Figure it out, People!

campaigning with a smile (Barack Obama in Austin #3)
Originally uploaded by jmtimages

Here is a response I left on my brother's blog. He wrote a post about how neither McCain nor Obama is a great choice for president. Obviously, I respectfully disagree. ;) He wrote about how he is not sure what Obama stands for, and I wrote a ridiculously long response to that. Seriously, don't feel obligated to read it all...:)

First of all, it is EXTREMELY easy to find out what Obama stands for if you can’t figure it out from what he says. He wrote a whole book about it. It’s called “The Audacity of Hope” and details what he would like to do in pretty much every area you could think of including the economy, energy policy, education, and the environment. I can’t quite figure out why people keep saying they don’t know what he stands for when it has been out there for so long. Granted, maybe it’s because I have been following his career for a good 4 years or more that I know and others don’t (or say they don’t), but it seems like it is really easy to find out with the internet and all.

That said, here is why I will unquestionably vote for Obama (and none of it has anything to do with being inspired by his speeches, although I like those too).

1. Military: He wants us out of Iraq, but he is willing to listen to people in the military before he decides how to do it or how long it should take.

2. Economy: He is not a supporter of the tax cuts to the wealthy that Bush has been really into. He wants to help the middle class and the poor, not the rich. Maybe I have a Robinhood complex, but I love that. He wants to create a fund to help those in foreclosure…not that I feel like those in foreclosure deserve it, but foreclosures make MY house value go down. (gosh, I sound like a republican there)

3. Education: Obama wants to fix No Child Left Behind by (GASP!) actually funding it. Also, he is tight with this dude, George Sugai, who is the leader in Positive Behavior Support in the nation. If Obama is elected, I am convinced more schools will adopt PBS and I know from experience that it makes a huge difference in student achievement in underachieving schools. I could go on and on all day about why Obama will be better for education than McCain, but I would bore anyone to death who is actually still reading this.

4. Energy and the Environment: Isn’t this one obvious? I am a tree-huggin’ hippie at heart so obviously I love his desire to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. But seriously, hasn’t this gas crisis convinced people that we need to be looking at alternatives? Obama wants to do that.

Let me just say, that I actually don’t have a huge problem with McCain. I admire his war service to our country and I have always been impressed by his willingness to step across the aisle and work with the other side. But I am not impressed by the way he seems to be trying to fall in line with the republican party right now. It’s disappointing.

Regardless of what happens, either candidate will be better than Bush. I just think McCain would be 10 times better, but Obama would be 1000 times better.