Ah yes, almost forgot that part.
Endorsing candidates has gotten tough for me. I take policy very seriously in many areas, and my particular political vision of the world seems to be shared by no one. So I can't get too wrapped up in the policy scorecard when choosing a candidate, particularly when politicians are what they are.
For example, I thought John McCain to be relatively sound on immigration, until he realized that he was a Republican and that wouldn't do.
But I'm pretty far from standard Democrat voter on policy as well. So, I've become something of a character voter. Specifically I look for a politician who at least shows some signs of grasping the issues and then articulates a vision similar to the kind of place that I want live. Then the candidate must get votesand still maintain the impression that they aren't a horrible person.
Now, tomorrow is the Democratic Primary and I plan on voting in it. To be honest neither Hilary nor Obama have failed my tests. I ruled out Richardson because he didn't seem to grasp any issues. John Edwards is intelligent but was quite eager to appeal to xenophobic impulses (I expect this kind of crap from Republicans, but I really can't abide it in my own party). Dennis Kucinich articulated a vision of an America populated by Socialist elves, and that's just not a vision I share.
So then there is the strategic element. I think that the Republicans hate Hilary enough that they will come out of the woodwork to vote against her. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying it will happen. Meanwhile Obama, has a campaign that could win crossover votes, and lacks the sheer number of weakness for his oppenents to do the attacking.
There are a lot of Democrats who believe, largely based on their health care proposals, that Obama is "not progressive enough." I believe this to be largely a matter of labeling, and something only important to in-party politics. While I find fault with Obama's health plan as well, it does at least show that he's thought about the troubles with mandating that people buy insurence that they can't necessarily afford. His solution needs some more work, but it does acknowledge that particular problem with mandate driven health care. Getting obsessed over the labelling is just embarassing.
But the important part is that we are just electing the head bureaucrat. Yes it is important to elect someone who's intelligient , but the only candidate left standing that I would like to see the SAT scores of is Mike Huckabee (with his hilarious Fair Tax). Policy details are inevitably going to have to be worked by by wonkish people employed by the president. The best thing a president can do is to have a powerful, articulate and honest vision of the American government and get people to work towards that on his behalf.
So I'm voting for Obama tomorrow.
Cheers, and goodnight to you.
Labels: obama, politics
