Why Obama?

I am a political independent.  And fiercely so.  I’ve voted for a couple Republicans and a couple Democrats and lots of Independents, including, proudly, Jesse “The Body” Ventura.  At the state level, most recently, I voted for a Republican state senator (Geoff Michel), a Republican congressman (Jim Ramstad), and a Democratic U.S. senator (Amy Klobuchar).

But I am supporting Barack Obama for president. Why? Because Obama has so many of the qualities that we need in a president. He is committed to uniting the country around a vision for the future, he is committed to foreign diplomacy rather than empty posturing, he plays politics by a different and more noble playbook.

Why not Hillary? Because I am convinced that the same amount of good would be accomplished with Hillary as president as has been accomplished with a Pelosi-controlled Congress: nothing. Pelosi is a polarizing figure and, thus, not an effective leader. Have you noticed? Nothing is happening in Congress; well, I shouldn’t say nothing, cuz they are passing Bush legislation that throws cash at Americans in a pathetic attempt to stem a recession when they should be attacking the real fiscal cancer in our country: too much personal and national debt, not enough personal and national saving.

Why not McCain? I have long admired John McCain.  I support his campaign finance reform packages, and I love that he has consistently worked across the aisle with people like Russ Feingold.  The fact that Rush Limbaugh hates him makes me love him more.  But I cannot abide McCain’s stance on the war in Iraq.  I just think that he’s too loyal to the military (as he should be) to see that this $9 trillion war is crippling my children’s future.

We need a president who unites.  And we need a president who has better judgment about military intervention.

We need Obama.