Some Presidential Ramblings

As will hopefully become clear over the course of this blog, my vote for President has already been won by Barack Obama. Why? Because his stances on every issue, from the environment to Iran, nicely reflect my own. Besides that, he has several personal marks that I believe have made him into the kind of man we need as President in the 21st century: He comes from a diverse ethnic and cultural background, which gives him a decided edge in this era of globalization. He is honest and forthright, traits that are directly contrary to many stereotypes about politicians - he says what needs to be said, and doesn't play those political games (any more than is absolutely necessary). He may be young, but what he lacks in experience he makes up with intelligence, enthusiasm, and confidence. Besides that, at only 46, he would be the nation's first post-baby boom president.

Think of the implications of that! The world of post-1950 has been an extremely different one from the first half of this century, marked by an ever-increasing upswing in technology, global connectivity, and wave after wave of civil rights movements, starting, for the US, in the 1960s with the Civil Rights movement (you know, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr). Obama has grown up in *that* world, was born and raised in it, and the difference, to me, is evident.

On the Iraq war, which I believe to be the hugest mistake of the Bush administration, he has opposed it from the beginning and would withdraw troops with suitable swiftness. His commentary on war in general: "I not oppose all war - I oppose rash wars," resonates very nicely with a moderate sensibility. It is not the knee-jerk response of aging and new-wave hippies in the post-Viet Nam decades, but a rational stance that promotes peace without fearing to use force.

And unlike our current administration, Obama has been paying attention to the global scientific outcry against global climate change as it has escalated over the past several months.

Honestly, the only thing that I can find anyone saying against Obama is that he *might* not be able to win votes in the south, which is hardly a poor reflection on him, but on the stiff-necked attitudes that region of our country tends to take. But the south alone is not enough to turn the election, even with Texas's thirty-odd electoral votes (don't even get me started on the electoral college).

At every turn, Obama has impressed me with his sense of vision and hope, his determination to be what this country needs: An honest, genuine leader.