Barack Obama

In a move that will rock that nation, I am officially endorsing Barack Obama for President. Although only 40% of an ideal President, I believe he is still the best candidate. Below is a breakdown of the different attributes that have lead to my support of his candidacy.

Philosophy – This is one of his strongest attributes. He recognizes that there are problems that need to be solved right away, specifically regarding poverty, energy, corruption. He is a populist who is in touch with local communities (although his public relations department does not highlight this at all.)

Intelligence – His PR people are awful. I think their strategy is “the less you know about him, the less you can attack”. But I didn’t even know he was a lawyer, or that he went to Harvard Law school. Furthermore, I didn’t know he took his fancy law degree and decided not to pursue the big money, but instead focus on civil rights law. He is uber-smart, but it is very hard to tell.

Integrity – On the one hand he spent his life fighting the good fight, on the other hand, his campaign so far has almost completely ignored that fight. I don’t know who the real Barack is; he might be a champion of the people or he might be an unqualified politicians with no confidence. My decision to support him came to taking the chance that the former might be true. With every other candidate, especially Hillary, you know exactly what you are getting and it is not progress.

Results – Obama’s political career so far is a weakpoint. He hasn’t actually accomplished much of anything, although I’m guessing he is doing this on purpose (see above; if you don’t do anything, they can’t attack you).

War – He still doesn’t have a plan. He doesn’t have the guts to take a stance (but neither does any of democrat, except Biden).

Personality – Ok, I get it, he has a big smile, great, not what? Yes optimism is good, but it’s not enough (just ask John Edwards). He needs to show a serious side, but that means taking a stand on something.

Experience - Hmmm, ok he has no executive, military, or real political expereince. Ouch.

Intangibles - If you look at his entire life (which is very interesting) you will see a person who has endured struggles, lived overseas, and achieved success. To me, this is what support Barack is all about. He is different than the others, or at least he started off differently. He could be a radical progressive who has learned that you have to “play the game” in order to get to a position of power. Of course, a true leader and progressive would refuse to do that, instead they would choose to always believe in themselves regardless of consequence. And in doing that, one become a leader. But Barack isn’t doing that and therefore can’t resonate to the public what he would be like as President.

After I wrote all this, I did on those online tests were you say you think on certain issues and they say who matches up to your preferences. Barack was my top match at 73%, followed by Biden and Kucinich. Ron Paul was my top Republican at a 44% match.

Read more about Barack Obama’s life at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama