Once for the record: Why I support Obama [View All]

First, I have been a lifelong skeptic as far as politics go. Nixon/McGovern is the first race I remember, and Carter was the first and last president I had any real hope in. I watched his agenda go to ruin while I was still a teenager, and it has colored my thinking since then.

Last fall Hillary entered the race and I just figured it would be another miserable crap-fest. She was more or less assured the nomination, but her negatives were high and battalions of haters (whose careers were built on tearing down Clintons) were more than ready to sell their souls to see her lose. It was hard to get enthused.

I followed the races enough to appreciate some of the other players – Kucinich, Edwards, Obama. They all had good reps, but who knew them? In the run-up to Iowa there was some news that things were not as they seemed – Obama had a message that was taking hold and people were genuinely moved. He won that primary in the best way – by talking to people and letting them get to know him. And the opposite seemed to happen with Hillary, for whatever reason.

That in itself got my interest, and looking into his platform and listening to him speak sealed it: out of the blue, here was someone who could not only win but change the power-hungry money-hungry hateful manner of campaigning we have become accustomed to. Its hard to express how absolutely new that is. He speaks sincerely, if not always easily, on complex issues. He has the same views on most things as I do, with an even temper and the manner of a compassionate man.

I have not changed my mind, and his work since has only increased my respect for him. Since Iowa Obama has steadily and consistently decreased the margins he needs to lock the nomination, and increased the margins that all others, and now just Hillary, need (though the media won't tell you that). The margins Hillary needs for a win are set to go from near impossible now to entirely impossible on May 6.

As FrenchieCat said in another post – Obama has been running against not just Hillary, but against the combined weight of the US media and corporate interests. In spite of the non-stop barrage of negativity, belittlement, distraction and sideshows set up against him from every type of media, he is still winning – as the people's choice. That's something I have never seen before, and that's why I support Obama.