First, a little background. . . In 2000, I voted for President for the first time (I could have voted in 1996 but was overseas and failed to get an absentee ballot). In that case, I was living in Florida and voted for George W. Bush. Primarily, I voted for him because I am mostly a moderate conservative (I straddle the fence on a lot of issues). I had serious problems with the way the Clinton administration had behaved itself, and I hoped that Bush's presidency would bring real change to Washington. Then the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks intervened, and everything changed. Bush spearheaded a campaign to introduce a wildly invasive domestic spying law, and he began to play a zero-sum game with politics. You were either for him or an enemy. Incredibly, I had failed to learn my lesson, and I voted for Bush again in 2004. I remember thinking, "We have a population of nearly 300 million people, and these two idiots are the best we can do for President." Sadly, I believe that I was swayed, at least in some measure, by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who spread lies and rumors defaming John Kerry's military record. But I wanted a certain type of Supreme Court Justice, which I got in John Roberts and Sam Alito, who I think are excellent judges.
However, I now wonder if I made the right choice. In exchange for those two judges, important as they may be, we now have a crippled economy due to an aggressive policy of government deregulation, a war that is dragging on due to inefficient management, government spying, a secretive military prison allowing the torture of prisoners who are kept for years without being charged or tried, and an incredibly secretive government bent on hiding its actions from the public. This is not what I wanted when I voted for George W. Bush, and in many ways I regret that I did not fully comprehend what his government was doing over the past few years.
Because of my disillusionment with the failed policies of George W. Bush, who I helped to elect, I have vowed to make a more careful choice in the future. As a result, I have changed my criteria for voting to reflect a candidate's potential governing style, preferring honesty, integrity, and openness whereas in the past I focused on a narrow range of policy positions. Because of my new criteria, I support Barack Obama for President of the United States.
I have been an Obama supporter for many months now, though I have never donated to his campaign. I disagree with Senator Obama on numerous issues, but I agree more than I disagree. His opponents have criticized him for being "just words." However, they miss the larger message of his campaign. They miss the concept of togetherness and unity, of bipartisanship and civility in government. During the 1990s, the Republican Party made politics in the United States a culture war, trying to contrast righteous "conservatives" with underhanded and immoral "liberals." This dichotomy is false. Too many "conservatives" have shown that they pay mere lip service to the values they espouse, and too many "liberals" have proven to be much more honest and thoughtful than their political opponents.
I do not know if Barack Obama will be a great president, but of the remaining candidates, he is the only one who has tried to put aside partisan rancor. I believe that an Obama presidency would restore, honor, dignity, and openness to the office of President. I cannot say the same of John McCain, who glorifies in promoting his own ignorance and stoops to new levels of subterfuge and dishonesty in attacking his opponents.
Over the next weeks, you will hear more from me on these issues. I will try to post relevant topics in this space every day, complete with useful links.
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