why i support obama
There is at least one person who is interested in my reasons for supporting Obama, and it will be a helpful exercise for me to bring this all together. This list is comparing him to McCain. While some of the reasons would apply to Hillary as well, the differences are a bit more nuanced in that comparison.
- He was against the Iraq war from the beginning. McCain is a war hawk who not only wants to keep us in Iraq forever, but is instigating a war with Iran.
- He is strong on technology and net neutrality. He has even said he will appoint a “Chief Technology Officer”.
- I trust him. Take a look at all of the things McCain has changed position on since he decided his original positions weren’t conservative enough. I expect for politician’s positions on issues to change over time based on new information, but McCain’s seem to be changing simply because it is politically convenient. Why should I trust him?
- He is firmly pro-choice. I know this is a touchy issue for many people, but I believe that outlawing abortion only pushes it underground where it becomes more dangerous. Abortions should be legal, safe, and rare.
- He uses experts to inform his policy decisions. This is one of the worst things about the Bush administration - they only listened to experts when their advice agreed with what the administration had already decided to do.
- He supports major investments in green technology, including renewable energies.
- He supports taking serious steps to stem global warming, along with strong positions on other environmental issues.
- He supports civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. I wish he would support gay marriage, but McCain doesn’t even support civil unions.
- He opposes the Bush administration’s mockery of the system of checks and balances in his pursuit of executive power. McCain was initially against the increased executive power, but as of late has reversed his position.
- He opposes warrant-less wiretapping, the diminishment of habeas corpus, and other blatantly unconstitutional programs.
- He doesn’t accept money from lobbyists.
- He symbolizes change. Sure some of that’s just part of the brand, but the international community needs to see that we are ready to put the disaster that was the Bush administration behind us and start in a new direction.
- He is good at unifying people and working across party lines. We desperately need someone who is willing to get past the ridiculous amount of partisanship that exists in Washington.
- He has pledged to put an end to no-bid contracts like the contract Halliburton got in Iraq.
- He has pledged to create a universal health care system.
- He has some great plans when it comes to education and volunteer services like the PeaceCorps.
- He is a black man. I would never vote for someone simply because of their race or gender, but it is high time we break the hold white men have had on the presidency.
- He worked as a community organizer in Chicago and taught constitutional law. He easily could have gotten a high paying job at a big law office instead.
- He has worked to end the genocide in Darfur, co-sponsoring and voting for all significant Darfur legislation.
- He is for ethics reform and open government. Doesn’t it seem reasonable that we should know where are tax dollars are going?
- He is a proponent of fiscal responsibility. After the Bush administration’s complete disregard for fiscal responsibility, we better have someone who cares about balancing the budget.
I’m sure there are many more that I’ll think of after I publish this, but this list is already a bit long. I’d love to here everyone’s thoughts or critiques.
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