My friend KD Paine, an ardent Obama supporter from NH, emailed me that she's working on her analysis of what happened in the primary there. I started an email on my thoughts to her, then decided, Hell, I'll share it with the rest of you as well.
We Americans have started outsmarting ourselves and treating the primaries like a sporting event. We've started voting for candidates because newspapers and pundits tell us who's going to win, or who can win, or who is the best bet to beat the person the other side who may not want to win.
I began to turn against Hillary Clinton when her initial message to us Democrats was: "Because she can win." That is not good enough for me. Our current president is a poster child for demonstrating that the wrong guy can win and very often does.
I want to know if a candidate can lead and if he or she can lead, where will that leadership take us and how will that leadership change the world. There are those who think that abortion is the largest single issue and they may elect to vote for a candidate solely over that issue. I think that is unfortunate, because to me the presidency is larger than that, very much larger than that and in fact, the abortion issue barely touches upon the duties of the US president. But their right to cast their vote that way is a large issue and has to do with how this country works.
I think people are supposed to go into the booth and vote for the person we think will make the best president. We cheat ourselves when we start trying to figure out who's best in an undetermined matchup and cast a vote for someone who is leading in the polls at that moment. We waste our chance to change a direction if we vote for a front runner because the person is the front runner.
I have a friend, located in California, who really thinks Bill Richardson is the best candidate. But she's voting for Hillary because Hillary has the best chance of winning. How do we know that? If my friend votes for the pollsters choice rather than her own choice, she is helping the pollsters prove prophetic She is not helping Democracy very much or so it seems to me.
I personally think Barak Obama is the best candidate for the America I would like to see. I don't care about his sex, age, racial makeup. I care about his vision, his energy, his style. I think about where he would try to take us. I think about the coalition of people who would join his administration. I do think it is time for a change. We have done well with young and relatively inexperienced presidents before. They include Kennedy, T. Roosevelt, Ford and oh yes, Clinton.
Conversely, the most experience presidents of my life included Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson and George Bush Sr.
I like Obama better than any other candidate and I tell people that. Some agree and thers don't and that is fine and the way it should be. I don't dislike people because they disagree. I don't try to beat them in a dinner room debate. I used to really love such discussions, but over the years they seem to have gotten mean-spirited.
I don't see Republicans as my enemy. I see them as sincere and dedicated as my friends who are Democratic. I understand their distrust of a big government who usually screws it up. I understand their loyalty of a free market economy. I believe this country has little choice these days but to maintain a strong military. I think they should go out and vote their hearts and minds, and I hope that this year, for this presidency, they will be soundly thrashed because more people believe the way I do about the war, the economy, the planet, health and education.
Like most Democrats, I believe that it is our turn to gain the White House and maybe both houses of Congress. I just hope we don't blow our turn as badly as I think the Republicans have blown there's under our current lame duck president.
