A friend of mine on Facebook is VERY pro-Obama. She was very happy to get tickets to his rally on Tuesday and that sparked a little bit of a discussion between myself and her. Here is my last response... I figured it was general enough to post here.
I was all for Obama early in the primaries. I thought he was eloquent, inspiring, intelligent, all the things that would make a great president. And I found the primaries intensely fascinating for all the historical reasons (first woman president vs first black president). But the more that I learned about Obama and the more I heard him speak the less I liked him. I see him as hypocritical, willing to say whatever will inspire the people in front of him, even if it directly contradicts other things he's said. I think he has his own interests at the forefront of his agenda and not the people he represents. If you don't believe that just look at the neighborhoods that he represented while a state senator and community organizer. They're some of the worst neighborhoods in Chicago. If he can't improve a few neighborhoods how is he going to lead the entire country? And he's all about changing the face of politics and opposing the old traditions of Washington, but he seems to be playing the game of politics as well as any seasoned politician. He even picked Biden, one of the most senior senators (even longer in office than McCain) as his running mate (who, by the way swore Obama wasn't fit to be president and would be happy to run with McCain during the primaries - what's changed?). Then there's all the people he has had relationships and has been influenced by throughout his entire life. Sure, when you're involved in politics, law, education, etc. you're bound to run across a few kooks, but Obama seems to have had serious friendships with quite a few people with rather extreme ideologies. I'm sure they're not all as bad as right wing media makes them out to be, but you have to admit, there are a lot of them: Ayers, Wright, Rezko, Flagar, Khalidi, Davis, etc. etc. And his connections with ACORN, and other centers of corruption scare me, too. I don't know, maybe he'll make a great president. I hope so if he gets elected. All I know is that I can't vote for him in good conscience given what I've learned about him, even though I voted for him enthusiastically during the primaries.
McCain scares me too though, but I don't think as much as Obama. While I think McCain has been relatively honest (his campaign and right wing conservatives have had their share of lies and embellishments, too), I do think his campaign has self destructed. If he can't manage his campaign well, how can he manage the entire country? He can't give a real answer about anything other than "I know how to do that" or "I have the scars to prove it". I'm sick of hearing his war stories. Just because he fought and suffered for this country doesn't mean he's fit to lead it, even if he has proven he puts his country before all else. That's great, but it does nothing if you can't inspire people to follow you. I think if McCain is president at worst we'll just have another for years of what we've already had. Then Obama can have a second chance in 2012.
So I haven't decided who I'm voting for, or even if I'm voting this year. I may vote for Nader or Barr, or even write in Paul, just to show support for someone other than a democrat or republican (I truly believe the two party politics we have is the source of the corruption in the country, both political and commercial). But as my wife keeps reminding me, a vote for anyone other than McCain is essentially a vote for Obama, especially in Illinois. I don't know... I've just been completely turned off by the whole thing. Which sucks, because I was really excited back in January and February. I'm sure the US will pull through, I just hope it's better off in four years and we're not all kicking ourselves regardless of the outcome Tuesday.
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