I guess that most people who know me already know that I am supporting Barack Obama for the 2008 Presidential race. I've donated to his campaign and volunteered on the phone lines during the primaries on his behalf. I was on the fence early on about which candidate I preferred-Clinton or Obama? Eventually I learned that it was Obama that reflected my ideas and my hopes for the future. I felt that the "Clinton machine" would be wrong for us this time in our world. Make no mistake, they would come as a pair. I didn't want that now. Not at this time. It is too important to get it right. My gut tells me that I'm correct.
I've been, I guess some would say, "obsessed." I get that way when things excite me. I like to be blanketed by information. (Not that I understand it all.) So I watch all three cable news networks. I watched as they reported the primary results. I listened to the speeches. Barack Obama's speeches inspired me. I flipped back and forth between channels to hear the latest spin. I read the papers and checked in frequently to read the latest on the online news- Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post and Polictico.com. I'm a junkie!
I can't get enough. This isn't a new problem for me. I think it began when Al Gore ran. The whole political process and the campaign strategies intrigued me. The spin doctors and their intensely controlled work to get the storylines- just right- to sway the American voters. It became so obvious that it was so much more like a chess game and the candidates were just pawns. I had always believed that you REALLY just voted for the candidate and his views about the countries direction. Stupid ME. I was certainly a political fetus. The election night and the days that followed with the "hanging chads" and the recounts or lack there of, disillusioned me in a way that shook my belief in our political system. I still wonder if there wasn't a dirty hand in the election bag.
That's history now. But that's where my obsession began. I stayed up for days and watched and listened. I didn't believe that the Supreme Court could get it so wrong. They were our best hope for reason and Constitutional Law. Wrong again.
I continue to be hopeful. Maybe this time. Will Americans at least think about who should lead the Free World and take it seriously? I would have supported Hillary Clinton in a heartbeat if she had won the Primaries. Her philosophies were very close, if not identical to Senator Obama's. Why is there any doubt that her supporters wouldn't support the other candidate when he won??
As we enter the next round of fighting in this political boxing ring we call a Presidential Election, I wait with eager anticipation to see if perhaps this time it will be a serious challenge on the issues that will effect our lives. Will we be fooled into believing that the color of a mans skin should be the measure of a man? Will the public be taught to fear their future? Our media driven world will be the power that will make and mold our future that is true. But shouldn't we be wise enough by now to discern the truth from the spin? I fear the answer might be no.
I actually like John McCain. I might have voted for him back when he was running against George Bush when he really was a "Maverick." He is no long that strong leader I believe he once was. He is still a good man. But he is weak in his policy and can easily be made a puppet of the powerful "Republican Money and Power Machine". I don't think that he really understands what we are up against in the world today. He is out of touch with the citizens, the next generation of Americans. We need new ideas, a new way forward into a very different and complex world.
I'll be watching.I'll remain hopeful.
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