Why I voted for Barack Obama – it’s not why you think.
This morning I awoke and the day was somehow brighter. I could breathe again. My phone stopped ringing off the hook with recorded campaign messages. The radio didn’t play yet another “Boulder Liberal Mark Udall” hate ad.
I voted for Obama/Biden and watched my election coverage on Comedy Central, and you think that’s all you need to figure out who I am and how I think. You couldn’t be more wrong.
I’m not a bleeding heart liberal. I am a pragmatist.
The facts are these:
I voted for a Republican for our local District 3 Commissioner. Because Sallie Clark has always had the west side’s best interest at heart.
My presidential vote was not exactly FOR Barack Obama. It was more like, “Dear God, NOT Palin.”
I haven’t been a huge supporter of Barack Obama. His speeches are too preachy and too scripted. He doesn’t have the sincerity that Bill Clinton radiated in his speeches. And, oh yes, I would so vote for Bill Clinton again. Remember those days of low unemployment and even lower national debt?
I don’t know that Obama can do all that he has promised. But I do think that he will give it a try. And if the American people can get off their asses and get him elected, then, maybe, just maybe, they can channel that energy towards fixing this country. That’s a big maybe.
I have long been a fan of the pre-2008 candidate John McCain. To be honest, he was, by far, my FAVORITE Republican. He was a frequent guest on The Daily Show and always seemed personable, genuine and reasonable. He truly crossed party lines, when it was still okay to do so, and a few times when it wasn’t. I could have easily voted for THAT John McCain.
Then he started contradicting his former self in so many ways, in order to get the support of his party. But, even as he sold his soul to the GOP, pandering to his party, I had one secret hope. That, if elected, his acceptance speech would be something along the lines of, “Now that I have been elected, I am done pandering to you and your ridiculous tenets. The maverick is back, and I’m running the country!”
And then along came Palin, and it was all over. An inexperienced politician with an agenda to single-handedly destroy all the progress American women have made in the last 221 years. Whose qualification for foreign policy came from her ability to see Russia from her desk. A thief whose *least* crime was a $125,000 clothes shopping spree for her entire family at Neiman-Marcus and Saks 5th Avenue on the GOP bill. A woman who would add insult to traumatic injury by making rape victims pay for their own rape kits. A liar who would announce that she was cleared of criminal charges when she clearly was not. A mom who would go back to work just days after her special needs child was born. And then force an unwilling teenage couple to marry because they had unprotected premarital sex that resulted in pregnancy. Who tried to play “cute” during VP debates – by winking. WTF? She doesn’t need to be in the White House. She can be the next Ann Coulter instead. That’s PERFECT for her skill set and her fans.
John McCain’s concession speech gave us a glimpse of the pre-2008 candidate John McCain – like seeing an old friend again. I hope he can find his way back.
I’m nervous because people are so excited about these election results that they don’t see the further damage that Bush is trying to inflict on our country in his last 2 months in office.
…other regulations would help clear obstacles to some commercial ocean-fishing activities, ease controls on emissions of pollutants that contribute to global warming, relax drinking-water standards and lift a key restriction on mountaintop coal mining.
I live in Colorado Springs, which is in El Paso County, where the results were 59% McCain, 40% Obama. Thank you all other counties for helping Colorado go blue!
And in my town, people put 10 ft high posters of aborted babies on trucks in front of Planned Parenthood and I have to drive quickly or take an alternate route so my kids don’t have to see it.
And in my town, I am still very often the only person of color in a room. In a restaurant. In a retail store.
And in my town, the most hateful, intolerant, righteous and spiteful poor excuses for human beings call themselves Christians. WWJD? indeed.
And in my town, people seriously believe and vocalize that Obama will be assassinated.
Oh yes, they do. And they are not afraid to say so.
I was not overcome with any other emotion than relief that the election was over and that Palin wasn’t on the winning ticket. Obama doesn’t stir up feelings of hope and joy in me. But he is a symbol for change. And I’m hoping that he can stay true to his promises.
Regardless, yes, I’m giddy with relief that Palin is not our VP elect. GIDDY. And my faith in the political process has been restored. For the time being.
Although I am still smarting from the John Edwards betrayal.
But deep in my core, I am a pragmatist.
prag·ma·tism, n., a practical approach to problems and affairs
And I believe that Barack Obama was the more practical choice.
I totally agree Maida! There are things I dont like about Barack Obama and I didnt feel that McCain was all that bad of a candidate until..dun dun dun…Sarah Palin was named as his VP running mate. Seriously? I will never understand that one beyond it being a ploy to get the female vote.
But, I have always seen politics as chosing between the lesser of two evils and President Elect Obama was definately that.
I’m not much on politics and don’t follow it on a regular basis, but I’d intended on voting for McCain and predicted he’d be the next president like 2 years ago. But, my vote also ended up being ‘not Palin’. I think almost anyone else for the GOP VP and I would’ve voted for McCain… I always thought McCain seemed more sincere before he got the nod. And like it or not, you knew who he was and who you were getting. The Sarah Palin choice was bad judgment and pandered to the wrong people. I gotta wonder if she was his choice or the party’s choice and if the republicans ever had a shot in 2008…
Ann Coulter though? I love that Ann’s not afraid to offend and that she not apologetic (not to be confused that I agree with everything she says). I don’t know if I see that in Palin with her cutesy hockey mom image…
I am sure that Palin was NOT McCain’s first (or 2nd or 3rd…) choice, just as Biden was not Obama’s. McCain had other ideas for a running mate, I’m sure. Huckabee would have been palatable to me, Romney, not so much.
I think that Palin should be a political commentator instead of a politician. She clearly resonates with a certain demographic. Clearly Palin has a need to be liked, which is not the case for Coulter. Palin just needs to be in entertainment, not government.
I’m pretty sure you qualify as liberal. I can understand your attraction to McCain, but he wasn’t the right man for the job. I’m going to share a story.
I’m the Room Parent in Declan’s 3rd grade classroom. His school is about 60% white/40% minority, one of the whiter public schools in town. Unfortunately, some of the students in his school come from an economically disadvantaged home, including the boy in my story. One little boy in his class was acting up pretty dramatically while those with costumes were preparing for the school’s Book Character parade. He was breaking pencils crumpling up his worksheet and disrupting others. I tried to talk to him about what he was going to be for Halloween, if he was going trick or treating, etc. The only response I got was a shrug. It occurred to me that perhaps he wouldn’t be doing any of these things for whatever reason (because his neighborhood was too dangerous, his parents couldn’t afford a costume, etc.) I stopped my line of questioning and straightened out his worksheet. It was a game to list words in various categories with the letters in the word HALLOWEEN (Animal that starts with “H”, place that starts with “A”…) When they got to “O” he looked at me and said, “I know a name that starts with ‘o’ – Obama.” It was the only time I saw him smile that day.
Can you imagine the impact of a positive black male role model will have on this country? Not to mention a man who actually thinks before he acts, a man who can inspire and isn’t afraid to ask Americans to do something other than shop. I’m grateful that we have someone to look up to and not be ashamed of anymore.
Too long, sorry.
I still believe McCain before this campaign could have been the right man for the job. His complete 180 in principles, followed by the Palin choice just neutered him for me, unfortunately.
Sure, Obama is a great black male role model, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be a good president.
Obama has got a long hard road ahead of him. I just hope he can make the right decisions for the country as a whole. Choices that may be unpopular but necessary. Choices that Oprah might not agree with.
He has an opportunity to rise above the corruption, to energize the American people to believe in government again.
Obama has great speechwriters. I just hope that he can choose his advisers with the same results.
Great post – very eloquent. It was interesting, this morning I was watching the Today Show and a fellow who tracks the elections said that Palin was most definitely not his first choice, he wanted Lieberman and fought until the very end for him. But the party pushed him into Palin and the rest is history.
His campaign reminded me a lot of Bob Dole’s – he seemed so stiff and uncomfortable the entire time and that certainly contributed to him losing. But then after the whole campaign was done, everyone was shocked at what a funny and warm guy he was and more than one person said that if he had been like that during the campaign, they would have voted for him. The republicans neutered him, just like they did McCain. They made him into something that wasn’t him and it sunk him.
It will be an interesting 4 years, to say the least.