The Fine Points

I was undecided after Kucinich dropped out. I was for him because his views on almost every issue matched mine nearly perfectly. Would he make a good President? I don't know. Maybe not. He's pretty fringe-y and doesn't really resonate with the majority of Americans.

Two things nudged me toward Obama. First, I think he can win the Presidential election and I don't believe that Hillary can. That's the top reason.

If she thinks that words are empty and powerless, she has written off right-wing media and the likes of Limbaugh. His theory is that if she's the nominee it will get the Republicans out in much greater numbers, to vote AGAINST her even if they aren't wild about voting FOR McCain. I agree with him, I think that will happen. Mark McKinnon, one of McCain's top advisors, has stated that he will resign from the campaign if Obama is the nominee, saying "... I met Barack Obama, I read his book, I like him a great deal. I disagree with him on very fundamental issues. But I think, as I said, I think it would be a great race for the country and I would simply be uncomfortable being in a campaign that would be inevitably attacking Barack Obama. I think it would be uncomfortable for me, and I think it would be bad for the McCain campaign."

[Blueberry: are we in the Twilight Zone? ]

EDIT Feb 23: And here's some more evidence that Hillary's nomination will envigorate the right-wing.

The other thing that nudged me toward Obama was the way Clinton has conducted her campaign, hammering away on petty things. Yes, it's true... Kirk Watson froze in the headlights as his mind went blank concerning Obama's record and Chris Matthews flattened him like an 18-wheeler... but that "all hat no cattle" type rhetoric that Hillary keeps flinging is not necessarily the honest truth. A blogger over at DailyKos actually dredged through the Library of Congress records and posted a factual account of who has done what and when: "I Refuse to Buy into the Obama Hype (now a supporter)."

The latest pettiness is the plagiarism accusation that she will not drop. It's true that a part of the two speeches were just alike. But while she's hammering on that one, she adopts a rally mantra of "Yes We Will." Then, in the debate last night after she says "lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox.", she finishes off with this:

“You know, whatever happens, we’re going to be fine. You know, we have strong support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we’ll be able to say the same thing about the American people. And that’s what this election should be about.”

Although it's not a Xerox, it's a mere rearrangement of sentences and a word here and there from a couple of John Edwards' speeches. In essence, it's the very same:

Edwards: “What’s not at stake are any of us. All of us are going to be just fine no matter what happens in this election. But what’s at stake is whether America is going to be fine.” - Democratic Debate, 12/13/07

Edwards: “I want to say this to everyone: with Elizabeth, with my family, with my friends, with all of you and all of your support, this son of a millworker’s gonna be just fine. Our job now is to make certain that America will be fine.” - Edwards Speech, 1/30/08

Usually I am not this political here on the blog, but with the candidates in town and all the excitement from that, it's been very rousing. I will settle down in a couple of days, or at least after the Primary/Caucus on March 4. That day can't come soon enough. If you are a Hillary supporter, please bear with me. This is not personal. I still love ya'...

... and I hope that Clinton and Edwards are correct. I hope that we will be fine, because it really America that's at stake. I don't want McCain in charge of that.