Barack the Casbah

With a hot election for the Democratic
nominee on our hands, we find ourselves
at an interesting place in history. For
the Democratic Party, the nominee
will either be a woman or an African
American man; neither group has been
represented before in the presidency. And
for the Republican Party, the nominee
appears to be a man who – by GOP
standards – is one of the most moderate
Republican candidates in more than a
decade.

Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Hillary
Clinton and Sen. John McCain have
their strong points. Although Clinton’s
and McCain’s claims to experience are
unmatched by Obama, Obama brings
a kind of charisma and authenticity
unmatched by any politician in most
of our lifetimes.

Obama is a full 14 years younger than
Clinton and a full 25 years younger than
McCain.

Obama is our best hope if we want
a president who relates to the young
people of the United States.

Clinton has been an established
member of Washington, D.C., politics
for more than 30 years-almost back
to when she was a Republican.

As far as the issues go, Clinton and
Obama are amazingly similar. Both
support universal health care, both
support removing troops from Iraq as
soon as possible (Clinton says within 60
days; Obama says immediately with all
troops removed within 16 months), and
both want to invest large quantities of
money into clean energy (Clinton wants
to commit $50 billion, Obama wants to
commit $150 billion). On almost every
stance, they mirror each other, though
Obama’s plans sound slightly better.

Obama has a stronger emotional
connection to the people of this country
than Clinton. This has given him his
share of retractors, who say he’s more
about hope and superficial inspiration
than concrete plans. But Obama has just
as many plans for the U.S. as Clinton,
and the majority of his are stronger.
Clinton originally supported the War
in Iraq, while Obama spoke out against
it early. Yes, Obama was not in national
office at the time, but as early as 2002
and 2003 – when he was running for
the U.S. Senate – he openly spoke out
against the War in Iraq.

Another problem with Clinton’s
candidacy is the idea of a political
dynasty. If Clinton were to be elected and
then re-elected, this country would be
controlled by two families for a total of 28
years.

And
as far as Mc-
Cain is concerned,
listening to him give speeches is like
sitting for a moral-filled story time with
Grandpa. He never seems to fully talk
to you, but rather at you, and has said
that an American presence in Iraq for
100 years “would be fine with me.” He
seems distant and removed from the
problems currently facing the U.S.

McCain wants to create competition
between health care providers for middleclass
Americans, but that’s about it. He
also wants to overturn Roe v. Wade,
which puts the reproductive rights of a
woman to have an abortion in danger.

For his issues, his charisma, his ability
to communicate with the people of the
United States and that sexy smile, I
endorse Obama, and you should too.