My Mind's Made Up

I do tend to foul temper as regards politics, and one of the primary reasons is that I revile unfounded certitude.  Put simply, I like to consider my options, and I don't have a great deal of patience for those who don't, or those who simply won't.  Worst of all are those who tell me what I should or must believe.  In keeping with this, I have strongly resisted 'making up my mind' as to who I will support in the upcoming Presidential primary, or the election.  My early support of Bill Richardson was based on what I know of his experience, his stated beliefs and his strong stance against bankrupting our country in Iraq.  And I always knew that my support was a fool's hope.  Since then, I've avoided most of the hoohah coming from either the Clinton campaign or the Obama camp, including an avoidance of Obama's rather seductive speaking ability.   I've tried to be level headed, and have defended both candidates against the specious and silly attacks that have come as a result of the Conservative Fear of the day (or the liberal fear, for that matter).  One needn't worry that I haven't given McCain   a fair look.  I have, and I would vote for Ralph Nader or Ron Paul ... hell, I'd vote for Mickey Mouse ... before I would ever cast a ballot favoring that man.  But that is meat for another post, at a later time.

For a while (after Richardson and Edwards dropped out) I slightly favored Hillary Clinton.  In some ways, I still do.  Her health care proposals are more mandatory, but if we're going to look to the insurance industry to save our skins, then in for a penny, in for a pound.  Despite the unbelievable bullshit coming from all quarters, I *do* believe that she is more experienced at foreign relations than Obama (save that much of her policy is too status quo).  No First Lady in modern times has been such a vocal and informed advocate for women around the globe.  Like her or hate her, those are the facts.  And despite righty wailing that Democrats don't care about women's issues  (wingnut reality: womens should be in the house makin' dinner, washing shirts and havin' the babies, and then they'd be happy ... heh heh)  Hillary Clinton does care, and so do I.

But a rather inexorable chain of events have led me to favoring and endorsing Barack Obama.  Some of that chain was forged by the negatives attached to Hillary Clinton, but mostly, he's just the better candidate.

1)  I owe my beloved for this one.  Only a complete fool would discount Barack Obama's abilities as a speaker.  I had little idea at all who this guy was until the Democratic Convention in 2004.  The speech he gave then was ... WOW!  My beloved said then that "this guy will be President someday".  Yeah, it was that good.  So I started looking into this guy, and what I found was a dude who uses his abilities to form agreement.  His stances aren't always to my "ultra-left-wing" leanings, but Obama has never failed to get whatever ball he concerns himself with rolling.  Since that time, I have avoided his speeches, simply because I don't like being played by fancy speechifying.  I have focused clearly on what he wants to do, and how he wants to do it.

2)  He's been against the Iraq debacle from the start.  Unlike Hillary Clinton, he didn't vote to hand the playground moron a loaded gun.  Now, the Clinton campaign would have you believe that he's just politicking because he did vote for $3 Billion to fund the occupation.  I can't say that I'm in favor of that, from Obama, Clinton, Tester or Baucus.  But I understand clearly their votes to do so.  To defund the war is in some respects the same as defunding the troops, and that Obama wouldn't do.  Regardless, his rhetoric, his insistence on time-tables for withdrawal, his carrying a torch for the notion that this was a bad fricking idea from the get-go ... he's right on the money.  And, unlike many who are 'anti-war', Obama has focused on the facts of the case.  We need to hunt down the people who have made it their mission to kill us.  Those people are mostly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Not Iraq.  As a Senator, his voice is one of many with a vote, which his political opponents make great hay with.  As President that role changes considerably.

3)  Of all the candidates running for the highest executive office (save Ron Paul), Obama has been the most consistent in pointing out that we are impoverishing our own nation at the expense of others, predominantly Iraq.  The Jewish community interprets this as being 'anti-Israel' and has pulled out all stops to crush this rational upstart.  To me, that's really the point; Obama is rational about the foreign policy he favors.  He recognizes that Israel is our strongest Middle Eastern ally, without being maniacally tied to their desires for money and defense at the expense of the US.  It's not a zero sum game ... unless one is terrified that they will not be the special snowflake anymore.  Simply put, Obama is correct.  We are better off putting our resources into hunting down extremists than in creating American colonies in the Middle East.

4)  Obama has played by the rules.  The Clinton camp has not.  I love most sports.  I really do.  Nothing disgusts me more than cheating, especially when one has no reason to cheat other than to 'win'.  If you can't win without cheating, don't play the game.  Somebody should have told the Clinton campaign that little tidbit before they attempted to game the system  by bringing in ineligible  players (Florida, Michigan), or by relying on a "Super delegate" strategy.  The Clinton campaign had everything going for it, but they dropped the ball.  Their candidate just wasn't appealing to enough voters.  Sorry Hillary.  SuperDelegateMan is not going to fly on in and save you.  Neither will Florida or Michigan.  If you really want to see how sad the commentary coming from the Clinton folks is, the please read the comments to this MetaFilter thread, paying particular attention to the writings of MetaMan.

5)  One of the reasons that I favored Clinton was that she would drive the right-wing absolutely batshit insane.  Witness their ability to hand the crown to her (so they could beat her to pulp) before any real Democrats ever got a chance to voice their opinion.  Now, you have notable head-cases like Limbaugh and Coulter endorsing Hillary Clinton.  If one actually stops to think about it for two seconds that one would realize that they don't favor the woman they call Hitlery, nor do they so revile that RINO McCain.  They are fricking terrified that Democrats might believe in somebody.  Their only hope of Conservatism's survival is to keep Democrats disgusted and disillusioned.  Conservatism is a failed philosophy.  Many on the right have a nightmare, and that nightmare would be that we on the left might believe in something, in someone.  Obama is that someone.  Like watching a bad horror movie, I am seriously enjoying the idiotic terror coming from many on the right.  And I'm hungry for the pay-off ... when they realize that an angry nigra is sitting in the White House and we're (white Christian men) all DOOMED!!!  And now, many on the right are stating with sour-pussed aplomb that Obama is finished.  He's toast.  He can't win ... hand the Oval to McCain.  Except ... they're still focused on Obama.  If they actually thought the threat was Hillary Clinton, we'd be back to the Hitlery ball-buster rhetoric.   We're not.  We won't be.  They are terrified of Barack Obama, because he will likely be the next President of the United States ... and I'm loving the discomfort that affords to some.  To a misanthrope like me, that alone is reason to favor the man.

6)  The "More Perfect Union Speech".   I have a degree which required that I read enormous numbers of good speeches.  This speech was easily one of the best.  The right wingnuts are already spinning it, and they will fail.  They really don't get it.  I've been saying that for years; I've been notifying them of their deep stupidity for years, but they just won't get it.  Jon Stewart, of The Daily Show fame, had it exactly correct.  Obama treated us as if we were adults, and could have a rational discussion of racism in this country.  Apparently, Obama has more faith in the human animal than I do.  That's precisely why I support Obama at this point.  He believes better of us than I do.  Clinton doesn't.  She manipulates.  McCain doesn't.  He panders.  Obama told the truth, to us and the world.  That he believes that as a value is worth it to me for endorsement.

All of this together would not get my endorsement.  I was going top wait until I went to Butte, and hopefully (my hearing is screwed) listen to the man speak in contrast to the woman that I really admire.  I needed to believe that he could  pull things together for the country.  I don't need to wait.  Someone else said the right thing at the right time.

7)  Bill Richardson's endorsement.  THIS is what puts me over the top.  I can't tell you how huge this is to me.  Richardson is a personal  friend of the Clintons.  And yet he chose Obama.  He has more *real* foreign policy experience in his big toe than the other candidates combined.  For him to endorse Obama, well that's huge.  He just lent his credibility and his experience to the next President of the United States.  I'm certain that there are assholes who will claim that Richardson was just hustling for a job.  To which I can only respond ... who the fuck better?  That's like saying that Michaelangelo is hustling for a job as an artist.  *YES*  Richardson might be hustling for a job, but what job would you deny him and why?

I haven't minced words about this.  The next Presidency is going to be a fricking minefield.  This person will be under attack constantly, until the dinosaurs doing the attacking are urged to fade away, harshly.  Clinton won't do that, and McCain is a dinosaur.  Obama, with proper support, can pull this off.  And, as my beloved has so well pointed out, he can get the support to do that very thing.  Good speechifying is a great thing if it motivates people to action.  Obama can do that; he has already done that.  To me, it's no longer a matter of sitting on the fence waiting for the pretty promises.  Nothing that any of these people promise will sway me.  What they have the ability to do will sway me.  And Obama has the ability to sway support in his favor.  Let the dinosaurs wail, and let them pass.  It's time we enter the 21st century, and deal with the problems left to us from the 20th.  Obama can see that.

Can you?

Comments

[Tim Huffman]

Wulfgar, I too am looking forward to an Obama administration. His power of rhetoric encouraged me from the start. Politics may in large part consist of scheming, back-dealing, and selling out, but the basic engine IS speechifying. If you can move even your opponents with your words, than your ideas will be more able to rise like a balloon through the bullshit and succeed. The man has a gift, and progressive's jobs come January will be to tie the right ideas to the string.

[emanuel appel]

Wolfie

Obama doesn't like America and America will not give him the most important job

[Tim Huffman]

How is it that speaking honestly about America is evidence that you don't like America? Have you ever told you friends that they were wrong? Have you ever told your children that they had behaved badly? Didn't you do it because you loved them and wanted them to be better? Have you ever said it to a total stranger? Probably not, maybe because you feared a beating, or more likely just because you didn't give a damn about them. Obama obviously loves this country and is as willing to correct it as he is willing to defend it. Listen to the speech!

[Mark Tokarski]

I'm finding it difficult not to support him. But I remind you that the executive branch of government is only a limited part of the power structure in this land, and that once elected he's got to start making deals, answering ot other powers who have the ability to undo him using the media. (We've seen only a glimpse of that machine.) Clinton sure did make deals and sell out. We'll see.

[Cece]

lol, and applause. I am working on one of these posts myself, and as usual, you beat me to the punch. Fortunately I have different reasons.

And fortunately I knew them before I read your post, (which, as usual, is enormously entertaining and insightful) and squirted diet coke out my nose from laughing so hard, with a quote you made that I will have to trackback to in my post.
(I am seriously beginning to suspect that reading your posts might have something to do with the lingering of my cold.)

Keep it up!

[Abe]

Wulfgar-- I have a suggestion. Rather than vote with the Americans, why not go live with them?

Good suggestion. I think I will. -W

[Morgan]

That little missive above sounds like it was written by a super-delegate... are you keeping a secret from all of us?