My serious reasons for supporting Obama as President -- It's all about governance

[Armstead]

I just got a thread locked because it was flame bait.

Okay, to atone for that, and some other cheap shots I have made, here is something serious I posted in response to a question in another thread that asked: "How would Obama actually change Washington?"

This is why I support Obama -- not just because of the general election, but more importantly why I believe he is what we need in a president at this point in history.

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I frankly don't think Obama is going to totally change the Way Washington works. But I do believe he can do a lot to improve it.

Obama is absolutely correct when he says we don't need leaders who have been weaned on the current system. Frankly, if the Democrats had fought harder and been more aggressive advocates for the interests of the majority over the last 30 years, the system would not be so rotten today.

However, Democrats stopped actively challenging right-wing corporate messages and policies and -- all too often -- bought into them. And became dependent on the same oligarchs who have been running this country into the ditch.

The public has been fed so much shit from the right wing and corporate massahs, and have become terminally cynical as a result.
The Clintons epitomize that problem. No matter how well-meaning thety may have been initially, they caved in, they stood up for the interests of the oligarchs more than the majority (free trade being a prime example) and echoed more of the GOP conservative approach than anything resembling true liberal/progressivism.

If Hillary is elected, she sees her major goal as working that syatem and hopefully making it a little fairer. But she will still have all of the baggage and residue and loyalties that she and her husband have had all these years.

The first step to changing that is to make people feel hopeful again. I believe that if Obama plays his cards right, he can accomplish that. Look at how he has reinvigorated the election this year.


2)Obama would be more beholden to the grass roots. No, he is not pristine, but he would know damn well who opposed him and who supported him. And if he does AT LEAST reduce the ratio of support he has from corporate lobbyists and otehr special interests, then he will also know where his bread is buttered.

Also, I believe Obama "gets it" in a way that is not conveyed in the MSM and otehr filters. I believe he knows the problems people face, the frustrations liberals have with the Weenie Democrats AND the reasons that too many independents and Republicans distrust Democrats and liberalism.

(Despite his verbal "gaffe" in San Francisco, his statement there was right on target.)

As a result, Obama IMO will actually advocate for issues that we all really care about. And I believe he has the potential ability to rally public opinion to overcome the inbuilt resistence and actually get things done.

3)I believe he has much more leadership ability than Clinton. She has basically botched almost everything she has touched that matters. She managed to take a popular issue in the 90's, health care reform, and allow it to be killed off because of her inability to lead the political process. She has taken her presidential campaign from the status of "inevitability" to the dismal state it is now. Even is she still manages to squeak out the nomination, it will still be a model of how NOT to run a campaign.


Obama has put together and overseen a campaign that has overcome great odds, was able to build an immense amount of public support and has been consistent, tough and focused. (Some gaffes yes. But that is inevitable in any campaign.)

If he applies the same skills as president, I believe he will -- if not change the system entirely -- at least break up the logjam and shake it enough to start moving in a much better direction.

[monicaaida]

1. LETS GO NUCLEAR

let's destroy hillary's campaign with rendell/farakhan


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/21/ed-rendell-clinton-surrog_n_97784.html



http://www.politico.com/blogs/ bensmith/0408/Rendell_and_Farr akhan.html#comments


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXum_-8I1TA&eurl=http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0408/Rendell_and_Farrakhan.html


http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/200 8/04/21/why-is-gov-rendell-so- silent-today-about-louis-farra khan/#comments

[blm]

2. Exactly - why any Dem wants to continue the closed government privilege that led us to Bush2

and to 9-11 and this 'war on terror' that never should have been, is beyond me.

I swear people are into politics as a SPECTATOR SPORT and they only want their player to win, uncaring whether democracy and our citizens' right to open and accountable government is forever lost to the fascists served by their favorite 'player, in this case, the Clintons.

The Bushes finally ruined the GOP as a party for generations to come. The Clintons want to have that same choking grip on the Democratic party.

[Armstead]

3. Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton? Too much inbreeding there.

[blm]

6. Why do Dems look the other way on that protective alliance when it has hurt this nation in

so many ways over the longterm....WHY?

[Armstead]

7. Beats me....If you take the macro view it's all been one uninterrupted string

The Clintons had the benefit of a technology boom, and they were more in line with Persident Bush 1 that Jr., but otehrwise the larger arc of policy and secretive government continued unabated since 1988. (Which was an extension of REaganism.)

[blm]

10. When Clinton made it clear in 1993 that he did not believe BushInc should be held accountable

for all their crimes of office and protected their secrecy and privilege throughout the 90s, that was the worst move against this nation's democracy and wellbeing a Democratic president EVER MADE.

[Armstead]

4. Kick

[SunsetDreams]

5. K&R thank you :)

[C_U_L8R]

8. Hillary will manage this country like she manages her campaign

built on divisiveness and mired in debt.
Who needs that???

[Armstead]

9. Obama will manage the country like his campaign

Steady and straight.

[blm]

11. No Drama Obama - just open government to the CITIZENS and this country will change

completely ...... for the better.

[Armstead]

12. No Drama Obama -- A good slogan.