Why Obama and Not Clinton
By Daniel Miessler on June 1st, 2008: Tagged as America | Obama | Politics
A friend of mine has asked me to explain why I support Obama and not Clinton. Or, to put it another way, he wants to know specifically what I feel makes Clinton undesirable as a candidate. Fair enough. Good question.
Foreign policy. Her Iraq and Iran policies are much closer to Bush’s and McCain’s than to Obama’s. I think she has a far higher chance of maintaining the current status quo in Iraq, and allowing a war with Iran, than most realize.
I don’t trust her. She’s a shapeshifter. She becomes different things to different people. She’s from Arkansas and won in New York by being a New Yorker through and through. I respect her adaptability but I don’t trust it.
She’s ambitious to the point of selfishness. She’s shown herself willing to sacrifice democratic chances at the whitehouse this year for her own benefit. It seems obvious to me that she has the, “If I can’t have it no democrat will” mentality, and most professional observers of her campaign seem to agree.
Bottom line: I think she’s a soulless genius willing to do anything to get elected and stay in power. While some of her policies such as universal health care are very similar to Obama just by virtue of them both being democrats I find Obama to be completely different as a candidate.
It comes down to honesty and a genuine desire to do the right thing. I think Obama has these things to a degree that is rarely seen in a presidential candidate, and I don’t think Clinton has much of them at all. And even if she does have these things in little spurts (which I don’t doubt), they are secondary to her own ambition.
Obama is the best choice with a chance of winning, uniting our country, and healing our reputation throughout the world.:
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You listed the various reasons why I also support Barack Obama against Hillary. A few months ago I would have supported either one of them (or John Edwards) but she has shown her true colors as of late.
I had more respect for both her and Bill Clinton up until a few months ago. Now, I feel both of them are despicable.
Comment by Ryan — 6/1/2008 @ 10:22 pm
Experience? Honesty? Integrity?
Please people, I’m no big fan of ANY politician in this race, but Obama is certainly one of the WORST candidates ever in a presidential race.
He gamed the pokitical machine in Chicago, hung his grandmother out to dry over Pastor Wright, constantly screams racism where there isn’t any and bailed on his church ONLY after his nomination was all but secured.
He’s for higher taxes, socialized medicine (A disaster to come) and when it comes to national defense and the war on terror he’s weak at best and downright ignorant at worst.
Vote for him if you want, but saying why he is better than Hillary is an empty assertion. They are cut from the same cloth. The only difference: Obama hasn’t been around long enough to have the baggage Hillary has. However he’s accumulated quite a bit in his absurdly short political career.
Comment by Scott Maxim — 6/1/2008 @ 10:37 pm
The honesty thing has been a big one for me. It is one of the biggest reasons I had some support behind Ron Paul. At least when you are disagreeing with Obama or Pual you can be sure you are disagreeing with them, and not disagreeing with what they perceive to be the most politically expedient opinion.
@Scott: Lots of claims, little backing. Listen to Obama’s speeches. He talks about things like it is a real topic to discuss. He actually shows interest and knowledge in the subjects he speaks about with intelligence. Hillary is a “talk at you” politician. I think one of the biggest things at stake in this election is our standing in foreign policy. We are way off track. McCain promises to keep failing full steam ahead, Bush style. Clinton promises watered down Bush policies. Obama shows real knowledge of the long history of foreign relations and what is effective. There is a very real risk of another phony war of aggression against a non-aggressive country that will lead to another monstrous disaster at the same time we are in this same situation in Iraq. We cannot afford any more of our current foreign policy that Clinton is promising to continue to screw up.
Comment by Maxo — 6/2/2008 @ 2:55 am
I honestly don’t see where anyone can say that Obama has ever said that racism has any part to play in his campaign. Actually anyone who supports Obama has seen amny cases when he could have thrown discrimination out there , rightly so. But he is very much the person we need because he has taken the high road with every issue and not once was that the easy thing to do.
Now socialized healthcare is a facet of every modern country that allows it to function properly and I simply don’t understand why this is doomed to failure. why are the countries with flourishing economies that are passing us by all capable of providing coverage for every citizen but not us.
Comment by Brian — 6/2/2008 @ 3:43 am
I agree that Obama seems to be fairly honest about his positions, even though I am at the opposite end of the political spectrum. Anyone who knows anything about Hillary knows she is just in it for herself. Of course, a politician is still a politician.
And I have to say that even if I was a Democrat, my military background would make me cringe at either of these candidates. I am not a single-issue voter, but military matters hold a position of high importance for me. Obama doesn’t even know the difference between Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day. Esprit de corps in the military was at an all time low during Clinton the First’s reign because of his policies. Nope, McCain may not be all I want politically (who is?), but at least he knows what is important when it comes to the military.
Comment by Michael Farnum — 6/3/2008 @ 5:47 pm
Michael, would you say Bush knows what’s important to the military?
There’s a big difference between a candidate speaking like he’s pro-military and actually doing things to help it. Bush’s reign has led to the lowest morale in decades, and the highest suicide rate. I’m a 6-year veteran of of the Infantry and have many buddies still in. Morale is in the gutter, man. This guy has been the worst “military”president in a very long time.
McCain is the same. He’ll talk the talk but put us in more and more danger. He’ll start even more conflict; he’s basically already said he will. He’ll go into Iran; he’ll get crazy with Venezuela, etc.
Think about this. Who was the most anti-war republican this campaign? Ron Paul. And guess who got the overwhelming majority of the military vote? Ron Paul.
The military doesn’t like Bush’s foreign policy and it won’t like McCain’s either. Trust me. I’m talking to the Rangers and SF and Infantry that are over there. It’s far more important for our troops to be respected than anything else, and that’s what’s been squandered on this foreign policy — a foreign policy that McCain will continue.
Comment by Daniel Miessler — 6/3/2008 @ 6:02 pm
Daniel,
See, that is what is weird. My brother-in-law served a tour in Iraq with the 101st, and now he is in Afghanistan, and I am not hearing any of those moral problems. He is upbeat and so are the soldiers around him, and he is front line every day (of course, there really is not much of a rear echelon in a war like this). I am not saying constant tours doesn’t wear down morale. That is always the issue with war. That is not going to change. But that whole argument comes down to whether or not you agree with the war, not whether Bush knows what is best for the military. Of course what is best for the soldier, airman, whatever is to not be fighting a war. But sometimes choices have to be made, and soldiers understand that.
I fought in Desert Storm in a tank. My morale sucked for a while. But I understood why I was over there, even at 17 years old. I wasn’t there for a year or more, so I can’t fully understand what they’re going through now, but I do know something of it.
I believe it was General Schwarzkopf that said something to the effect of any soldier that is worth his salt is anti-war, but there are things worth fighting for. I have had my doubts about going over to Iraq, but it happened, and now we have to stick it out. We are too close to winning this thing. Of course, if the terrorists are just waiting for Obama to get elected so our military gets pulled out, then we will have another story.
Comment by Micahel R. Farnum — 6/4/2008 @ 12:07 pm