a few of our great places, and set in motion a philosophy that is still reflected in America today. Our country still honors Abraham Lincoln for the hard choices he had to make.

I’m an optimist. I believe that most people are good. I believe there are political leaders who are good at heart, who have not been corrupted, who still think like leaders rather than politicians. I believe Obama can, perhaps, be a president who will be remembered alongside Teddy Roosevelt and Abe Lincoln. He has the potential, and he’ll be facing a myriad of crisis situations.

When I look at Obama, I see hope for the future. When I look at John McCain, I see the Republican party. The Republicans have written a book on cynicism, corporate greed, angry divisive politics, anti-intellectualism, favoring the rich over everyone else, arrogance towards the rest of the world, elevating military might while denigrating diplomacy, operating in secret in defiance of laws and precedent, reducing the right to privacy that has always been a cornerstone of US citizenship, ignoring state’s rights, and completely ignoring any sense of fiscal responsibility. The book that Obama wrote is called “The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream.” That’s the book I choose to vote for.

John McCain represents the past. Obama represents the future.

This sums up my problems with today’s conservatives in such a succinct way:

What’s happening, presumably, is that modern movement conservatism attracts a certain personality type. If you identify with the downtrodden, even a little, you don’t belong. If you think ridicule is an appropriate response to other peoples’ woes, you fit right in.

And Republican disillusionment with Mr. Bush does not appear to signal any change in that regard. On the contrary, the leading candidates for the Republican nomination have gone out of their way to condemn “socialism,” which is G.O.P.-speak for any attempt to help the less fortunate.

Here’s a link to the whole article:
Conservatives Are Such Jokers, by Paul Krugman. NY Times, October 5, 2007

I’m conservative by nature. And yet I do think it’s our business to help others. You might say it’s our obligation to do so as God’s children. You can even find imperatives to help others right in the Bible, the book by which many conservatives supposedly turn to for guidance — that is, when they’re not too busy laughing at the weakest among us.

The Republicans are attempting to rig the 2008 Presidential election by splitting the California electoral vote. See this article from the NY Times. Funny how they’re not suggesting this should be done in Texas, isn’t it?

It’s time for one person, one vote. Make the whole thing a popular vote system and get rid of the opportunity for stacking the deck in anyone’s favor.

I’m still amazed that the Dems didn’t try to force this after the travesty of the 2000 elections. You can bet that if the situation had been reversed — if Bush had won the popular vote but lost the electoral college — the Republicans would have figured out a way to change the whole system in favor of “fairness.”
I’ve said it before: the Republican party is full of smart crooks, and the Democratic party is full of dummies who want to do the right thing.

I’ve been getting these e-mails from democrats.com — Dec. 10 is “impeachment day.” All I can say is: yipee. woo hoo. terrific.

For years, the Dems have been struggling to convince just about anybody that they have a single new idea. The Republicans finally proved so inept and corrupt that the Dems won by default, new ideas or not. And now they’re going to seize the day by playing politics?

“We won both houses. Let our first act be to alienate as many swing voters as possible.”

I just did a little Googlingâ„¢, and determined Democrats.com isn’t the official voice of the Democratic party — Democrats.org holds that distinction. And the official site mentions nothing about impeachment. So maybe the Dems aren’t complete losers yet. But I gotta tell you, the Republicans do a much better job of defining a strategy and keeping everybody on message.

It seems like the Republicans politicians are all corrupt and the Democrats politicians are all idiots. I’ve been siding with the idiots. Isn’t there some other choice?

It’s too bad Ross Perot turned into such a flake.