by Maggie Van Ostrand
Asked by someone I used to be like (a Republican) why I’m voting for Barack Obama, my instinct was to shoot back, “I recommend researching both presidential candidates as thoroughly as I did.” But how would that come across? What if he really wants to know and isn’t baiting me into an unwinnable argument? What if I could actually change his mind? I answered him with my personal bottom line at the top.
I looked at the way the candidates ran their campaigns, and one small thing stood out: When paid Obama campaign workers take a taxi, they pay for it themselves but when they take a bus, they are reimbursed. That’s the kind of common sense savings of interest to me. His campaign is very prudent. I think he would run the country the same way.
I liked that Obama’s contributions came largely from little people like me and not from the Democratic Party. McCain’s money came largely from the Republican Party, not that there’s anything wrong with that. I just like the grass roots thing a whole lot.
McCain appeals to the lowest denominator in us, while Obama appeals to the highest.
Iraq. Bring our people home and treat them like the stars they are.
Personally, I dislike being talked down to by anyone including McCain, and dislike hearing the same words over and over, like “I know how to do that,” “I’m a maverick,” and the POW stuff. And I’m sick of being called “my friend … “ I dislike McCain and his running mate ripping off Obama’s themes and phrases, like “change,” “Washington is broken,” and anti-Bush sentiment when he was a part of all of those deadly decisions. Constantly hearing McCain say that his running mate will take down “the good old boy network” when McCain IS a good old boy himself, I found amusing. He’s funnier than Obama, though he doesn’t intend to be; comedy shows would have much more material if he’s elected.
I’m not afraid to use plain language: McCain is too old – and it’s not his age, it’s him. He seems lost much of the time, and confused, and curmudgeonly. He’s angry, rash, and a risk-taker, not one who should sit near the nuclear button.
I didn’t like the way McCain handled the “release” of his medical report. Thousands of pages, but only half an hour or so for reporters to try to get information from them. No copying was permitted. This is suspect to me. What is he hiding?
McCain and his running mate constantly accuse Obama of doing what they themselves do, but Obama does not do. There’s a definition for that kind of behavior. What is it again? Oh yes, paranoia.
Obama is calm, reflective, and confident. His personality is presidential. Obama is 21st Century, McCain is 19th.
As to specific plans and issues, you can read for yourselves here:
https://www.barackobama.com
Check everything out at https://www.factcheck.org and https://www.snopes.com
Those are my reasons for voting for Obama.
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