I rarely feel strong support for one Democratic candidate over another in the primaries. Heck, I can usually barely get myself to vote for the Democrat in the general election. So what makes me feel so strongly about Obama? Well, there are 3 main reasons:
His stance against the war
Obama was against the war before it began, has criticized the war since then, and is now running a campaign centered around ending the war. All the way through he has spoken the plain truth about it: (a) there was no compelling evidence that there were any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (b) we should have been focusing our military efforts on quelling terrorist networks (c) we need to work on improving our reputation and relationships with other countries and cultures in order to not incite terrorism in the first place.
His meta-policies
Reading Obama and Clinton’s policies side-by-side, one will discover that they are pretty similar. I happen to think that Obama’s are presented much more clearly and intelligently on his website, and smack of greater sophistication and detail, but it is arguable that this has more to do with audience targeting than with the quality of the goals and final details of the policies themselves.
What really impresses me about Obama, and sets him apart from Clinton, are his “meta-policies”, if you will; his policies and goals about government.
Obama wants to make our government more transparent, more accessible, and more accountable. To this end he has done the following work while in the US Senate:
- Introduced the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, which requires the full disclosure of all entities or organizations receiving federal funds beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2007 on a website maintained by the Office of Management and Budget (http://www.usaspending.gov/).
- Put together, with Russ Feingold, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which amends parts of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. It strengthens public disclosure requirements concerning lobbying activity and funding, places more restrictions on gifts for members of Congress and their staff, and provides for mandatory disclosure of earmarks in expenditure bills.
- Introduced the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act, a bill to criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections, including fraudulent flyers and automated phone calls, as witnessed in the 2006 midterm elections
(Not all have passed. Click through to see current status of each piece of legislation. Descriptions lifted from Wikipedia and slightly modified.)
Now, during his campaign, he has an incredibly impressive set of policies on using technology to improve government transparency and accessibility. I could give you an overview, or I could just direct you to Lawrence Lessig’s fantastic piece on why he supports Obama, which mostly addresses technology and transparency. In a nutshell: Obama wants to make government information and information as easy to access as your favorite blog. On top of that, he has the most sophisticated position on Net Neutrality. (quick definition of Net Neutrality: not allowing the phone/cable company to charge you more to access some websites vs. others, which is what they want to start doing.)
Previously mentioned here: this fantastic lecture Obama gave on government accountability, transparency, and ethics.
His style of politics
Obama has run an extremely long and beautiful grassroots campaign. He has established an extremely impressive network of paid staffers in most (all?) states. He has engaged his supporters using accessible and innovative online tools. He has the best website, by far.
He has not accepted any lobbyist contributions. (see extensive discussion of this topic here).
He has been able to spool up and sustain an enormous, million-dollar-a-day, grassroots fundraising machine.
Only 10 percent of Clinton contributors did not donate the legal maximum $2,300 for her primary campaign. In contrast, only three percent of Obama donors gave the maximum. The rest of the cash came from small sums from many more people. (source)
He has completely refrained from what, to my understanding, most people would call “negative” campaigning / mud slinging. As of a couple weeks ago, the Clinton campaign can’t say the same…
That’s why Obama is such a different candidate to me. I’d love to hear what folks out there think about the differences (or lack thereof) between the two candidates, if I am buying into hype, or if I am missing some important points.
I would be interested in hearing your reasons for choosing Obama over Nader.
Because Obama can win, and I like his policies, and there is a big difference in the policies, style, and message between him and McCain. Something I couldn’t say for Gore in 2000. In 2004 Kerry was extremely lame but clearly there would be a big difference in how the federal government was run had he been elected.
I choose Obama over Clinton because I was always a Republican and I think that Bush let alot of people down. Clinton/Gore wasn’t much better. Do we really want a repeat of any of those years??? It’s time for a change!!! The country is ready for Barack Obama. I believe he is young and fresh and is ready for the job. People thought JFK was to young and inexperienced.
im doing a debate on Obama and CLinton and im for Obama, please get me some good pros and cons!
Andrea
I think there is a lot of hype about Obama. People who don’t know him, but have spent an hour with him are pushing for him to become president. He is like a personal fitness trainer in his campaign. Only recently has he mentioned what he meant by “change” and nobody seemed to care. It is disappointing that people don’t distinguish between a campaign and a presidency.
I would need to know a lot more in order to trust Obama. I have met people who come across as honest, decent, etc etc and it can take years to find out that they really aren’t. Why does he associate with this crack pot priest if he is so progressive and well-connected? It is very reasonable to ask this question. So don’t smear people who wonder and call them fear-mongerers!
What exactly is Obama’s platform and why do you believe that he is capable of implementing it? What about substance? He is doing so well without offering any clear details.
I think that Obama seems young and likeable. However, I think he will cave when faced with difficulties and Clinton will not.
P.S. from Andrea
Why does every commentator on CNN constantly give Obama advice as to what he should do and say: Obama should do this and that and say this and that. It is ridiculous and also disturbing. Why does every newscaster and pundit think Obama needs to be told just exactly what to do every step of the way? Does that really reflect confidence in his expertise? Rather, it shows that people like him, but think he is clued out.
@Andrea — because teevee news people have to fill the air 24/7 with nothingness.