I have followed politics closely since middle school when I debated a classmate on how voting for Jim Gilmore over Don Beyer based on his "No Car Tax" gimmick would be foolish and bad for Virginia's economy. (I am a young man I know... No intention to make some of you guys feel older.) I am a Washingtonian in my politics with a little bit of Teddy Roosevelt Progressivism mixed in. I never really supported political parties though I realize the value of the two-party system.
In 2007, I joined the Democratic Party (I have not paid dues for my local party or anything. I am a poor young man.) I at least signed on to support the Democratic candidates. I was anyways. Republicans do not share my values or really even the values of the youth of America. I believe this because Republicans do not have principles that lead into the future. They are not concerned about how to move humanity forward.
So I support Democrats. When the race for president narrowed down to Hillary and Obama, I threw in for Obama. However, this race is killing me now. This was the year that, after 8 years of George W. Bush, a Democrat could walk into the Office of the Presidency. To quote my fiance,
this was not the year to make great strides in civil discourse. This was the year to put someone in office to fix all the problems created over the past 8 years.This is why I wanted a Gore/Obama ticket from day 1.
Sadly, Gore was busy. Mark Warner did not believe he had enough national prestige to defeat Clinton or Obama. Thus all the other dominoes fell. Now we have Obama, who is a smart man and a decent candidate. It is Obama though who, despite his intellectual prowess, is running a tight race with John McCain, a failure in his own party.
Take the recent forum they had with Rick Warren. Obama's performance was quite lackluster in front of an audience he needed to convince. These are the very people he needs to draw in and he couldn't seal the deal, as he dodged several important questions. At the same time, if he couldn't convince them to sign on, then at least don't embarrass the rest of us who are not faith and values voters by running from very important decisions.
I believe in the right of women to decide the conditions of their own uterus as a core value in their being equal to men under law. Pro-life is the biggest misnomer ever. I believe that marriage is a religious union and that should be a separate issue from civil unions which is a governmental union, and therefore should be open to gays as equal citizens under the law, because sexual orientation should not be a disqualifier of constitutional rights. I was hoping that we'd get a president who is smart enough to argue these issues well and have the guts to actually do it.
At the same time, the Obama campaign has not been hitting McCain hard in ways that is not damaging to Obama though damaging to McCain. Despite having a tremendous amount of money, donors, and field offices, we are not entirely increasing interest. Obama's campaign has apparently even made it clear to Wesley Clark, a guy I like because I think he has done a tremendous job for America, that he has no place in an Obama administration.
Maybe Obama is too inexperienced. He certainly seems to tip toe around a lot of the core issues. He hit hard some of the others earlier which is why I supported him. I want a courageous president. I want someone who has no problem pointing a finger and declaring what is messed up and who did it. I do not want to bend on so many issues, like drilling. In this sense, I wish the Democratic Party was stronger on issues as the Republicans are. I am not asking for liberalism, I just want some form of progressivism again. I want America to actually move forward again. I am not willing to vote Republican and I will still vote Democrat. I will not chance more Republican control of this country. I just want the gallantry of a Roosevelt in office.