Due to the nature of this election and the candidates, I feel it is my responsibility to write this, my first unendorsement for Senator Barack Obama.
Don’t get me wrong, I know who I’m voting for. But since everyone else is saying why one candidate is better than the other, some alternative voices should be heard.
I remember sitting in the dentist office waiting room a few years ago and seeing a cover article on Obama. It featured him looking majestically off into the distance while wearing a purple tie, the symbol of him bringing the red and blue together; of reaching across the aisle. I remember reading the article and thinking that this guy seemed too good to be true.
For the past few months, Senator Obama has been assaulting the airwaves with talk of “change” and how much we need “change” and how he’s going to “change” our government. Our government does indeed need change, there’s no doubt of that, but talking and doing are separate things.
When the economy went down the tubes, Senator John McCain suggested canceling the debate in favor of going back to Washington to help iron things out. Obama wouldn’t have it, and called the move purely political. McCain eventually caved, but his intentions were good. He had actually wanted to work on change, instead of just talking about it.
The fact is, Obama may have a lot of great-sounding ideas.
In fact, he promised to get us out of Iraq in the first few months of his term. No one could argue with that.
Then, according to the U.S. News and World Report, it morphed into the at least the first year. Now, he’s sitting at “appraising the situation.” Which means we could still be there indefinitely, the same view as McCain.
Is that change? If he’s changed his view on change, will his change indeed really be changing anything?
Figures on how much various programs will cost have normally favored Obama, but even in the New York Times editorial endorsing Obama, those figures can vary to favor either candidate. The Tax Policy Center estimated that the McCain health care plan would cost $1.3 trillion over 10 years, and the Obama plan $1.6 trillion. Using different and unstated assumptions, the Lewin Group estimated that the McCain plan would cost $2.05 trillion over 10 years and $1.17 trillion for Obama's plan.
Will Obama’s change be worth it if it ends up costing a lot more than we thought because of a numbers glitch?
There are simply too many questions left unanswered. And there is no perfect candidate this time around. Even the University Daily Kansan, a paper run by students, who are considered across the country to prefer Obama, admitted that the editorial board “went through some difficulty” deciding which candidate to endorse (they eventually endorsed Obama).
This isn’t saying vote for McCain. His Vice President choice was poor, some of his policies are flawed, and he’s not perfect. Neither is Ralph Nader or any other candidate.
This unendorsement is simply saying that falling for the frenzy over Obama and believing unconditionally in an amorphous “change” is not something to base a serious election on.
Discussion
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Ralph has never backed down from his principles.
That's the reality.
Exactly what I've been thinking. Good article.
Yes, never mind that McCain's call to pausing the campaign was a pathetic attempt to politicize the situation in order to favor his campaign. Especially since the Obama campaign contacted McCain's earlier that morning to try to find out something they could jointly do, and McCain simply ignored it and tried to play the gotcha card. Thankfully it seems that most people saw right through it. Good intentions... whatever. And we saw how much leadership skills he has... he couldn't even unite his party.
And I guess, by that logic, that Obama's move to "discontinue" his campaign to go be with his grandma was merely a political move, right?
Also, you missed the rest of the points. This wasn't an endorsement of McCain. This in an unendorsement of Obama, based on his actions.
Actually no. Considering his grandmother just died and she was in her final days I find it hard to categorize it as a political move. He did not pressure the other campaign to do anything, he didn't even make a big deal about it. McCain on the other hand made a sleaze ball move that would make Karl Rove proud.
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