by Deb Cupples | This isn't a glowing endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama, but it is an endorsement.
Anyone who has read my other posts knows that I’m one of Obama's biggest skeptics when assessing him only on his own merits. You also know that, for nearly six months, I blogged in favor of Hillary Clinton and against Obama.
Unfortunately, my choice is no longer between Hillary and Obama.
Don’t get me wrong: I like some of McCain’s past stances (e.g., pro-campaign-finance reform, anti-Abramoff, anti-torture, anti-Bush tax cuts…).
Unfortunately, many of McCain’s Maverick Stances are in the past. I’m looking to the future.
That said, below are a few reasons that I now think Obama is a safer dice-roll than McCain. (Yes, this is a luke-warm endorsement).
Taxes and Jobs:
McCain is leading cheers for Bush-style tax cuts for big corporations that ship jobs overseas: the same companies whose executives took home millions while workers lost health-care coverage and shareholders saw shriveling nest eggs.
Obama thinks companies that ship jobs overseas should not have the added incentive of huge tax breaks. He also supports an increase in the minimum wage.
Health Care:
McCain wants to use tax dollars to feed the same insurance- and health-industry players who sent health-care costs into outer space in the first place.
Obama thinks that we ordinary folks should have a choice: public or private health plans.
Unfortunately, neither candidate is aiming for universal health-care -- but at least Obama recognizes that government programs are necessary to give coverage to the 40+ million Americans who would go bankrupt if they get cancer.
McCain seems to think the same profit-hungry companies that made health care unaffordable will somehow solve the problem.
That's like petting a scorpion and expecting it not to sting.
Iraq War:
McCain continues to believe that invading Iraq was the right thing to do (even morally), despite evidence that the Bush Adminsitration had falsified pre-war intelligence reports. McCain has said that we need to stay in Iraq indefinitely -- whatever the costs in terms of lives, blood, and dollars.
Obama thinks we need to find a way out of Iraq and soon.
No, I don't believe the talking points about Obama's supposed opposition to the war back in 2002; I suspect that he'd merely made a politically expedient speech -- but that was 6 years ago, and I'm focusing on now and the future.
Education:
As we all know, education is the key to improving Americans' opportunities and lives -- and it's the key to improving our nation's competitive edge in the world economy.
John McCain may have thoughts about education, but his website doesn't even include an issue-category for education.
Obama at least recognizes the failures of Bush's "No Child Left Behind" (which has left millions of children behind). Obama at least talks about the need for well-funded pre-K and school-readiness programs.
Foreign Policy:
McCain's website doesn't distinguish between war and international relations. He lumps it all together under the heading "National Security." Yes, strengthening our military is a good thing, but so much could have been (and could still be) achieved via shrewd diplomacy and cooperation with other nations. McCain doesn't talk much about that.
Obama at least recognizes the need to employ diplomacy and international cooperation as our nation attempts to restore the positive standing in the world that we used to enjoy before the Bush Adminsitration took over.
I could go on comparing issue stances (or campaign talking points), but I should instead address a fundamental question that is likely on the minds my fellow Obama-skeptics: Why am I convinced that Obama sincerely believes his well-articulated issue positions?
I'm not convinced.
That said, why do I think Obama is more intent than McCain on cleaning up The Bush Messes and helping us ordinary folks?
I don't (necessarily).
What I do think is that Obama would be less likely to thwart efforts to clean up The Bush Messes and to help us ordinary folks.
I told you: this is not a glowing endorsement.
Presidents aren't kings -- whatever George W. Bush may think. They don't operate in a vacuum. Our Constitution empowered Congress as an obstacle to a president's ability to make unilateral decisions (in many cases).
That said, I assess Obama and McCain in terms of how they might deal with Congress. In part, that comes down to the president's veto power.
I think some powerful Democratic members of Congress have good ideas about solving our nation's numerous crises -- Hillary Clinton, among them.
Come January, if Obama is the president, I could see some representatives pushing decent bills to solve problems relating to jobs, health care, taxes, the economy, and education -- in ways that benefit us ordinary folks.
Most of our Republican representatives didn't even try when they had control of both houses of Congress in 2005 and 2006.
Thus, I think real solutions will be left largely in the hands of congressional Dems.
For me, this is the crucial question: which candidate (Obama or McCain) would be less likely to veto congressional Dems' bills?
My bet is on Obama -- even if only because supporting Dems' bills would be the politically expedient thing for him to do.
Making matters worse: John McCain's strategists are apparently trying to take voters' eyes off the real ball (economy, war, education, health care...) and divert their attention to absurdly stupid stuff -- like whether Obama had really intended to call McCain's running mate a pig when Obama used the age-old cliche. (Salon via Memeorandum).
Note: that I've changed my tune about Obama does not mean that I view PUMAs or other anti-Obama Democrats as wrong or bad.
I understand their principle-based refusal to support Obama. At Buck Naked Politics a few weeks ago, I even called upon Obama supporters to stop hurling invective at PUMAs.
Fact: come November, the campaigns will end.
Fact: come January, we'll need to re-unify over issues about which many of Obama's supporters and critics agree -- if we want to pressure our politicians into cleaning up The Bush Messes and protecting us ordinary folks.
Memeorandum has commentary.
I appreciate your views. I am a strong Obama supporter. that said...if McCain does win...myself and the majority of Black women across this country are very disillusioned with the Democrat Party. We have been ingnored, trashed, and insulted thru this whole process. If PUMA has a chance to back the future nomination of Hillary Clinton...They better be pulling voters from their collective white, small-town, over 45 butts because American women of color are DONE with Democrats
Posted by: TJFRMLA | September 10, 2008 at 06:42 PM
TJFRMLA,
My view, at present, is that Obama should win. Thus, I agree with you on one point.
Frankly, though, I disagree about Hillary. The fact is that she has come through for Obama again and again since June. She's campaigning for him now in swing states.
If Hillary and Obama can't pull of a Dem victory in November, it won't be because either of them didn't try.
Posted by: Deb Cupples (Buck Naked Politics) | September 10, 2008 at 11:42 PM