10.17.08 I’m Voting Obama & Other Random Thoughts
The McCain campaign has mirrored the Hillary Clinton campaign in one key aspect: once the race was (as good as) lost, both of them devoted almost all their effort to trying to destroy Obama. There are a couple of key differences, though:
· Once he put Palin on the ticket, McCain was unable to replicate HRC’s infamous “3 AM” ad, having taken experience off the table for the fall campaign.
· Clinton’s attacks on Obama worked and McCain’s haven’t. The primary reason for the difference is that McCain was unable to turn the topic to “what’s wrong with Obama” once the economy and his own fitness for the job became Topics 1 and 2. Clinton, on the other hand, made the end of primary season 100% about Obama’s (un)fitness for the job. If she hadn’t aleady nearly drowned in her own hubris, she would have won.
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The McCain campaign has mirrored the overall Republican performance over the past eight years: philosophical evil combined with utter incompetence. I had a feeling last spring that McCain would not wear well as a candidate. But I had no idea just how awful his campaign would be.
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I’m going to vote for Barack Obama. Big surprise, eh? Well, those of you with long memories will recall my declaration in July that Obama’s lack of principle and hard tack to the center would lead me to cast a protest vote in here in the safe state of Maryland.
I remain less than enthusiastic about Obama in many ways; however, I now believe that the total margin of his popular vote victory nationwide is important. As Markos Moulitsas, the editor of Daily Kos puts it, it’s time to annihilate and completely demoralize the GOP, sending them to the wilderness for as long as possible. Whatever I lack in enthusiasm for Centrist Obama, Kos’s clarion call more than makes up for!
©2008 Keith Berner
This entry was posted on October 17, 2008 at 1:44 pm and is filed under Politics, Presidential Campaign 2008. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain
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October 18, 2008 at 8:32 am
Glad to see you and the Washington Post came through for Obama on the same day, Keith! like that you linked to what you said in July. I was with you then and I’m with you now! How much better to argue with Obama than with a McCain Administration?
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October 20, 2008 at 6:36 am
Keith, better late than never. In your lifetime (and likely in mine, which I sure as hell hope is longer than yours from here on out) you will never be able to vote for a person who has a chance in hell to win with whom you completely agree with on all issues. Also this year there are really no third parties (“pacific greens” in oregon are close for me, but no cigar) that I 100% agree with either.
I, like you, do not agree with Obama on everything, but I do agree wholeheartedly with his main idea of working together as a country. For me this is good because after the Dems are in charge of the house, senate and white house, I do not want them to overreach and swing the pendulum back like W did. I want the dems to continue slowly moving the country left bit by bit on social issues, as I truly believe the country is moving, all the while showing that this movement is common sensical and good for our country.
This election is going to change our country for the better, glad you are a part of it my friend.
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