In honor of Super Tuesday, we urge our fellow Brooklynites to learn as much as possible about all the options and then vote for the candidate that best represents your special, special desires for the country. So Brooklyn Skeptic endorses the act of voting, rather than any particular candidate.
Nevertheless, several Brooklyn Skeptics offer their reasons for supporting Barack Obama on Super Tuesday.
{Plainclothesman}
I voted for John Kerry in 2004. I’m still a young man and the 2004 election was my introduction to the world of organized politics. As you are almost certainly aware, John Kerry is not a particularly exciting candidate for someone who has recently been given the right to elect the future leader of his or her country. It felt a little like showing up to Chuck E. Cheese on your birthday and seeing the guy in the mouse outfit in the parking lot smoking a cigarette with the mouse head in his hands. Then there were the data irregularities and voting issues which, in keeping with my Chuck E. Cheese theme, was like having the skee-ball machines be out of order.
Something has changed in the past four years, and I’m pretty sure it has to do with Barack Obama. I have seen Obama speak a few times now. One of those times we were put into a separate room because so many people showed up. Listening to him over a loudspeaker, people were still shouting and cheering as they were so riled they couldn’t contain themselves. Nothing had changed since he delivered the keynote in Boston in 2004. People had believed him then, and people still believed him now. As much as I can, I’d like to forget John Kerry and think of Barack Obama as my introduction to the world of organized politics.
{Oneiroi}
We’re slowly coming out of a time when Karl Rove style politics are on the wan. The crossfire standoffs in Congress are rampant, leading to little discussion and impasse. And now we have a new leader speaking about unity, working together, and even has the audacity to say that even Republicans have ideas (in a democratic primary no less).
It indeed makes me hopeful for a different style of politics. Already he has made proposals against lobbyist influences, promises of discussion rather than standoff, and the hope for a more transparent government. These ideas make me excited about politics as a purview for “the people” and less a stage for a soap opera.
I’m purposefully trying to leave out political stances (you can find them), of which Barack may be very similar to the other democratic candidate. I’m leaving out stances which some people with different political stances may disagree. Because what’s the most
astounding to me would be the change in representative politics, not just the decay of the Bush agenda, but instead the actualization of a more positive way to go about politics and I believe that having a true leader can make this happen. Obama is that person.
{Mooseknuckle}
I endorse Obama because he is a once in a generation leader. I think the Clintons vs. the Bushes has turned into a modern-day politcal Hatfields vs. McCoys…Hillary is spending just a little too much time talking about “going toe-to-toe with Republicans,” and even though I think having her in the White House will be a major step forward in many important ways, I think she will be as polarizing a figure as Bill Clinton and George Bush have been, maybe even more so, because for them and the people who support them, the right wing vs. the left wing is personal.
Barack, on the other hand, seems like a candidate prepared to not only put good policies in place, but to transcend the awful, ugly mudpit that is Washington…I think that kind of leader doesn’t come around too often, and I am legitimately excited to have the chance to support him.
{Recklesley}
To be perfectly honest, I believe that Clinton and Obama would make excellent presidents and I would vote for either of them if it came down to it in November. Both represent a shift where our resources will be used to make positive changes for Americans. It will be a great day when our political energies are no longer focused on destroying and undercutting – and either Clinton or Obama are well equipped to usher us into that era.
However, when it comes down to a choice between the two, and feeling that either will be a great step forward domestically, I must choose Obama because of his potential impact on the international stage. It will be good for all of us when we have a competent, intelligent, articulate, patient, innovative, engaged grown up interacting with the rest of the world. This guy wouldn’t just invade a country. He wouldn’t appoint a jackass to the UN. He wouldn’t fucking torture people. I think everyone else in the world will gradually see this, too. And that will be as good a day as the one where we all have health insurance.
Like my compatriots here on the blog, it is very early into my political life. And I have been so bitterly disappointed with the pathetic state of our political leadership. And of course I am worried that come November, my heart will be broken again. But if Obama has taught me one thing so far, it’s that we can embrace our hopes. And according to him, “there has never been anything false about hope.”
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