[quote name='dopa345']I just want to ask those who are so enthusiatic about voting for him, why? He's a relative newbie in politics, but somehow went from state senator to U.S. Senator in only 8 years and he's already on the fast track to the Democratic presidential nomination. All I've heard about him is that he's trying to stop smoking and was bare-chested on a magazine cover. I'm not trying to bait anyone, I just want to know why there's such a buzz. Aside from being against Iraq, I haven't heard anything about any of his positions on major issues.[/QUOTE]
I read his book (The Audacity of Hope) a few weeks ago, and it really impressed me. Of course, I approached the book thinking "well, here's something that's going to be used to suggest to me that Obama is the kind of thoughtful individual who looks at things from all angles before making an informed decision, and thus he's an ideal presidential candidate." It was a cynical, but, I feel, accurate take on the book. Nevertheless, rather than posturing himself as a redux of Clinton (Bill) as the "great triangulator," Obama was able to present evidence from his political past that he's not aligned to solely democratic interests, though he ends up there the majority of the time.
He's willing to stand up to organized labor, which is an issue I'm similarly torn on (I have great empathy for working-class Americans at the same time I recognize that unions are too frequently self-serving bureaucracies that stiff the worker as much as the corporation). I like his thoughts on universal health care, and social services. My major greivance with what he lays out in the book is this: I've never been the kind of person to get up in arms about "tax n' spend Democrats," though I think that's because by the time I was born, government spending was de facto, no matter who was in office. I've never seen, outside of history books, anything resembling "fiscal responsibility." Moreover, if we're gonna spend out the ass, I suggest that *we* pay for what *we* get, and don't shovel debts onto future generations to pay; it's selfish and irresponsible. That said, Obama's plans for health care and social services seem to have struck me with a sense of "How in the
are we gonna pay for that!?!?!" Overall, though, it was a good read.
I think, aside from his plans, he represents a moral direction that we ought to head as a nation. We have become a slovenly, gluttonous nation infatuated with instant gratification, conspicuous consumption, and no regard for anything we do as individuals and as a society. As people starve, we get mad if there are three cars in the drive-thru. As people die, we focus on asserting our individual freedoms by driving the biggest, most obnoxious, natural resource-wasting vehicles we can. As corporations rob us blind, we complain about people on welfare, and not those who earn $212 million severance packages for
ing up a corporation so bad he had to be fired. As a nation, we cut off our nose to spite our face, as more and more skilled workers and educated people have little to no job opportunities, thanks to a combination of "globalization" and the lack for genuine entrepreneurialist endeavors thanks to large corporations and big-box stores - all because we wanted a cheaper roll of "Brawny." Obama, to me, far more than Clinton can do, represents a charismatic leader (and let's not fool ourselves, character matters more than anything in this day and age) who brings a combination of John Kennedy's "ask what you can do for your country" and Gerald Ford's "great healer" to the game. We desperately need both; to heal wounds of buying into the dichotomy of "the two Americas," the war between the right and left which will ultimately do us in, and focus on what we can do to gain strength as a nation, to function as a single nation, not always agreeing, but not insisting that one is out to kill the other. A nation that wants to fight terror where it is, but not without multilateral support, an assurance of terror groups' presence, and without depleting our military and financial resources.
Now, that's a tall order, and I don't really think he'll be able to fulfill all our wildest dreams. But I don't expect that. I expect that he'll do a lot more to quash the cynical belief that we're just electing another Washington asshole to a position where nothing will be done different from the way it has been done for decades or longer. And that's something we desperately need.
