The more I read on this and other blogs about the escalating battle between supporters of Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama, the more it seems to reflect the battle playing out in my own mind. I'm not sure who I support between them.
But unlike some of the comments I have read over the past couple of weeks here and elsewhere, I am sure I support either one of them over any Republican.
(More on the flip)
I saw Obama speak in person this summer, and it really was an amazing experience. He put me in mind of videos I have seen and tapes I have heard of JFK with respect to his ability to articulate an American vision that transcends narrow partisan interests. But the fact of the matter is that when compared, specifically, to Hillary Clinton, his experience at a national level is a little thin.
But the differences between Clinton and Obama seem relatively minor when compared with the gulf between either of them and any of the GOP candidates.
I was amazed to read in another thread that some Obama supporters would actually consider voting for John McCain in a general election as opposed to Hillary Clinton. I just want to remind some folks what a vote for McCain or any other Republican presidential candidate (save Ron Paul, but I'm trying to be reality-based here) would mean (in my rough order of importance):
1. Continued and expanded war in Iraq and throughout the Middle East, particularly Iran.
2. A reactionary Supreme Court for at least the next 25 years.
3. Continued violations of civil liberties at home and limitation on habeaus corpus.
4. (Excepting McCain) Arbitrary and endless detention and torture as U.S. policy.
5. A tax system that is skewed to favor the value of capital over the value of labor, resulting in unhealthy and ultimately destructive concentrations of wealth in a small minority.
Best,
Alan