Here's an invitation to talk presidential politics.
On some level, presidential politics might distract us from the work that really needs doing (creating a progressive coalition that is able to get something done--like undoing the mistakes made in Iraq), but it is also a chance to talk about what matters to us and why.
Personally, I'm supporting Barack Obama because I believe he could create a working progressive coalition. I like several other of the Democratic candidates, but I think Obama is least tied to old approaches and most open to something new. The longer he's in the senate, the less true that will be. Now is the time. I know lots of people who are excited about Edwards and/or Kucinich. I have not heard the same enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton. Anyone want to take up the case for these or another candidate?
Ron Paul has certainly been the freshest voice in these debates (especially now that Mike Gravel has been frozen out, it seems).
Who are you supporting and why?
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3 comments:
Edwards.
He frames poverty as a moral issue.
He is willing to withdraw quickly and responsibly from Iraq.
He is a powerful communicator.
Ron Paul is interesting, but anyone with even an inkling of progressive values, (tolerance, economic opportunity, smart defense policy, science-based policy) can not support him once you get past his anti-Iraq stance.
I just wanted to add a couple sentences about why I think Ron Paul's candidacy is interesting and, I should have added, important. It's a sign that the Republican coalition is cracking into new subsets. Nobody knows where the Ron Paul supporters will go in the general election. I get the sense that the Rs can no longer count on automatic votes from those with Libertarian ideas. Would a Ron Paul supporter vote for McCain after McCain said it's fine with him if the US is in Iraq for a 100 years?
I noticed that Paul finished 2nd (!) in the Nevada primary, which may signal that the Rs are very vulnerable in the Western states, not because those voters will support the Democrat for president, but because they might not vote for a Republican. They will vote for Paul or someone who steals parts of his message. Paul might be playing a kind of Ross Perot role in this election, drawing people to a third option, which has implications for the election as a whole.
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