As promised with my last post, I will in this post, explain why I will be voting for Barack Obama for president. I do this so that there may be open dialogue between all that know me and read this blog. I do not do this to criticize anyone else’s candidate, but to champion mine from the perspective of my conscience, beliefs and ideas. So let me begin.
Off the top, I must say that I am not a bandwagoner, and that I have been a supporter of Obama since his campaign for the US Senate against Alan Keyes in 2003 (I have a support poster to prove it.) Ever since his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, I knew that one day he would run for president, and I knew that if he did, I would support him. Here are some reasons.
First, his charisma, intelligence, and the ability to sometimes be stern when needed, strike me as important characteristics. These attributes, although not solely his to claim, give him the uncanny ability to reach across the isle and get stuff done. He has been doing this ever since he was a state senator, continuing to the current day in the US Senate. This reminds of LBJ, in the way that he was able to influence his fellow senators to pass legislation. This continued when Johnson became president with passing his “Great Society” deal. I feel that Obama has the same ability to get things done, and has demonstrated that in his time in government.
There is an apparent caution, and understandably so, that Obama has only been in the Senate for 3 years. Many reason that someone with that much inexperience might not be up for the job of president. But many of our great leaders have served just as much time as Obama has, greats such as Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, and JFK among others. So on this fact, I cannot make that a real concern for his candidacy.
Second, Obama has championed for Ethics and Lobbying reform while his time as both a state and national senator. You can click here for a record of his often bi-partisan support of such legislation.
Thirdly, he was against the War in Iraq from the beginning. Now, we could debate whether or not there was a deliberate misrepresentation of intelligence from the start, but it remains to be said that Obama was cautious from the beginning, something that no one else who is running can say. He is a realist; someone who understands that war is sometimes inevitable and needed, but that we should not rush into an unnecessary war. I find this to be particularly important attribute, especially with the next president. We have many possible future wars out there on the horizon, along with the current War of Terror; and to be cautious will to be wise, as to not to get us into another mess like we have in Iraq. I feel Obama offers this, and has demonstrated this with his opposition to the Iraq war from the start.
Also, Obama is opposed to making marriage a Constitutional issue. He said in a speech on the floor of the Senate last year that expresses my idea perfectly. “I agree with most Americans, with Democrats and Republicans, with Vice President Cheney, with over 2,000 religious leaders of all different beliefs, that decisions about marriage, as they always have, should be left to the states.” This is the way it has been done since the beginning of our nation, and it should not change. You can read more of his speech on this topic here.
Another reason I support Obama are the issues pertaining to the Patriot Acts, enemy torture, and detaining alleged terrorist. One of my great concerns is how these items listed above can be twisted and be put to use for evil. Habeas Corpus is a right that should never, under any circumstance, be waived or denied. I do not think, with the exception of torture, that these things in them selves are wrong. But some can and have taken them too far, at the expense of natural God-given liberties and rights, something that a certain great nation in history was founded upon, way back in 1776. When an amendment came up in the Senate to add Habeas Corpus to a bill, Obama had this to say in support of the amendment. “To deny habeas corpus to our detainees can be seen as a prescription for how the captured members of our own military, diplomatic, and NGO personnel stationed abroad may be treated. …The Congress has every duty to insure their protection, and to avoid anything which will be taken as a justification, even by the most disturbed minds, that arbitrary arrest is the acceptable norm of the day in the relations between nations, and that judicial inquiry is an antique, trivial and dispensable luxury.” To read more on this speech, click here.
And finally, I support Obama because I have heard what he stands for, and I have seen what he has done, and they align with my own beliefs. He has extensively traveled Africa and drummed up support for the disenfranchised on that continent. But he has done the same for those here on our continent, from inner-city kids of Chicago, to those who’s lives were shattered by Hurricane Katrina. One of the speeches that I watched was this speech. Another was his speech delivered at the historic Brown Chapel in Birmingham, which you can read here.
So although this was along post, I felt the need to clearly outline some of the major reasons why I support Barack Obama for the U.S. Presidency. Please feel free to comment, agree or disagree. I'd love to hear it.
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