Political post...

[kimbari]

feel free to skip. I've been fairly careful about making blatantly political posts before, but I've come to realize that in *my* journal I can say whatever I want. Friends: If you don't like my politics or what I'm saying, feel free to defriend me.

Comments

[nightsinge]

Isn't it weird how we self-regulate our own damn journals? Me too. I like your political commentary! Like you, I was a supporter of Clinton even though he "threw us under the bus" as Melissa Ethridge succinctly put it. NAFTA was the worst...well, that and his so-called welfare reform.

GoBama!

[katie_9918]

I like your commentary and I think you're one of the smartest people on LJ, but I do resent the implication that if I say, "Obama needs at least one more Senate term under his belt," it automatically means to you that I wouldn't support a black man or woman running for President. I don't resent that you said it, because it's your journal and you can say whatever you want. I resent the fact that it's there at all

[kimbari]

I do resent the implication that if I say, "Obama needs at least one more Senate term under his belt," it automatically means to you that I wouldn't support a black man or woman running for President.

I dunno. There's Obama, running for President. And then there's you suggesting he needs more "experience." *shrug*

[katie_9918]

But it's not because I don't want a black man in the Oval Office.

When Bush was elected and then reelected, I knew it was going to be a disaster. If Obama is elected, I know it WON'T be a disaster, far from it.

I'm sure that there are jerks out there who see the color of Obama's skin and say, "Oh, no way," but there are those, and I think many more than you think, who look at his credentials and say, "This guy would have my vote if he'd spent a little more time in the Senate and he'll probably have my vote next election."

"Experience?" Do you mean "lighter skin?" Because I assure you, that is not what I mean.

[kimbari]

re: "experience" Isn't "one more Senate term" experience? I said nothing about his color... and neither do the people claiming that he needs more "experience" but *I* get what they mean even if *they* don't.

You know, I decided to google "compare Presidential candidates" to see if I could find out how other Dem candidates compared in "experience." You know what? I couldn't find that criteria. "All" I found was comparison of their issues, which tells me that this argument over "experience" is pointless and designed to obfuscate both racism and the lack of a better reason to be against him.

So, if you bring me something objectionable about Obama that relates to the issues, we can have a conversation. This "lack of experience" bit doesn't cut it.

Thank you, BTW, for making me look up stuff. :)

[grace_om]

Frak.

I just wrote this really long post basically agreeing with you, and then I accidentally deleted it :-/

Mostly I wanted to point you to an article/guest editorial in the Newsweek dated 12/24 about "experience" versus "identity" in qualifying a person in the area of foreign policy. It's by Fareed Zakaria, who I've seen before on the "Daily Show" as an expert in foreign relations. The article is in favor of Obama as someone who's background qualifies him to understand the views of other nations. It's an thoughtful piece, and describes what I've always found appealing about Obama: he really could give us the "fresh start"--with each other and with the world--that this country so sorely needs.

[kimbari]

he really could give us the "fresh start"--with each other and with the world--that this country so sorely needs.

So why are so many people saying "I'd vote for him if ONLY he had more experience?" I mean, WTF? They're not asking for experience from anybody else. I am SO reminded of the "black tax." *sigh*

[grace_om]

I think that genuinely he doesn't have as long of a voting record in the senate as *some* of the other candidates, that makes it a little more difficult to know if he walks the walk in the face of pressure to please campaign contributors as well as constituents. BUT voting records can be deceptive, and a Washington insider can be a total disaster. Thinking back... Carter, Clinton, and Bush (Jr.) were all outsiders. Nixon, Johnson, Bush (Sr.), and even Gerald Ford were pretty much insiders. Kennedy was kind of in between. So, I'm not sure there's any kind of pattern there!

Still, Kim, as much as I'd like to believe that racism isn't an issue here... I know you're probably right.

[kimbari]

Obama's experience was in the Illinois state senate. He was a bridge builder even then, although Hillary now has a problem with him voting "present" instead of yay or nay on a number of issues (like 150 out of 2,000(?)). All of a sudden he's a quitter that takes the easy way out, when what REALLY happened was he objected to only parts of a bill... It's all on www.barackobama.com. He answers all the nasty stuff people are putting out there on his website.

And believe me, I wish a lot harder than you that racism wasn't an issue. The people who don't see it for what it is, aren't affected by it anyway, so why should they care?

[ghoulsis]

Obama will more than likely get my vote in the primary, and here's why: I remember hearing him speak at the Democratic National Convention however many years ago it was (shoot, was it when Gore ran? I can't remember now). What I do remember is that I got chills. Politicians don't ever give me chills... unless it's the I'm-about-to-be-sick chills, like I get every time Bush opens his mouth. :(

He'll get my vote because his vision for America and the world parallels my own more closely than anyone else in the race. He'll get my vote because I think he has the necessary credentials to do some true coalition-building here and abroad. And he will get my vote because I think he, more than anyone else, actually gives a crap what happens to the average working person in this country. He's the only one who inspires any hope in me. Hope has been in very short supply around here for quite a long while.

Why I am an Obama girl.

[harmonyheifer]

Obama's response to the question of experience on The Daily Show was the best one I've heard. He said that one of the most experienced politicians currently in our government is Dick Cheney. We all know precisely how well that has been working out. The thing about experience is that a president can always surround himself with people who have more experience to advise him. Too often in our government, the politicians with the most experience are the ones least likely to remember why they are there and who they are supposed to be serving. They end up spending all their time funneling money into their own pockets or the pockets of political and corporate cronies, family members or business partners. I am really disgusted with that, and the Clintons are damn near as bad as the Republican offenders when it comes to that

Re: Why I am an Obama girl.

[kimbari]

Amen, sister!