Hello everyone,
Several family members have been asking me (and my wife) about my political choices as of late. I meant to sit down and make a post discussing the issues at hand that are most concerning to me, and why I believe one candidate better able to tackle these very tough and important issues. Needless to say, I never found the time to do so. Medical school has gotten the best of me, and it's about to get 100% more busy for next 6 weeks.
Fortunately, a political scientist and very good friend has captured my thoughts and feelings perfectly on his own blog. It is with great appreciation that I borrow his post to explain my endorsement of Barack Obama. Thanks, Ben.
"Ultimately, this endorsement is much more pro-Obama than it is anti-McCain. I have long held that we are very lucky this election to have two excellent choices before us. For the first time since 1976, we finally get to choose the "better of two greats" instead of "the lesser of two evils." John McCain is an upstanding American statesman who our country could be proud of. However, since a choice must be made, we recommend Senator Obama for the following reasons:
ISSUES. Due to space limitations, it would be impractical in this venue to delineate and discuss each and every public policy issue. Very briefly, however, we prefer Senator Obama's policy proposals on several issues ranging from dealing with the recent economic downturn, implementing a more progressive taxation system, improving the nation's schools, developing realistic alternatives to fossil fuels, and extending better healthcare and insurance to more Americans. In the international arena, we believe that Senator Obama would better represent to the United States on the world stage and pursue a more cooperative and effective approach to international affairs than his predecesor. (Anyone wishing a further discussion of a particular issue is more than welcome to contact me personally.)
For all our friends who secretly want to vote for Sen. Obama but feel guilty because of the issues of gay marriage and abortion, we humbly submit the following considerations:
- In the Vice-Presidential debate, Sen. Biden and Gov. Palin both flat-out admitted that they basically agree on the gay marriage issue. Both administrations would support civil unions while opposing gay marriage. There is no substantive difference between the two presidential candidates on this issue.
- While Sen. Obama would make no effort to overturn Roe. v. Wade, he has been more vocal than Sen. McCain in discussing options to reduce the number of abortions in this country. Sen. McCain's positions is that we should simply "let the states decide" (making it a federal issue, not a moral one). Additionally, I see it as highly unlikely that a Democratic Senate would approve any of Sen. McCain's Supreme Court nominees who do not believe in the principle of "stare decisis."
Essentially, although Sen. McCain is rhetorically preferable on these issues, we doubt very much that he would make much of an actual difference if elected. Sen. Obama, on the other hand, is in a position where he would much more effective in his efforts of pushing other important "moral" issues such as the environment, healthcare for the poor, a humane path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, etc.
PERSONALITY AND DEMEANOR. I am currently teaching a course in Political Psychology this semester. Researchers have carefully analyzed the personalities of both candidates. While Sen. McCain is outgoing and fearless, he is also impulsive, rebellious, and takes unnecessary risks. In fact, his personality is very similar to that of President Bush, and we do not believe that this personality has served us well over the past eight years. (See http://www.csbsju.edu/USPP/McCain/McCain_Personality-Profile_2007.html). Sen. Obama, on the other hand, has an outgoing, congenial, confident, and cooperative personality. "Leaders with this personality prototype, though self-assured and ambitious, are characteristically gracious, considerate, and benevolent. They are energetic, charming, and agreeable, with a special knack for settling differences, favoring mediation and compromise over force or coercion as a strategy for resolving conflict. They are driven primarily by a need for achievement and also have strong affiliation needs, but a low need for power." (See
http://www.csbsju.edu/USPP/Obama/Obama_Personality-Profile_2007.html) Their contrasting personalities can be observed merely in their selections for Vice President: a risky gamble versus a deliberate, practical calculation.
ENDORSEMENTS. Furthermore, Senator Obama has been endorsed by several high-profile newspapers and individuals, including traditionally conservative newspapers like the Chicago Tribue and Washington Post. He has also been endorsed by major newspapers in the heart of Mormon-land like the Idaho Statesman and Salt Lake Tribune. We encourage everyone to read the following editorial endorsements of Senator Obama, as they provide more detailed and persuasive arguments than we are able to make in this venue:
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/16/AR2008101603436.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
- http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-chicago-tribune-endorsement,0,1371034.story
- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/opinion/24fri1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
- http://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/story/542582.html
- http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10761520
Also, we highly recommend watching the endorsement of Former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell. This American hero's arguments are both powerful as well as persuasive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2U63fXBlFo
A WORD OF CAUTION. There have been several "scare-tactics" out there regarding Obama's patriotism, ethnic background, religion, as well as his policy preferences on things like taxes and health care. Take some advice: do not believe anything you see on commercials or hear in campaign events - from either party. Take a few minutes and read several of the entries on http://www.factcheck.org/ -- it provides an objective analysis of several of the whoppers being told on both sides of the campaign and illuminates when a claim is either 1) an exaggeration or 2) a blatant lie, which unfortunately is rather often.FINAL APPEAL. At this point, it is an increasingly foregone conclusion that Sen. Obama will win this election. (See http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/ for impressive methodologically-driven predictions of the election - Obama currently has a 95.7% chance of winning.) Will he be a perfect president? Of course not. Every president does things we are proud of and things we are embarrassed about. Will he be a great president? We believe he certainly has the potential. But as a recent editorial board has argued, given the problems he will assume upon taking office, we'd be satisfied with merely a good president. Given what we have observed up until this point, we are confident that Sen. Obama will be a very good president and one that America will be proud of.
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