After much thought, I have made my decision. (WARNING: LONG)

NC_Nurse

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Sun Feb-03-08 12:43 PM
Original message

After much thought, I have made my decision. (WARNING: LONG)

First, let me say that initially I was for Edwards. I am sorry that he could not get the coverage that he deserved, but I am
not one of the people that sees that as the only reason he didn't get anywhere this time. One reason I was not rabid in my own support for him
was because his turnaround from the positions he had when he was our senator was quite remarkable. I personally believe that he had a genuine change of heart,
but let's face it, people in our country don't tend to be that forgiving when it comes to "flip-flopping". The Repubs might have been able to defeat him with
that argument alone.

The main point that I want to focus on, however, is that NONE of these candidates can enact any of their policies/programs without getting them through congress.
Therefore, electing a DEM congress is every bit as important as who the Presidential nominee is.
The details of any of their healthcare plans, immigration policies, labor programs, etc. will all be subject to change in congress. Congress is the branch that has to face the reality of how the country will PAY for these programs as well. So buying into the promises of our potential nominees is a fool's paradise. None of these people can raise a magic wand and get
you free healthcare, a decent retirement, or even cleaner air. The war is the one area that they can actually effect the most change as Commander in Chief. Our frontrunners
are pretty close on this issue. Obama has an advantage being anti-war from the beginning, but he's not going to win in November without playing up his willingness to defend the U.S. against
"terrorist threats". It's pretty much de riguer these days. Ya gotta be tough on Terra. It'll happen, trust me. Besides, it would be great if we could go back and change the fact that we entered into this criminal war. Unfortunately, we can't. We f*cked that country, and we have to help them put it back together. I want out too, but I don't want to see those poor people massacre each other because we abandoned them to terrorists and religious militias. Neither of the candidates can change that reality. I hope that they can get us out quickly, but we have to trust whoever wins to do the right thing for all those involved.

If you believe as I do, that a lot of our success this year depends on getting a candidate that can help us take congress by really inspiring the electorate, I think you have to look at Obama.
Obama is an incredible speaker, he has inspired young people to get involved which is VERY difficult, and he reaches out to an audience that Clinton will never win over - moderate Republicans.
There are, in my experience, a lot of people out there who are pretty fed up with the Repubs, but would NEVER vote for Clinton. I realize that a lot of the reason for that may be because Obama has not laid out a lot of specific plans for how he would fix domestic problems - but as I pointed out above, I don't think that's necessary because those plans will likely change anyway.

There are MANY examples of this I can point out from the Bush and Clinton presidencies like:
-DADT anyone? Remember, Clinton was going to make gays welcome in the military...after all he was CIC. But he backed down in a hurry when faced with military opposition.
-Social Security Privatization/Reform Remember how Dubya was gonna fix SS by having private accounts? Thank God THAT didn't fly! And we're not headed to Mars either.

Bottom line: They won't do anything they can't sell enough Americans on to get it passed in congress. Period.
So why get invested in these promises? I can promise you that a lot of them will not come to fruition, and if they do, they won't look like they do now. They will have mutated through amendments, concessions, earmarks or whatever it takes to sell it.

So looking at it from my point of view, Obama is our best bet. Ithink he can get more Dems to the polls and more Repubs to cross over and vote for him.
Either way, our nominee has my vote in November. And I refuse to participate in the "my candidate is our Saviour and yours is a POS" type of dialogue that this place often devolves into.
It's childish and nonproductive. I will certainly discuss the issues and pros and cons of each candidate with anyone who is genuinely open-minded and wants real dialogue.
Good luck to Hillary as well and LET"S WIN IN NOVEMBER FOR GOD'S SAKE! :D Gobama!