Why vote for Obama?
1. To get out of Iraq (instead of fighting even more wars which seems likely with Mr. M)
2. To get a sensible health insurance system in this country. EVERY other industrialized country pays way less than we do and has better outcomes. Most or all of the scare mongering from opponents has been debunked (e.g. see above on wait times)
3. He is smart. Harvard Law Review editor is a position you get for being the smartest law student at Harvard. We could use smart for a change.
4. He is a liberal - Didnt you notice? As a liberal myself, I would far rather vote for a liberal than Mr. M.
5. To restore honor to our international relations. I dont expect people on this site to understand that, but I would like to be proud of my country when my President goes overseas instead of cringing at the ridiculous things he says.
And yes, I would probably vote against almost any Republican this year. McCain is actually an honorable man who would be a vast improvement over Bush. But he is hated by many in his party for failure to toe the party
line on everything.
But the real issue is that I am very worried about our democracy when there is a party that apparently is perfectly OK with a President who brazenly announces at each bill signing that he doesnt have to obey the law if he decides not to. That strikes at the very basis of our democracy - EVERYONE has to obey the law. That is why the call it the EXECUTIVE branch - The President swears to "faithfully execute the laws". And Bush thinks he is above that. What would those congressional republicans think if a Dem were the one ignoring the law? I wish they would focus on that thought for a minute.
The way our system is supposed to work is that the President obeys the law and does whatever he feels is right WITHIN THE LAW and that he can get Congress to pay for. If he doesnt like that he can go campaign for people to tell their congressmen to do what he wants or to elect new congressmen. But the President isnt a king and the current Republicans in Washington dont seem to understand that. So I want them out of power so they can think about it for a while.
I am actually a lib who thinks this country NEEDS a Republican party. The liberal impulses of the Dems, if left unchecked by the business sense of the Republicans (or at least the OLD republican party - dont get me started on the fiscal irresponsibility of the current crowd) would tend to go way too far. Just look at some of the cities and towns where there is no effective opposition to the party in power - they tend to go off the deep end of whatever side they are on.
So I am NOT somebody who has always opposed Republicans in a kneejerk way. But this year I feel pretty strongly about it. That is why I am so happy that Obama will beat McCain like a drum!!!!