Michelle Obama's Princeton Thesis

[HornsForever'93]

Why should anyone care what LapDog10 thinks...... Let him spout off his Hannity- esque talking points

 

[skipperj]

People are underestimating the vote of people like me. I've voted Republican every year. This will be the first time I vote Democrat. For Obama. Over the last 8 years I've become disillusioned by the Republican party, and, as I've grown older, have reevaluated the priorities in my life. As I read Obama's positions on things, I started to realize that many of his values mirror my own.

I'm also surprised at the amount of my Republican friends are feeling the same way. White, 30-something, relatively successful.

It's gonna be interesting.

 

[Laphroaig10]

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[blueglasshorse]

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[roy_batty]

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[Laphroaig10]

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[dognduckhorn]

What I find in Obama is not something new, in the sense that it is original with him, but a revival of an expression of political will, well grounded in American history, that has served the country well in the past to find common chord to move ahead.

The example I like to use needs a qualifier. I don't compare Obama with Lincoln; different times, different challenges, and different men. But I do find some common themes in what Obama says now, and what Lincoln said, at a crossroads in the country's history. Take these two quotes:

Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.
--December 1, 1862 Message to Congress

The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disentrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.
--December 1, 1862 Message to Congress

We are not at a crisis consumerate with the Civil War in this country, but we are at war, and we are at a point where political dialogue in this country is highly polarized. In that atmosphere, basic fundamental themes which unite us as a people and nation are under serious attack. Some would argue that we are at a crisis about certain fundamental liberties guaranteed under the Constitution, freedom from governmental intrusion, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, the checks and balances among the three branches of government, the availability of remedies to individuals to counter the power and authority of government and private business, and the overarching power of the Federal Government over the state governments. If this looks like a laundry list of conservative concerns, it is. So why would I then turn to Obama to address these?

Part of that is my concern of how, under the guise of conservatism, this has been addressed by the present Administration. In seeking the means to counter the external threat posed by pseudo-Islamic retrograde totalitarianism (my view of what Al Queda really means to the West) I view the reactions of the current Administration as undermining the core values I've listed above to achieve the ends of domestic security. It is bizarre to me that we have gone to almost Orwellian ends to "defend freedom".

Why, if I believe this, would I support Obama? In part it is because if you look beyond the labeling of him as the "uberliberal", his message boils down to me not as "this is what government can do for you" but "you are empowered as a citizenry, I recognize the validity of your voice, I encourage you to be energized, and these are the goals that I outline for the Federal government to act on if you empower me to be your President." The theme is almost Reaganesque, although it is directed towards policies and goals which are not Reagnesque, but it does address problems -- health insurance, immigration, national security, education, national infrastructure, the economy and the role of Federal government involvement in these issues -- which need addressing. It is an invitation to be a team again -- not merely "us versus the Government".

I definitely find McCain's message to be "stay the course" and that is unpalatable for me. For those who want to argue it I find Ron Paul's message to be "Let's rewind the clock back to our agrarian, isolationist roots right after the Articles of Confederation (and let's ignore every Amendment to the Constitution since then or the role of the United States in a global economy and a global community), and that strikes me as a fantastical illusion which ignores reality.

You can disagree with me, but the fact that we differ in our perception of what the Federal Government is doing is what I think this election should be about. And while we cannot escape history, certainly not recent history, I want the dialogue and the direction of this country to be forward towards common goals, and not reactionary to what our problems have been. Clinton and the heirs to Bush are all about rehasing the last 15 years, and I don't see that as where I want the country to go. Obama represents the best chance to break out of that past that has existed for the past 20 years.

Flame away