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OBAMA Supporters-- reasons why?
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jsteele
Site Admin Online
Site Admin Online
I'm pretty sure that the 27% of folks who still support Bush are not Democrats. Consider: Most Democrats support liberal or moderate Supreme Court justices. Bush and McCain support justices such as Roberts and Alito. Most Democrats support a careful withdraw from Iraq. Bush and McCain want to remain indefinitely, or in McCain's case, 100 years. Most Democrats support reproductive rights. Bush and McCain support ending a woman's right to choose. Most Democrats support a safety net for the poor and support for the middle class. Bush and McCain support additional tax cuts for the rich. Most Democrats consider global warming a real threat that should be confronted. Bush and McCain pay little more than lip service to the issue. Most Democrats expected an immediate and effective Federal response to Hurricane Katrina. Bush and McCain celebrated McCain's 69th birthday by sharing a cake as New Orleans drowned. Most Democrats support affordable health care for all. Bush and McCain support the same healthcare plan that currently results in prohibitively expense medical care for many Americans. Most Democrats oppose the majority of Bush's policy initiatives. McCain voted 95% in support of Bush in 2007 and 100% in 2008. Most Democrats support a GI bill to assist American soldiers who have endured major sacrifices on behalf of our nation. Bush is threatening to veto the bill and McCain is supporting Bush's position (McCain failed to appear in the Senate in order to vote on the bill). The list could go on, but given the above I think its easy to understand why McCain is often considered a clone of Bush. If Bush were a Democrat, I think most people would believe that that their drinks had been spiked with LSD. |
Anonymous
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I think it would be helpful to look at Barack Obama's voting record. He has voted to support every piece of legislation John McCain has sponsored.
I really look forward to the debates because it will be interesting to see if they can drag out anything except the war in Iraq to differ on. I like them both, as well as Hillary, and I'll be pleased with whoever wins. However, I am tired of Barack Obama insulting my intelligence by trying to tell me that John McCain is just four more years of George Bush. In every other respect though, I do like him, I trust him, and if I have to, I'll vote for him. |
jsteele
Site Admin Online
Site Admin Online
How can this be true? If you go to Thomas and from "Browse Bills by Sponsor" select McCain, you will get a list of the bills he sponsored. The vast majority have not moved beyond committee and except in cases where Obama is on the committee, Obama hasn't had an opportunity to vote on them, let alone vote in support. There are plenty of examples that Obama would not support. For instance, S.2890 : A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a highway fuel tax holiday. Obama was very vocal during the Indiana campaign in opposing this idea (which Clinton supported). The two did work together on ethics reform, but even that got derailed. It is helpful to look at Obama's voting record. Its helpful to look at McCain's as well. Its especially helpful to look at the votes McCain has missed lately because he doesn't want to be forced to take a position. According to the Washington Post McCain has missed more votes than any other senator, including Tim Johnson who had a stroke and was hospitalized for some time. McCain has missed over 60%, so he's missed more than he cast. I guess one way to be a "maverick" is to avoid taking a position. |
Anonymous
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I'm pretty sure that the 27% of folks who still support Bush are not Democrats. Consider:
*I am pretty sure that not all of the 27% of Bush supporters are Republican either. Most of the nation is against him, including Republicans. Most Democrats support liberal or moderate Supreme Court justices. Bush and McCain support justices such as Roberts and Alito. *There has to be a balance. You can't just have a liberal or moderate side represented, this helps with checks and balances. Just like you can't have only a Conservative side. This is why Democrats back Liberals, and Republicans back conservatives. Most Democrats support a careful withdraw from Iraq. Bush and McCain want to remain indefinitely, or in McCain's case, 100 years. *McCain's comment on the 100 years, wasn't for a 100 year long war, that's insane. He meant that we may be there for 100 years, in the same capacity as our military is present in places like England, Germany, Japan, Spain, South Korea, and the like. Our Military and other Government workers and contractors, are in other countries giving them support. Most Democrats support reproductive rights. Bush and McCain support ending a woman's right to choose. *Regardless of their views on the right to choose, I don't think Roe Vs. Wade will ever be over turned. There does need to be a change in practices, as abortions should not be used as a form of birth control. I don't think the government should pay for them, however I do think the government should implement bettering the level of sex education that is out there, and providing affordable birth control. I honestly feel that is how many of the Republicans feel, and don't say it, as they don't want to loose the votes of the right wing nut jobs. Most Democrats support a safety net for the poor and support for the middle class. Bush and McCain support additional tax cuts for the rich. *If the socialized medicine plans that the Democrats have in mind, actually go through, watch out for raised taxes for everyone, including the poor. If it works here, like it does in the UK, than everyone, who works, will be paying the same amount for their "free" health care. You want to talk about the poor, go and visit any military base. Democrats want to cut their wages, and Republicans want to increase them. So many of the enlisted, while provided housing or housing allowances, are still on food stamps, WIC and other government programs. When I was pregnant with my first child, my first OB visit, I was given a WIC application, because they knew that my husband was an E-4. I don't know if anyone else would have given stimulus checks. A check we didn't get because we made more than $75,000 last year, now that DH is out of the military. Oh, and if the socialized medicine they want works anything like the Military's, then no one will go into medicine. I worked for Tricare prior to getting married, and the reimbursement of some treatments, didn't even cover the cost of the treatment. There was one patient undergoing chemo, and we paid something like $1.50 for each treatment, it didn't even cover a small portion of the drug that was used, let alone any professional fees. Most Democrats consider global warming a real threat that should be confronted. Bush and McCain pay little more than lip service to the issue. *This is everyone's responsibility, Democrat, or Republican. Republicans actually own more hybrid cars, because the philosophy isn't to wait for the government to do it, but to do it yourself. This saves people on taxes, since saving the planet, and taking care of fellow man (republicans donate more to charity) are jobs of people, and not necessarily government. Most Democrats expected an immediate and effective Federal response to Hurricane Katrina. Bush and McCain celebrated McCain's 69th birthday by sharing a cake as New Orleans drowned. *It was Aug. 29, McCain’s 69th birthday, and on the tarmac, Bush presented his old political rival with a cake. The two posed, holding the cake up for cameras, and within seconds, went their separate ways. It was also Aug. 29, that Katrina hit. The blame for the amount of lives lost goes to the Mayor of N.O. Everyone knew that this was going to be a powerful storm, days before there was speculation that the levees were going to break, but no mandatory evacuation. It was classified as a category five about one day before it hit, the city should have been cleared out, no one should have been allowed to stay. By the way, you made it sound as if they were out having a big party, eating cake (which never did get eaten), and living it up, as people drowned. Most Democrats support affordable health care for all. Bush and McCain support the same health care plan that currently results in prohibitively expense medical care for many Americans. Don't even get me started on Socialized Medicine, until you have to live with it, you don't actually know how bad it is. "Straight Talk on Health System Reform A "Call to Action" Today, In Florida, John McCain Outlined His Plan For Health Care Reform. John McCain believes we can and must provide access to health care for every American. He has proposed a comprehensive vision for achieving that. For too long, our nation's leaders have talked about reforming health care. Now is the time to act. Americans Are Worried About Health Care Costs. The problems with health care are well known: it is too expensive and 47 million people living in the United States lack health insurance. John McCain's Vision for Health Care Reform John McCain Believes The Key To Health Care Reform Is To Restore Control To The Patients Themselves. We want a system of health care in which everyone can afford and acquire the treatment and preventative care they need. Health care should be available to all and not limited by where you work or how much you make. Families should be in charge of their health care dollars and have more control over care. Making Health Insurance Innovative, Portable and Affordable John McCain Will Reform Health Care Making It Easier For Individuals And Families To Obtain Insurance. An important part of his plan is to use competition to improve the quality of health insurance with greater variety to match people's needs, lower prices, and portability. Families should be able to purchase health insurance nationwide, across state lines. John McCain Will Reform The Tax Code To Offer More Choices Beyond Employer-Based Health Insurance Coverage. While still having the option of employer-based coverage, every family will also have the option of receiving a direct refundable tax credit - effectively cash - of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families to offset the cost of insurance. Families will be able to choose the insurance provider that suits them best and the money would be sent directly to the insurance provider. Those obtaining innovative insurance that costs less than the credit can deposit the remainder in expanded Health Savings Accounts. John McCain Proposes Making Insurance More Portable. Americans need insurance that follows them from job to job. They want insurance that is still there if they retire early and does not change if they take a few years off to raise the kids. John McCain Will Encourage And Expand The Benefits Of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) For Families. When families are informed about medical choices, they are more capable of making their own decisions and often decide against unnecessary options. Health Savings Accounts take an important step in the direction of putting families in charge of what they pay for." From the McCain website. After living the nightmare of socialized medicine, this seems to be the better option. Most Democrats oppose the majority of Bush's policy initiatives. McCain voted 95% in support of Bush in 2007 and 100% in 2008. He is making some poor choices, trying to keep the six Bush supporters that are left. There really isn't much excuse for that. Most Democrats support a GI bill to assist American soldiers who have endured major sacrifices on behalf of our nation. Bush is threatening to veto the bill and McCain is supporting Bush's position (McCain failed to appear in the Senate in order to vote on the bill). The list could go on, but given the above I think its easy to understand why McCain is often considered a clone of Bush. If Bush were a Democrat, I think most people would believe that that their drinks had been spiked with LSD. The point I was trying to make, in saying if Bush was a Democrat, really had nothing to do with his practices and policies, but more about how "Republican" had become a four letter word. |
Anonymous
Haven't you seen McCain's health plan? It's quite unnerving! Take the tax break from the employer and give it to the family so they can choose their own health care plan. Yeah, choice -- what will there be to choose from? I've heard all the stories about how hard it is to find individual health insurance if you have any pre-existing conditions. Just what I need in my 50s -- having to worry about whether I could get anyone to cover me. That tax break is going to have to be HUGE in order to pay for it. McCain's health plan really scares me. I think there will be quite a lot of differences on health plans! |
Anonymous
| Obama disappointed me when he supported the most recent farm bill. It's a horrible piece of legislation and runs counter to many of the things he stands for. But he is unwilling to take a stand on it because he is from a farm state that benefits from subsidies. McCain supports the veto because he knows it's a terrible bill. |
Anonymous
"Liberal" has been a four letter word for quite some time. |
Anonymous
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My reasons were far more eloquently described in the LA Times' endorsement of him:
Democrats preparing to vote in Tuesday's California primary can mark their ballots with confidence, knowing that either candidate would make a strong nominee and, if elected, a groundbreaking leader and capable president. But just because the ballot features two strong candidates does not mean that it is difficult to choose between them. We urge voters to make the most of this historic moment by choosing the Democrat most focused on steering the nation toward constructive change: We strongly endorse Barack Obama. The U.S. senator from Illinois distinguishes himself as an inspiring leader who cuts through typical internecine campaign bickering and appeals to Americans long weary of divisive and destructive politics. He electrifies young voters, not because he is young but because he embodies the desire to move to the next chapter of the American story. He brings with him deep knowledge of foreign relations and of this nation's particular struggles with identity and opportunity. His flair for expression, both in print and on the stump, too easily leads observers to forget that Obama is a man not just of style but of substance. He's a thoughtful student of the Constitution and an experienced lawmaker in his home state and, for the last three years, in the Senate. On policy, Obama and his rival Democratic candidate, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, are a hairsbreadth apart. Both vow to pull troops from Iraq. Both are committed to healthcare reform. Both offer candid critiques of the failed George W. Bush presidency, its blustering adventurism, its alienating stance toward other countries and its cavalier disregard for sacred American values such as individual liberty and due process of law. With two candidates so closely aligned on the issues, we look to their abilities and potential as leaders, and their record of action in service of their stated ideals. Clinton is an accomplished public servant whose election would provide familiarity and, most important, competence in the White House, when for seven years it has been lacking. But experience has value only if it is accompanied by courage and leads to judgment. Nowhere was that judgment more needed than in 2003, when Congress was called upon to accept or reject the disastrous Iraq invasion. Clinton faced a test and failed, joining the stampede as Congress voted to authorize war. At last week's debate and in previous such sessions, Clinton blamed Bush for abusing the authority she helped to give him, and she has made much of the fact that Obama was not yet in the Senate and didn't face the same test. But Obama was in public life, saw the danger of the invasion and the consequences of occupation, and he said so. He was right. Obama demonstrates as well that he is open-eyed about the terrorist threat posed to the nation, and would not shrink from military action where it is warranted. He does not oppose all wars, he has famously stated, but rather "dumb wars." He also has the edge in economic policy, less because of particular planks in his platform than because of his understanding that some liberal orthodoxies developed during the last 40 years have been overtaken by history. He offers leadership on education, technology policy and environmental protection unfettered by the positions of previous administrations. By contrast, Clinton's return to the White House that she occupied for eight years as first lady would resurrect some of the triumph and argument of that era. Yes, Bill Clinton's presidency was a period of growth and opportunity, and Democrats are justly nostalgic for it. But it also was a time of withering political fire, as the former president's recent comments on the campaign trail reminded the nation. Hillary Clinton's election also would drag into a third decade the post-Reagan political duel between two families, the Bushes and the Clintons. Obama is correct: It is time to turn the page. An Obama presidency would present, as a distinctly American face, a man of African descent, born in the nation's youngest state, with a childhood spent partly in Asia, among Muslims. No public relations campaign could do more than Obama's mere presence in the White House to defuse anti-American passion around the world, nor could any political experience surpass Obama's life story in preparing a president to understand the American character. His candidacy offers Democrats the best hope of leading America into the future, and gives Californians the opportunity to cast their most exciting and consequential ballot in a generation. In the language of metaphor, Clinton is an essay, solid and reasoned; Obama is a poem, lyric and filled with possibility. Clinton would be a valuable and competent executive, but Obama matches her in substance and adds something that the nation has been missing far too long -- a sense of aspiration. |
Anonymous
you are a sick person to think this is a reason to vote someone into office. and this is the problem with our country, idiots like you can vote. He is a racist and he will never beat the man! |
Anonymous
LOL -- these two posters could have a really intelligent debate, I'm sure. "He's hot" vs. "He's a racist." I don't know which is sillier. The former is irrelevant; the latter is ignorant and untrue. |
Anonymous
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Why I support Obama, in a nutshell, has less to do with his specific stances on issues, or policies, and more to do with the kind of man I think he is:
1) The man is wicked smart. Perhaps "Editor in Cheif" of the Harvard Law Review means more to me because I'm a lawyer... but the man is wicked smart. Its about time. 2) He is "enough" of an outsider without being a complete novice. I'm sick of the way government runs, and I don't think anyone who's been a part of that corrupt process for as long as McCain, Ted Kennedy, or anyone else has a realistic chance to change it. 3) He's ethical. I think he took the high road in so many instances in his campaign where it would have been easy to stoop to the usual level. 4) The fact that he has travelled/lived abroad, and has relatives who are in other parts of the world, I think is a plus. It doesn't replace formal experience in international policy, but it has to be a leg up. For the last 50 years we've stomped around on the rest of the world in our big boots. Its time for America to assume a role as "part" of the world... rather than the self-proclaimed leader. I think someone who has experienced different cultures is much more likely to be attuned to the international pulse. Look what we get when we elect a Texan who has never left the country? 5) He's charismatic, but thoughtful. I think there is a reason why he hasn't made any stupid gaffes in his campaign (see #1). The pessimists might say its because he has better spin doctors than Hillary. I think its because the man thinks before he speaks. How refreshing. |
Anonymous
My comment was meant in jest and I won't even bother responding to "the man". I am a huge Obama supporter not simply because he is cute. I donated 2300.00 to his campaign on a nanny salary! I love the pound he and Michelle shared! What an awesome moment. Its now my screen saver  I've photoshopped her right out of the photo and replaced it with myself.
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Anonymous
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As a highly educated African woman in the U.S, I am so proud of Barak Obama because I realise that it is possible to dream big and achieve bigger things in life. It's always just a matter of time, the right education and the right circumstances. Go Obama Go!!!! Sydney |
Anonymous
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Quite frankly, I just got tired of the same old politicians, their lies,tricks and games(Clintons,Bushes,McCain, whatever!) Their Children(Chelsea,Jenna,Barbara, whatever!) Their brothers(Jeb,whatever!) Their wives(Hillary,Laura, whatever!) Let's be real here for a moment, folks! dont we have any other Americans that are good enough or even better qualified? Do I even need to elaborate more on this? NO, because I think it is so obvious that finally Americans are saying NO MORE to this and changing history.So Chelsea,Babara,Jeena and whomever please start looking for other careers, you will NEVER stand a chance, IT'S OVER!!! and get over it!!! Please go FISHING!!!! Barak is a new breed now so LETS VOTE FOR CHANGE!!!!!!!!! |
Anonymous
You know, I support Obama myself, but he lived outside the U.S. for a few short years in his childhood and, as an adult, has not traveled abroad extensively. Let's not exaggerate his experiences; there's no need to. (And frankly, McCain's experience as POW is a more compelling bit of "living abroad" than is living in Indonesia for a few years with a stepfather working for an American company.) I myself think the media have overplayed the "international" aspect of his life, as they have overplayed the "raised by a single mother on food stamps" bit. (He was raised largely by his grandparents, and his mother was on food stamps as a Ph.D. student when he was much older and his grandparents were still raising him.) So if you support Obama for those reasons, fine. But we don't need to perpetuate the myth in answer to the OP's question. OP, I support him in part because of the message his candidacy sends to African Americans. This will mean some real change in the way race is used and perceived in this country. Check out this entry in Marty Peretz's TNR blog today, and read the McWhorter column too: http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_spine/archive/2008/06/05/a-stiff-rebuke-to-those-who-still-think-that-racism-lurks-everywhere.aspx |