Today is Super Tuesday, and I'll be heading to the strange cylindrical nursing home down the street to cast my ballot later on today.
So it's time for the coveted Girl in a Cage Political Endorsements. Yes, American Punditry, you can stop guessing now: this blog endorses Barack Obama for president.
(It should be understood that I will be voting for the Democratic nominee in November and that I prefer Hillary Clinton to John McCain or Mitt Romney or Mike (cue cuckoo clock sound, like I'm a morning radio host or something) Huckabee.)
Here are my reasons:
1.The purely strategic. Hillary Clinton fires up the Republican base. If she is the nominee, Republican voters will come out in force to vote against someone they hate. They don't hate Obama like that. Also, if Republican voters have the sense to pick McCain over Romney (which they probably will--the more you see of Romney, the more you realize he's nothing more than a very ambitious haircut), Hillary Clinton just doesn't match up well against McCain in a general election. McCain is beloved of independent voters; Hillary Clinton is beloved of the people who will vote for any democratic nominee. I really believe a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for a McCain presidency.
2.Leadership. Our next president is going to have a hard time cleaning up Shrub's mess, and will have to tell us some hard truths about what it's going to take to get us out of Iraq and stop the seas from covering the land. Hillary Clinton has been an accessory to the Bush agenda in the Senate. They call this "triangulation"--take your base for granted and try to suck up to the people who hate you. There's no reason to believe that she'll stop this as president. Which means vote for Clinton and get McCain's Iraq policy anyway. There's no question that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are intelligent; I just trust Obama to make politically courageous decisions. I believe Obama will have the courage to make potentially unpopular decisions.
3.This is America, Dammit. Are you telling me in 20 years, a country of 300 million people can only offer members of 2 families as president? We tried dynastic politics for the last 8 years, and it was an unqualified disaster.
4.Security and Prestige. I just think it's going to be harder to convince much of the world that we're The Great Satan if we have the son of a Kenyan immigrant at the helm. Obama represents the best of what this country can be, and, indeed, of our multicultural, multiracial future. After 8 years of showing the world the worst of us--a dumb, arrogant, entitled white guy spouting we're number 1 yahooism--I think it'll be a refreshing change to have Obama at the helm
5.The Gooey Inspiration Thing. In my entire life, I've never been inspired by a political leader. You can write this stuff off as ephemeral or unimportant, but I think we are capable of great things if we have a leader who inspires hope rather than cynicism. Any of the other choices invite More of the Same; Obama alone I think has the opportunity to bring about something really new and good in our politics.
So there you have it. Get out and vote, as long as you're voting the way I tell you to.
