Why Obama Should Be President

Today I got into a "debate" on the comments board for my local newspaper where I wrote this in response to a question asking why I support Obama. I thought I'd add it to this blog since most of my posts here have been anti-McCain.

Barack Obama has the intelligence, judgment, and proper temperament to be an excellent president and commander in chief.

He has proposed extremely detailed and specific proposals on all the major issues which I support including tax breaks for the middle class, energy independence, education, poverty, healthcare and foreign policy - to name just a few.

Obama worked his way up from the bottom to (almost) the very top. He is the personification of the American dream.

I truly believe he wants to work for all the people in this country - not just the special interests and they way he's run his campaign proves this point in contrast to McCain's staff which is full of lobbyists. Obama is not a Washington insider who's been corrupted by the system and promises to end the influence of corporate lobbyists. Obama has also worked to make our government's dealings transparent to the public.

Obama will end the partisan gridlock in congress. He has a long history of reaching across the aisle to find common interests and get things done. He truly puts "country first" unlike McCain who's actions show he has only a slogan (I'm still unsure what country he's referring to).

Obama taught constitutional law - wouldn't it be nice to have a president that knows the constitution inside and out and respects the principles that founded our country and doesn't disregard it when it becomes inconvenient?

Obama's judgment on Iraq was correct, and he's still right - despite the "surge" talking points. On 9/11/2001 and in the days following, John McCain was making the case that we should invade Iraq, Iran, Sudan and Syria. The Iraqi government and now even Bush supports Obama's judgment on setting a timetable for withdrawal.

Obama's judgment on Afghanistan has always been correct. We should take the fight to the people who actually attacked us on 9/11 - not this distraction in Iraq. Also, if we know of terrorist targets in Pakistan and their gov't does nothing, Obama says we should strike. McCain opposes this position.

I'm out of space with the 3000 character limit. Do you want more?

There's a LOT more. Barack Obama inspires hope in me that our country can once again live up to the reputation of being the greatest country on Earth. Me and 85% of the Americans agree that we need change. Obama represents REAL change that you can believe in. That's not hype or rhetoric. From his words and actions and the reality of truth, I've come to believe this to be true.