An unschooler for Obama

Posted March 11th, 2008 by Arp

politics

We've had a nifty little dichotomy in our house the past few months. Trish has been down with Hillary since day 1. She convinced me to vote for her in the primaries based on her views on healthcare.

The candidate that caught my attention the most was Ron Paul. I liked his literal view of the constitution, steady disagreement with everything Iraq, not to mention getting rid of the IRS and shrinking the government. It's all good - except no one votes for the crazy uncle, even if he's telling the truth.

Had he been the GOP nominee, it would have been tempting to vote Republican for the first time in my life. He's conceded now, though he's still running (I have no idea why), and it's strange since the media - our so-called impartial and investigate source of news - patently ignored him for weeks. Ah well - at least he beat Rudy.

While reading up on candidates' positions, who's was against Iraq stuck with me: Paul, Gravel, Kucinich and Obama. Anyone who had the guts to stand up against the most ridiculous and jingoistic tide of our times scored major points with me. At least, I'd like to think that they had the guts to say and do what they believed was right.

That's when Obama came on my radar. Sure, I want universal healthcare but I'm really impressed by someone who can stand up to rampant jingoism. Plus, publicly calling it 'dumb,' as he did in a speech to the Illinois state legislature, shows some guts:

Barack Obama wrote:

I know that invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East and encourage the worst rather than best impulses in the Arab world and strengthen the recruitment arm of al Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars, I am opposed to dumb wars.

A couple of weeks ago I read about Clinton & Obama's congressional records. That's where I came away with the feeling that he may actually be able to do something. He really might. I know it's not a sure thing, but I'm impressed.

I'm also not impressed with the Clinton camp praising him as vice presidential material when they've previously questioned his ability to be commander-in-chief. Frankly, it seems like a last gasp effort to win the nomination. After pulling out victories in Ohio & Texas, the Obama as VP talk seems completely disingenuous. Hillary showed that her message got through to the voters in OH & TX - why make a dramatic shift that belittles your opponent?

The final piece of the puzzle came together today, when I came across a post from a homeschooling supporter at the Obama site:

Quote:

He has already indicated that his educational policies would not discourage homeschooling. On page 344 of The Audacity of Hope, he writes: “none of these policies need discourage families from deciding to keep a parent at home…For some families, that may mean doing without certain material comforts. For others it may mean home schooling….Whatever the case may be, such decisions should be honored."

So today, I'm done with watching how things shake out or waiting to vote for whoever represent the Democrats. I'm down with Barack.

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me too

On March 12th, 2008 jaybay says:

Ron Paul would actually be my choice were he to have a snowball's chance, but the B Man has my vote. We have caucuses here in Maine so I attended the Democratic caucus. It was an interesting process. About 100 people from the surrounding tiny towns gathered in a small, stuffy room to talk it over about why they like Hillary or Barack in order to convince any fence sitters. It was largely civilized and pleasant with only a few slightly annoying comments and people. In the end, our little town of 1000 people ended up with 2 pledged delegates for the state convention late this May. There were 13 people in attendance at the caucus with 4 absentee ballots. Seven voted for Hillary in person, 4 by absentee ballot; six voted for Barack. There is some strange structure as to how the percentages lead into actual delegate pledges. In our town one pledged delegate must vote for Hillary, based on the peoples' votes; one must vote for Obama, based on the peoples' votes. It was a new experience for me to be emotionally invested in an election. He gives me hope that the war will end, he gives me hope that our country will move forward in terms of education, social issues, technology and medicine, he gives me hope that perhaps our ignorant little American world is broadening and changing, and I believe in him.

Go Barack!

Go BO!

On March 13th, 2008 Arp says:

I like to affectionately call him BO, since I've often had b.o. associated with me and know a thing or two about it.

Me too

On March 13th, 2008 Tracey says:

I think that I like Obama, too. I have not learned as much about each candidate as I should, but from the quick comparisons that I've done...I prefer Obama. While I love the idea of the healthcare, too...I'm not so sure that she'd stick to her guns on that....

I'm soooooo not political.

~Tracey

Voting against the war

On March 13th, 2008 Arp says:

That gives me a lot more confidence - many politicians KNEW it was a bad idea, but didn't have the guts to go public with it. That collective cowardice has nicely lined the pockets of all the Halliburtons involved, killed US citizens and made the world significantly less safe. If it was obvious to me, it should have been blatantly obvious to those on Capitol Hill. I wonder if it's because no one's been taught to think critically in school for years that the politicians all seem to follow their respective herds.

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