Reply #252: I'd like to answer this, too. I appreciate your asking. [View All]

I actually don't have anything to add on the question of his "qualifications", I think there are several excellent and substative posts on this thread that pretty well cover it; like zulchzulu's post at #134, and several of patrice's -- I just hope you've been able to read all the good ones.

I came very late to appreciate Obama; in fact, after Edwards dropped out I didn't much care about the election anymore. I assumed Obama was just a shiny bauble that would soon get blown away by the Clinton juggernaut. And I know you like Hillary, but for me the thought of having to vote for her in November made me want to scream and tear my hair out.

I started begging my fellow DUers back in 2002 to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't get behind a Hillary Clinton run for the White House! I absolutely could NOT believe that any informed and intelligent progressive could possibly want to reinstall another regime of DLC/Third Way/New Democrats/neoliberal-globalist-imperialists in the White House.

Life under another Clinton administration would only differ from life under the neocons and corporatists we've had with the bushies in a few details -- basically just enough sop thrown to liberals to keep the con going. Other than that, we'd be looking at the very same corrupt tangle of big money interests, militarist foreign policy, and continued corporate encroachment on the Commons that we have now.

Poppy Bush and Bill Clinton don't traipse around the world arm and arm because they're such marvelous humanitarians, they are partners in the lucrative venture of keeping multinational capital happy. The sheer naivite exhibited on DU about the nature of the con game the Ruling Class is playing on the rest of us simply astounds me.

The Clintons don't work for us. They work for the people who screw us, they always have and they always will.

Sorry for the harsh words about people you like, but I wanted you to know where I'm coming from.

Anyway, so there's Iowa -- surprise! And then a string of other primary wins for Obama, and little by little a few things about him began to penetrate my shield of cynicism. So I started paying more attention.

Still, the BIG thing for me was that Obama wasn't Clinton (that will always be his #1 "qualification" in my book). It began to dawn on me that maybe I wasn't going to have make the agonizing choice in November of whether to vote for Clinton, or throw up my hands and say "to hell with it, a pox on both houses" and not vote. The latter was were I had been leaning for a long time -- I started posting "If Clinton is the Dem nominee I will not vote" rants in 2006.

So, ironically enough, it was "hope" that got me behind Obama. It was the "hope" that it might be possible that Clinton would NOT be the nominee! (...and the sky opened up and the celestial choirs started singing... ;) )

He misses in a lot of areas for me, but I accept that he's no Dennis Kucinich and I'm realistic enough to know that NO genuine progressive is going to get into the White House until this country has gone through some substantial transformation. (if/when)

However, based on just his resume alone -- so ably listed in post #134 -- he's obviously a damn good candidate. I'm impressed with the quality of his campaign organization, his personal grace under pressure, his intelligence AND his cold hard political smarts. I'm not looking for a saint or a savior, I just want someone skillful, and he looks very skillful to me.

I also really like the fact that he's not just another Beltway insider. He's not just the same old same old DC Dem apparatchik trotted out every four years so we can either lose again and/or maintain the DC status quo with a minimum of fuss. At the very least, he's coming from outside the DC machine. If he's coming FROM a Chicago machine, so what, at least it's something new, at least it shakes things up a bit.

Finally, I've simply come to really like him. I like his spirit, I like his sense of humor, I like his intelligence, and he seems to me to be an honorable man. I think he's got good mojo, I really do. He's got that kind of inner spark that makes certain people stand out in the world. There's a genuine soul there.

I think the whole world would breathe a sigh of grateful relief if Obama wins the White House. I think we would feel better about ourselves, too.

Hope this helps.

Peace,
sw