I have a number of difficulties in supporting Hillary Clinton. The
two primary issues have to do with her vote to support the Iraq war
resolution, including the Levin Amendment, and her plan to make the
purchasing of health insurance for individuals mandatory. I think the
first was poor judgment and the last authoritarian and paternalistic.
I subscribe to the following philosophy: "The only part of conduct of
any one, for which he is amenable to society, is that which concerns
others. In the part, which merely concerns himself, his independence
is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the
individual is sovereign." -John Stuart Mill's On Liberty. Am I am wrong?
I think Obama is the best choice for progressive democrats because he
is more progressive as indicated by the following: League of
Conservation Voters Scorecard: Obama 100%, Hillary 71%.
Children's Defense Fund Scorecard: Obama 100%, Hillary 90%. ACLU
Congressional Scorecard: Obama 80%, Hillary 67%. Lifetime scores:
Obama: 82% (better than Edward Kennedy's and John Kerry's) Hillary:
75%. A recent study by the study National Journal indicates that
Obama was the most liberal senator in 2007.
New Zogby internal numbers show Obama has strong support among the
very liberal, moderates & independents in battle ground states
(implications for the general election!): "On the Democratic side,
California, Missouri and New Jersey are so close. Obama's lead in
California is by virtue of solid support in the Bay Area and among
Independents (by 20 points), men (20 points), 18-29 year olds (31
points), very liberal voters (22 points), and African Americans
(75%-14%). Clinton does well among women (11 points) and among
Hispanics (64%-29%).
In Missouri, Obama has solid leads in the St. Louis region (16
points), with Independents (7 points), young voters (16 points), and
African Americans (62%-26%). He also leads among moderates and men.
Clinton leads in Kansas City (7 points), in the Southwest (16 points),
and among liberals (8 points), women (5 points), and among voters over
65 (25 points).
http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1444Other polling data from Rassmussen and others has consistently shown
Obama to be more competitive than Hillary v. GOP candidates:
http://abcnews.go.com/images/PollingUnit/1058a1SuperTuesday.pdfhttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_romney_vs_obama-231.htmlObama opposed the Iraq war from before the very beginning and only
voted to fund it after Bush had vetoed the war-funding bill that
contained a specific withdrawal timetable. He recently stated: "I
don't want to just end the war, I want to end the mind-set that got us
into war in the first place."
Obama is smart, inspiring, and authentic. I wholeheartedly
support him and ask you to consider doing the same on Tues in
Missouri's primary election.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/swmo4progress/message/2337