Obama as a Threat

Last Wednesday night I posted my vote for President: Barack Obama.  As a Republican (with a lot of Republican friends and family members) I expected to hear some heated responses.  Actually, I big reason why I posted my opinion was to stir up some controversy and conversation... it looks like that mission was accomplished.

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I know many of my friends and family were disappointed to see me make such a public claim for Barack Obama.  As I mentioned in my blog, there are a lot of issue with which I disagree with the Jr. Senator from Illinois, however I have come to respect the leadership qualities he has displayed so far.

There were 2 major themes to those who disagreed with me: "How can I support Obama's policies" and "Obama presents a threat to this country as we know it".  In this post I'll make comments on the latter category and then focus on Democratic policies in subsequent posts.

Attacking Obama as a radical socialist, a supporter of terrorism or as a disingenuous 'wolf in sheep's clothing' all sounds like desperate attempts to scare voters into supporting McCain.  I think the one claim that upsets me the most is that Barack Obama is a racist (or supports racists) because he attended Jeremiah Wright's church.

Here is a quick example of how this logic breaks down: I went to Liberty University.  Liberty is founded by Dr. Jerry Falwell.  He was very active and vocal during my years there including comments about how the "Teletubbies" were promoting a homosexual agenda to children.  Many legitimate voices in America accused Dr. Falwell of being homophobic.  Therefore, Jason DeStratis is also homophobic.  

If I were running for President reporters may ask me, "Jason, how can you support the fair treatment of same sex couples via civil unions even though you attended Jerry Falwell's school?" My response would probably be similar to Barack Obama's response about his connection to Jeremiah Wright, "There were many things that Dr. Falwell said that I cannot and did not support, however I do respect the inspiration he was to many people in the Christian community."

Spending energy claiming that Barack Obama is planning on promoting Jeremiah Wright's "Black Libertarian" agenda is a clear sign that Republicans are gasping for air.  We've lost our way.  By voting for Obama I am saying, "Ok Democrats, tell us some of your ideas... we are clearly out of fresh ideas over here."  

In my next post I'll begin to discuss some Democrat ideas with which I struggle the most.

My Vote for President

In this post, I'm going to reveal my vote for President. I can't remember discussing my vote for President in such a public way before, and I generally prefer to have this discussion in a more personal conversation... but then again this is the first election cycle since I've begun blogging.

So without further delay... I am voting for Barack Obama.

As a registered Republican, it will be my first time voting for a Democrat. My vote is made up of several decision and opinions that I'd like to cover with you. I'd love to hear your feedback.

1) Embarrassment - I am completely embarrassed by the last 4 years of the Bush administration. Having voted for "W" last time mostly due to the "devil you know" theory, I've grown tired of the lack of respect he has brought to the office. I realize that some of this lack of respect is a "snow-ball" effect largely due to the fact that popular culture has been enjoying the natural punchlines in his lack of presence and misspoken words during speeches. Ultimately, not only has President Bush been somewhat of an embarrassment, so have many of his choices for key members of the executive branch organizations. The evidence is easy to find with so many resignations and 'insider' books from former members of the staff.

1a) So what does that have to do with not voting for McCain? I don't have a lot of experience in Washington DC, but what I've learned about the organizations that make up the executive branch, is that they are heavily influenced by members of the party of the President. The members of the executive branch may experience some changes with a McCain presidency, however, my vote for Obama is in part a desire to hit the reset button on as much of that organization as possible.

2) Presidential - Barack Obama is clearly more intelligent, inspiring and poised than John McCain. Evidence? Just watch the debates and the speeches, especially the 'town hall' debate in which McCain was terribly uncomfortable.

2a) So what does 'being Presidential' have to do with the actual issues. In truth, I still identify with the ideals of the Republican party far more that I do with Democrats. For example, I'm harshly opposed to abortion, I don't believe that an increase in taxes on potential employers (those making over 250k) will help the economy, and I'm nervous that removing troops from Iraq too soon could cause some long term instability in a place where we've already invested so much. Despite all of that, I've also learned that I don't have to agree with every position a leader takes in order to respect that leader. So in the wake of the current President, I'm highly concerned with electing strong, intelligent and inspiring leadership to the office, and Barack Obama has demonstrated that character over the past 20 months of campaigning.

2b) With respect to the elders in my life, John McCain is too old. At 72 years old it is hard to believe that he is going to be as connected with the pulse of the this country and the innovations we need in the future. McCain is just a little too late to the party. I'm disappointed with the Republican party for not nominating Mitt Romney, a younger, more intelligent and inspiring leader that would have brought a strong agenda for reducing governmental spending.

Bonus)

I think that spending millions of dollars for a half-hour network broadcast is a lot of money to spend on a commercial, but I really do appreciate an entire half-hour of positive politicking. There was not one negative attack on McCain. The first ad to be run by John McCain after the special was negative and focused on Barack Obama not being ready to be president.

I'm ready for something positive.