Why I'm voting for Obama

Why I'm voting for Obama

03 Nov 2008

My voting history looks like this.

88 - Bush 92 - Browne or Bush (I don't remember) 96 - Browne 2000 - Browne 2004 - Bush

Clearly, I have to vote for Barak Obama just so I can keep the "B" thing going :)

Actually, this is not rocket science. My basic principles have not changed. I believe government should generally stay out of the way and do only those things that private citizens really can't handle themselves, such as national defense, negotiate treaties, build roads and bridges, etc. Neither Obama nor McCain will be delivering a government like that. I'm not opposed to 3rd parties, but having lived in GA when Barr was in Congress I do not buy the conversion to libertarianism. I don't trust him.

However, in this election there are bigger issues at hand. America's standing in the world is trashed after 6 years of the Bush doctrine. What other countries think matters. We are sharing this planet for the foreseeable future. Only one candidate seems to understand that.

Our ability to overcome the challenges of energy dependence, climate change, and whatever else the universe throws at us is directly dependent on our ability to understand the universe around this. I'm not voting for the presidential candidate that thinks a planetarium projection system that is used to educate millions of kids every year about the wonders of the universe is nothing more than an overpriced overhead projector. If America is to maintain it's leadership role it has to lead in science and innovation. An administration filled with people that believe Adam commuted to work on a dinosaur is not going to deliver that.

There is a lot about Obama's plans that I don't agree with. Universal pre-K education has been shown to only benefit a small portion of the population, those kids most at risk to fall behind early. It's wasted money on the 80% of the population that is within 2 standard deviations from the norm.

Healthcare is fucked in the US. Neither candidate really has a workable solution, but Obama has clearly put a lot of thought into his plans, and I believe he will continue to work at it after he is in office. McCain's plan is bought and paid for by the insurance companies. Obama presents a better chance (although not a particularly good chance) to end up with something that actually works. Some sort of universal health care is inevitable. The question is just how much will it suck, and will it suck worse than what we have now? Obama is the smarter of the two, which provides a slightly better chance of universal health care being passable. Anyway, not having to worry about maintaining corporate health insurance will open up a waive of innovation and entrepreneurism that will transform the country.

Obama is not going to deliver energy independence in 10 years. I'm sure he is sincere in his desire to, but the only way that happens is if aliens deliver us astounding new technology. I'm not counting on that either.

Policies matter. Opinions matter. And yes, even race matters a little. It says something really positive and hopeful about us that one generation removed from the argument about whether or not blacks deserved equal rights we are on the verge of electing a black guy President. Age matters too. The Boomers have screwed up this country enough. Obama will be our first post baby boomer President. It's time for my generation to take control.

Most of that is window dressing through. Bush has done more damage to our freedom in the 7 years since 9/11 than every President in my lifetime combined. McCain will simply be a continuation of the Bush doctrine of imperialistic expansion of US meddling in the Middle East, and further restrictions on civil freedoms at home. Neither is acceptable to me.

I'm voting for the candidate that will deliver less war and more freedom. The hippies had it right when they said make love, not war.

I'm voting for Barack Obama.