Why I am Voting for Barack Obama

At the risk of receiving backlashes, I thought I would share with everyone who I am voting for and why. I am voting for Barack Obama because I truly believe he is the change we need in Washington. I do not see him as the lesser of two evils. I was initially concerned when my father, an Illinois resident, told me how corrupt the politicians from his state were. Since then, though, I have yet to see any indication that Obama himself is corrupt. I decided not to generalize and give him the benefit of the doubt. Furthermore, I haven't come across any of his policies that I disagree with. Below are my thoughts on some of the issues:

On Economy - Many McCain backers label Obama as a Socialist, crying that the government will take away their hard earned money to "spread the wealth." First of all, it is not as if your entire riches are being taken away. If you are on the wealthy side, you may be paying slightly more taxes, but you're still better off than someone who makes less. I do not wish to support those who are lazy and do not want to work, but there are people who work very hard and still need help. When my parents divorced, my unskilled and uneducated mother worked three minimum wage jobs to support me and my two brothers. Child support from my father barely helped. We barely got by thanks to the support provided by a church. She and my brothers ended up getting evicted while I was in college. If raising taxes slightly on the richest 2-5% would help reduce the tax burden on someone like her, I'm all for it. Not everyone is born smart or with advantages of being raised in an affluent community. Some just have bad luck. Besides, a group consisting of members who cooperate will fair better overall than that which consists of individuals who look out only for themselves. If our nation was a group, it only makes sense for the President to look after the well-being of the nation as a whole. Reducing poverty will benefit everyone.

On Foreign Policy - I agree with Obama that resources need to be reallocated from Iraq to Afghanistan, where terrorist acts are on the rise. We've already invested enough in rebuilding Iraq. It's time shift our focus elsewhere it is needed most. Our NATO troops who are there are also looking at the US to lead efforts there. If the US does not pony up, neither will the rest of NATO. Obama also is willing to meet with leaders of countries such as Iran without preconditions, unlike McCain & Palin. I do not understand the harm in having a face to face conversation with leaders of these nations. Rather, I don't think you can say you've pursued every course of diplomacy without doing so.

On Faith - Palin's extreme conservativeness seems to be her major selling point amongst her supporters. As someone who is agnostic, she is too far on the right for me. Obama on the otherhand, has done well not to mix politics with religion in his campaign. I am also very concerned that a McCain-Palin win would lead to Roe vs. Wade being overturned. I am very pro-choice and have no tolerence for someone who tries to tell me what I can and cannot do with my body - at least when the pregnancy is early on or if my life is in danger.

On Healthcare - This is one area where I'm not entirely convinced that Obama will do enough. However, I think McCain's plan only aims to help ease the burden on people's wallets without really addressing the fundamental issues in health care.

On Energy and Environment - The Republican candidates are too quick to want to drill for more oil. Prices may be high but we still have supply coming in. If we start tapping into our reserves now, what happens when we really need it? Obama has the right idea to focus on finding alternate sources of energy.

I am also voting for Obama because of his character. He is an eloquent speaker and played a lot cleaner campaign than McCain. He has the sophistication that the President of the United States should have. He is also smart. While he may not have had much executive experience, he has done his homework and is well-informed of the issues our country currently faces. He has laid out more details of his plans across all issues than McCain/Palin. I also think he will be better at keeping abreast of the issues while in office, and making policy changes as appropriate. McCain/Palin are more likely to get hung up on politics rather than doing what is best for the country. Their entire campaign seemed to surround entirely on Obama-bashing, with little backbone behind any promises on the issues. The more I hear about and from Obama, the more respect I have for him.

Speaking of respect, I was also very impressed with Biden at the Vice Presidential debate. He certainly new his issues very well and provided relevant answers to the questions. I think Obama chose wisely in his running mate. McCain on the otherhand, took a gamble in Palin and it is back-firing. He managed to stir things up initially in his favor, but as people got to know Palin, they are starting to realize her inadequecy to be President. She survived the debate, but only by changing the subject whenever a question didn't suit her. Couple that with her self-serving ways and you end up with this vision of her running our country to the ground like Marie Antoinette did to France. Even members of Palin's own party is calling her a "diva", and the only thing remotely good her supporters has to say about her is that she shares their view on faith (i.e. very conservative) and she is a fresh face in Washington. I, along with many others, would be very uncomfortable with her being literally a "heart beat" away from Presidency. I do have some respect for McCain, but he does not exude the strength and intelligence that I see in Obama. I don't see McCain as the exception to the idea that someone his age should be in retirement or semi-retirement. Being a Senator or a leader of another country is one thing, but the job of POTUS could be the most important, and thus most demanding, in the world. We've already seen how things around the world have gone downhill on Bush's watch. McCain should be enjoying the last years of his life instead of stressing over the mess he'll have to clean up once in office. We would be doing him (and us) a favor by not voting for him.

Having said all this, I'm no expert in politics. I've done my due diligence as best I could to stay abreast of the candidates and their policies and this is what I have concluded, in summary. I am sure some will disagree and you are entitled to your opinion, as am I. If you've already made up your mind about who to vote, this post isn't for you. This is for those who haven't decided 100% and want to hear other people's opinions. If you make a comment, feel free, but please keep it short and civilized.