Why I support Obama.

I follow politics pretty closely. That won't come as a surprise to those of you who know me. I am also a registered Democrat, though I consider myself more of an independent. In this election cycle, and with the current administration we have, there's just no way that I can support another Republican running for president. I have the utmost respect for John McCain the man and for his service to this country. I had more respect for John McCain the Senator during his earlier campaigns for president when he was riding the "Straight Talk Express." It's one of the reasons why I like Barack Obama. Tell it like it is, not like you want me to think it is. Unfortunately, McCain ain't doing that these days. He opted for public financing of his campaign and now he's opting out, after taking the public money. Some reports say that's illegal. But with the Federal Election Commission out of...commission, there will likely be little fallout for McCain. But then his campaign starts buzzing about how Obama once said he would opt for public funding in the general election and now he's equivocating about it. Sorry, McCain, you lose the high ground here and the ability to hold Obama to his earlier statements, if Obama is the Democratic candidate.

McCain also has lobbyists running his campaign. Lots of 'em. So whose interests do you think he'll be looking out for, yours, or those of the lobbyists' clients and corporations. McCain voted against George Bush's tax cuts twice, but now says he wants to make them permanent. I would argue that the country was in better financial shape when he voted against the cuts than it is now. Why does it make sense now to make the tax cut permanent? Flippity floppity Mr. McCain. This country has run a $400 billion deficit these past few years. We spend more than we earn now, and he wants to cut taxes even further? Contrary to core Republican beliefs, economic growth is not going to eliminate this deficit. And please don't fool yourself. If Bush or McCain cuts your federal taxes, all that really means is that your state and local taxes will increase to cover things like education and Medicaid. Or those programs will get cut. I'm currently working with my local school district's budget committee. If we don't get the tax money from the federal government, then we either raise school taxes or cut vital school programs, which we, like most of you, can't afford to do.

McCain is also fine with us staying in Iraq for another 100 years, has joked about bombing Iran, and has said that there will be other wars. Holy shit, man, that's just more of the same Bush nonsense, and this country can't take it. And if you keep the tax cuts or cut taxes even further, how the hell are we supposed to pay for all of the wars?

I think either Democratic candidate would be better for this country than John McCain, though I support Obama. Given the choice between someone who has been in Washington for a while now and someone who hasn't; between someone who won't forgo lobbyist money and someone who will (and who has raised most, if not all, of his money from individuals and not lobbyists), I'll take the latter. And that's Barack Obama.

Hilary Clinton likes to tout her executive and foreign policy experience. Um, what the hell is she talking about? She was first lady and a carpet-bagging Senator from my home state of New York. Nothing to sneeze at necessarily, but nothing that gives you the experience of running the most powerful country on the planet. If living in the White House gives you the experience to be president, then Laura Bush should succeed her husband, because she will have had just as much experience there as Hilary at the end of the Bush nightmare. But if experience were the all important factor in deciding who would make a better president, then I guess John McCain, old as dirt, should win by a landslide. Arguably so. But how important is experience anyway?

I think it's judgment that matters more than experience. And I put my trust in the judgment of Obama. Why? Well, he has said he would sit down with the leaders of countries that are our "enemies." Good for him. We have seen how well the foreign policies of the Bush administration have worked, right? And he, unlike Hilary, isn't beholden to lobbyists. You can't take money from the lobbyists and not tell me you aren't beholden to them. I want someone in there who will be more likely to stop the subsidies for oil companies that make $40 billion in annual profits while the entire country suffers from the high price of oil. I want the person who has taken money from the people and who would be beholden to the people of this country. Too many tax dollars are going into the pockets of oil companies and defense contractors. That needs to stop. We need to put money back into this country; into infrastructure, which will create jobs here in America. We don't need to send our tax dollars overseas to buy new airplanes for our military, or send money to corrupt contractors in Iraq who somehow can't keep accurate accounts of where that money went. Keep that money here and in the pockets of lower and middle class Americans.

I agree that Obama is much more of an unknown than is Hilary Clinton. But Obama is able to inspire people, and what we as a country need now more than ever is someone to inspire us to greatness, rather than a status quo Washington insider or a continuation of the same old Republican put-money-in-the-pockets-of-the-rich policies. I'm tired of no-bid military contracts with no oversight. I'm tired of governmental incompetence. And lord help me I want a president who can speak the English language properly. Republicans think government is the problem. So if you put them in charge of the government, they are going to do their best to run government into the ground, as they have proven time and again. A John McCain presidency will just be a third Bush term. This country...no, the entire world, can not afford that any longer.

I am not a fan of higher taxes. I am not a fan, necessarily, of big government. But I'm also not a big fan of big, unfettered capitalism. That's what gets you Enron. That's what gets you the sub-prime mess. And we've all seen what the free market has given us with respect to health care. No, it's time for something different. And while I think Hilary would make a fine president, I think Obama would make a great president.