Politics and Respect
My opinion of Barack Obama has been growing. First, let me qualify this -- I disagree with Obama on a lot of things. I probably won't vote for him (although I could be swayed). Here's the deal...I tend to lean on the conservative side, and while I'm not gung-ho for McCain, I think he's mostly a decent man, and I love the fact that he'll do things like admit fault--so I'm likely to vote for him.
That said, when I read what Obama has to say, or speeches he's made, or the way he's addressed issues, I'm consistently impressed. I'm not impressed because I agree with everything he says (I often don't). I'm impressed because he's begun to weave a campaign that deals with issues, rather than just slinging mud (like, well, Hillary Clinton). I was looking at his site, and when he addresses either Clinton or McCain, he doesn't call them names or insult them; he simply addresses things they say and why he disagrees with them. He's consistently respectful -- I love it! It's really impressive. Let's put it this way: I will not be at all upset if he ends up being elected. Although I disagree with him, I believe that he's going to be a true public servant, and I can very much respect that.
I will also say: If he was up against a conservative opponent who was a slimebag, I'd vote for him in a second, also.
Posted by Luke at 10:29 p.m.
I agree completely on the respectfulness part. I have been consistently impressed with how Sen. Obama addresses his opponents.
I have been completely unimpressed, however, with his "plans for change" (which are no different than Clinton's except he's a genuinely nice man). I disagree with him on virtually every point of his campaign. I wouldn't vote for him if he was the only candidate running (I'd write my own name in first). I'd rather have an arrogant jerk in the White House who would lead us down a path of smaller government, lower taxes, and greater personal responsibility than a respectful gentleman who leads us further down the path of socialism and a bigger nanny "I need the government to take care of my every need" state. I mean really, how much of your hard earned money are you willing to let the government take away from you? I know I don't need the government to raise my children (public schools), I don't need the government to handle my retirement (social security) and I really don't need the government handling my health care (universal health care). All points of the American life where Sen. Obama, as respectful has he may be, desires to greatly increase government control.
So all that aside, if I had my choice between Obama and Clinton I'd choose Obama. He's just as big of a socialist, but at least he'll be nice to and smile at me while taking my freedoms away.
Posted by Chris Harbison on 2008.03.27 at 2:04 a.m.
I'm really optimistic about Obama. One thing Chris points out is that the Democratic party has done a poor job of explaining why their policies are better. The Republicans have done a great job of framing things. They've been very successful with making their positions sound desirable.
I'm hoping that Obama will be like that. His speech on race was particularly good. It's nice to have a politician say, "Listen, you're adults and we can have an actual complex discussion about a difficult topic rather than falling into knee-jerk reactionism."
The fact that before this election cycle Democrats have not been able to convince the majority of voters without health insurance, that it might be a good idea to vote for a person who would help them get access to affordable health insurance, shows how poorly they've been explaining their positions.
But Obama is a progressive Democrat. He's very pragmatic. He's interested in trying to new things, but he's still a progressive Democrat, so I wouldn't expect to see much difference between him and the Democratic platform.
I do hope, that his pragmatism will cause breaks from the party to fix some of the stalemates we see in politics, however. His background in helping the poor especially gives him some non-ivory tower insight into entitlement programs.
Posted by Tim on 2008.03.27 at 4:00 a.m.
Post a Comment