RandomGuy
10-02-2008, 09:05 AM
I voted in the Republican primary in 2000 in Texas. Kind of a forgone conclusion at that point, but I did it anyway because I believed in the man.
Let me outline why I voted for him, and supported his campaign in 2000.
I felt he was an honest guy.
He was smarter, and had a better grasp on a lot of things than Bush.
The Straight Talk express showed him to be affable, and charismatic. He wasn't hiding anything.
He was cool. He had a self-depricating sense of humor.
He was willing to say things that were unpopular if he felt it was important.
I am for balanced budgets, and I wanted someone who was fiscally conservative in the white house.
Fast forwad 8 years:
Oh, hell no.
Straight Talk Express?
-- Gone. Hiring Bush's former aides and operatives got him the new-found Republican Culture of Secrecy, and killed any straight talk.
Cool? Honest?
--Gone. In came the snarky, petty remarks, and the same old half-truth and lies that came to characterize the Bush administration's MO when it came to their enemies.
Maverick?
--Gone. Despite a lot of noise to the contrary, he showed nothing but blatant pandering to just about everybody during the primaries. He was willing to say just about anything to anyone.
Smarter and a good grasp of issues?
--Gone. Anybody was smarter than Bush, but the totally flaky way he has run his campaign scares the bejesus out of me. Sarah Palin? WTF? "Suspend my campaign?" WTF? Joe Liebermann whispering corrections in his ear? WTF?
McCain 2008 showed a man who has held his nose, and dived into the muck that is the Bush-created landscape of the GOP.
He might not be a complete Bush clone, but with all the former Bush people and obviously copied tactics he has been using, it is really hard to see much daylight between the two.
I was comfortable with Obama and felt from the start he would be a great president. He is smart and relatively honest, not having been subjected to a long stint in Washington.
Before the last few months, I used to think to myself: "I like Obama, but I like and respect McCain, and I would not be entirely disappointed if McCain won".
Not any longer. Aside from a personal sense of betrayal, I feel it is vitally important to the future of this country that McCain not be allowed to hire the same fuck-ups that have been in and out of the Bush administration, and have shaped our nation's policies so disasterously.
Obama has very obviously attracted a very energetic and motivated group of smart people. His campaign brought down the Hillary juggernaut, like it or not, and that organizational ability says volumes about his ability to surround himself with talent.
Obama must be elected to infuse our nation's leadership and executive branch with that motivation and talent.
Let me outline why I voted for him, and supported his campaign in 2000.
I felt he was an honest guy.
He was smarter, and had a better grasp on a lot of things than Bush.
The Straight Talk express showed him to be affable, and charismatic. He wasn't hiding anything.
He was cool. He had a self-depricating sense of humor.
He was willing to say things that were unpopular if he felt it was important.
I am for balanced budgets, and I wanted someone who was fiscally conservative in the white house.
Fast forwad 8 years:
Oh, hell no.
Straight Talk Express?
-- Gone. Hiring Bush's former aides and operatives got him the new-found Republican Culture of Secrecy, and killed any straight talk.
Cool? Honest?
--Gone. In came the snarky, petty remarks, and the same old half-truth and lies that came to characterize the Bush administration's MO when it came to their enemies.
Maverick?
--Gone. Despite a lot of noise to the contrary, he showed nothing but blatant pandering to just about everybody during the primaries. He was willing to say just about anything to anyone.
Smarter and a good grasp of issues?
--Gone. Anybody was smarter than Bush, but the totally flaky way he has run his campaign scares the bejesus out of me. Sarah Palin? WTF? "Suspend my campaign?" WTF? Joe Liebermann whispering corrections in his ear? WTF?
McCain 2008 showed a man who has held his nose, and dived into the muck that is the Bush-created landscape of the GOP.
He might not be a complete Bush clone, but with all the former Bush people and obviously copied tactics he has been using, it is really hard to see much daylight between the two.
I was comfortable with Obama and felt from the start he would be a great president. He is smart and relatively honest, not having been subjected to a long stint in Washington.
Before the last few months, I used to think to myself: "I like Obama, but I like and respect McCain, and I would not be entirely disappointed if McCain won".
Not any longer. Aside from a personal sense of betrayal, I feel it is vitally important to the future of this country that McCain not be allowed to hire the same fuck-ups that have been in and out of the Bush administration, and have shaped our nation's policies so disasterously.
Obama has very obviously attracted a very energetic and motivated group of smart people. His campaign brought down the Hillary juggernaut, like it or not, and that organizational ability says volumes about his ability to surround himself with talent.
Obama must be elected to infuse our nation's leadership and executive branch with that motivation and talent.