There has been a lot of back and forth on Clinton vs. Obama, and I have made no secret my support for Senator Obama. But I think things should be becoming even clearer now.
Last night Senator Obama swept three states and the Virgin Islands. And when I say swept, I mean over 2 – 1 in most states. And considering he did 2 – 1 in Nebraska and Washington, it’s difficult for Billary to chalk this off to “the black vote†like they did with South Carolina. The fact is Obama has momentum.Â
With that in mind, we have to look towards the future. It’s very certain at this point that John McCain will be the Republican candidate. Keep in mind that this is someone who does not agree we should withdrawal from Iraq. Even other Republicans feel he is a bit heavy handed in his foreign policy. But one thing John McCain has going in his favor is that he is someone of extremely solid character. A war hero, a Senator who has proudly served for decades, someone with a track record of bipartisan success, someone who works closely with Al Gore on environmental issues, a father who adopted a little girl from Bangladesh. In summary, John McCain is a good man. He is not someone the Clinton spin machine is going to be able to knock on character. And lets face it, that’s how they play politics.
I have to say that even though the war is the most important issue for me in this election, I would more likely vote for John McCain than Hillary Clinton. Keep in mind that she voted for this war as well, but then voted to not fund the war, which would have left our troops without the support they needed. If you’re going to put troops in harms way, at least support them. This is a move reminiscent of the first Clinton administration in Mogadishu.
So for a moment, imagine a race with Hillary Clinton vs. John McCain. She should be able to take him on the issues, right? But how does she blast the war that she voted for? But she plans to pull troops out within 60 days, right? But lets be honest, the Republicans are not stupid. Bush will authorize a reduction of troops during the election to make it look like its a non-issue. How does she blasts him on lobbyists when she has taken even more money from them than McCain? How does she condemn “Scooter Libby Justice†when her husband pardoned more people on his last day than any other administration during their entire term, including his own brother, Susan McDougal (who went to prison for not testifying against Hillary on Whitewater), and a group of other people who paid Hillary’s brother hundreds of thousands of dollars. You can check these facts here.
And then of course you have the liability of Bill Clinton. Obviously when running in a democratic primary Barack Obama has had to show President Clinton the respect of not really attacking his administration. But you can bet McCain will not have the same restraint. He will attack the administration that she ties herself with so closely, and in the process people will remember that Clinton was not such a great president, it only looks that way in contrast to our current inept president. Bill Clinton is in fact a liar, and John McCain will make sure everyone remembers that. And I’m not just talking about the fact he lied about staining a blue dress.
So since she can’t take him on character, and she may not be able to really push on issues, does she go after experience? Well obviously her message of experience vs. change is lost here. John McCain is the most qualified candidate running, and is ready to lead “Day 1†.
Now imagine another scenario; Senator Obama facing Senator McCain. Obama never supported the war, and even gave a great speech where he called out Bush, Rumsfeld and Rove on starting a war with no real evidence, and that “political hacks like Karl Rove†were using this as a distraction. This is at the same time that Hillary signed the Resolution to use Military Force in Iraq, but now claims she didn’t know this would be used to send military forces into Iraq.
Obama wants to have all troops out of Iraq within 16 months. This is a genuine move towards ending this war, unlike Clinton’s “start withdrawal within 60 days†. We don’t want some of the troops out, we want them all out.
And we must give Obama credit for voting to fund the war, even though he didn’t agree with it. The fact is that our men and women were going to war, and he made sure to fund their efforts to try to keep them as safe as possible, while Clinton tried to play both sides of the fence, putting American lives in jeopardy yet again.
And Obama will be able to speak to ending the reign of lobbyists in Washington, because he has not taken a dime from them. He only owes the American people, not big special interest groups like Hillary Clinton will.
He is able to speak to the abuse of power in the White House because he has never been accused of abusing his power in office. There are no pardons or special favors issued to people at the expense of American citizens in his past.
The fact is that Obama is someone of better character than Hillary Clinton, so he will be better able to speak to issues without looking like the standard hypocritical politician.
Then there is the matter of partisan politics. Hillary vows to “fight the Republicans on health care†. It’s funny that she often says this in the same breath as evoking change. But why hasn’t Hillary, this great fighter, been able to get health care reform passed through in her “20 years of fighting the Republicans†? Because she is too busy fighting and not willing to work together with the other side to get this passed. And to win the election the Democrats are going to need Independents and some Republicans. These people are unlikely to vote for someone who is looking for a fight.
This mind set carries its way through to foreign policy, which is why she is voting for unjust wars. She says that Obama’s idea of sitting down face-to-face with our “enemies†is wrong, but yet speaks of the end of “cowboy diplomacy†. This is why if you check most foreign newspapers there is a real support for Obama as our president. The world has grown tired of our arrogance in dealing with other countries.
The early polls are showing that Obama is much more likely to win against McCain. Even though these are early, they are still an indicator as to what the country thinks. And it ends the debate of wether or not Obama is electable. The fact is he is even more electable than Hillary Clinton. So this remains clear to me. They are very similar on issues, but Obama has a lot more character and is more electable.
[tags]john mccain, hillary clinton, barack obama, election, pardons, iraq[/tags]
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