Spread this article to any "young Democrat" Obama supporters you might know. Show them they don't
have to support Obama (or as my friend calls him, "Il-Bomb-ya"). My apologies if this has been posted elswhere on this forum.
http://www.knoxviews.com/node/7281A Young Democrat against ObamaSubmitted by adanovi on Fri, 2008/03/07 - 7:44amI am for progressive values and ideals. I am for bringing people together to create a better future. But, I am NOT for Obama. I do not support someone whose entire campaign has been based on a speech they made as a state Senator in the comforts of their chambers. A speech is not a vote. Obama never even cast a vote on the resolution and if he had been in the Senate, his current voting record suggests that he would have voted "present." I do not see him having the courage of Kucinich or Feingold. I highly doubt that his squeaky clean rhetoric that was spouted in Illinois would be so bold if he had REALLY been an elected member of the Senate.
I DO NOT support a man who talks about race in the most subtle and unsubtle ways in order to drum up votes. He does this when he specifically refers to race in his speeches. "This is not about being black or white" is specifically using race and it makes him the black candidate or "the one" (quote from Oprah) rather than a well grounded candidate reaching out to people. His cadence in his speeches, especially in high minority areas and ESPECIALLY in the South is that of a southern black preacher. It is so pronounced and obvious that he's trying to be the "black" candidate that he goes so far as to mispronounce America! However when he's interviewed this "accent" or cadence completely disappears. I believe this is just more of the facade of Obama.
I feel it is extremely unfortunate and disgusting that Obama has chosen to sink to these lows especially after we just had a minority candidate emulate how to run for a national office as a real uniter rather than this psuedo uniter that Barack Obama is. The best example of this minority candidate was Harold Ford Jr. His campaign was about platform and ideas. He ran without EVER talking about race and without ever talking about NOT talking about race. Obama has not done this. I find it disgusting and painful that Obama continues to trump around "race" within his speeches. His own actions have caused the divisiveness in the campaign. It's time for him to get over his own racial issues and run as a grounded candidate with a platform rather than the African American political messiah!
I further do not support a candidate who cannot present specific ideas on any issue. This is dangerous to the country. We, the voters, do not know what to hold Obama accountable for when he only stands for "change". Guess what, we will have change no matter who wins the election. What type of change we want, how we want that change, and when we want the change should be the dictating factors of selecting a nominee; not that the nominee will bring about change.
I do not support a candidate who uses living in Indonesia for four years as a child as a base for having the best international relations policies. He specifically stated this on November 19, 2007 at a speech in Iowa. Personally, after I traveled over seas to two different countries and hosted international camp counselors from literally all over the world, I find it insulting that Obama assumes to have a complete worldview understanding based on his experiences as a 6-10 year old boy! He would have done better to claim that he has limited international experience or to point to something, anything that he has done as an adult, espeically as an elected officer. But, to reach so far as to insinuate that he had the skills as a baby to internalize his experiences for his future presidency represents the height of arrogance and an arrogant president is NOT what this country needs in the next term!
I am not for a candidate who has so little to stand on that they give any progressive ideals away by claiming that they will include all Republicans. This is naive of Obama. Does he actually believe that without a veto-proof legislative majority that the Republicans actually want to work with him? He is not a political god and the Republicans actually have very little motivation to meet his goals because he's already said that he's basically willing to go meet theirs. This is not acceptable out of a candidate who is seeking the Democratic Party nomination.
Lastly, I, as a registered Young Democrat am sickened and insulted by Obama's comment that "I know that if I get the nomination her people would support me because I'm the Democrat, but I don't think that I can say that my supporters could support her should she be the nominee." That was said on the same day that Michelle Obama said on Good Morning America that she just didn't know if she could support Hillary should she get the nomination. This type of rhetoric and attitude is actually dividing our party and will be the same kind of attitude to divide this country.
It's time to STOP giving Obama a free pass because people either want to feel like they're on a perpetual feel-good honeymoon or because they feel that it's wrong or not politically correct to question the African American candidate. Obama needs to answer questions, take a real stand, stop using the race card, stop trying to channel the cadences of previous black leaders like MLK, stop using the party as his personal vehicle for divisiveness while running for the party's nomination, stop talking about how bad superdelegates are in public while viciously "working" them in private (especially the black superdelegates), and to stop giving away any progressive position by saying that he will work with any and all Republicans anywhere at any time.