Super Monday
this was my blog yesterday, but since I'm considering moving the bloggage over here to TMP, I'll post it here as well...
--MJS
--------------------
I am writing in hopes of encouraging my fellow New Yorkers, and fellow Americans who live in states that vote in February 5th primaries, to make certain they do so tomorrow. It is a heated primary, an important primary, and it will do the entire nation some good if we see record numbers at the polls tomorrow.
I've studied the poll data, and find the samplings flawed myself, so I will refrain from making any predictions. Personally, I feel that anything can happen tomorrow, in any state. In a rare moment for modern American politics, ANYTHING can happen---if you make it happen. Your voice will indeed be heard tomorrow, if you make it so.
If you're a registered Democrat, and I have become, our primaries offer proportional distribution of delegates. With projected close contests, this gives we New Yorkers a very big voice. New York is not a sealed deal for Hillary Clinton unless Clinton supporters rally. If Obama supporters rally, Barack can walk away with many of NY's delegates. I believe an upset is possible. I believe that Barack Obama can win Hillary's "home" state of NY.
And that leads me to the second part of this diatribe. I will be voting for Barack Obama, and I would like to tell you why. While at first I began supporting Obama because I believed he was the only one who could defeat Clinton, I have slowly come to the point of view that many reached before me. America needs President Obama.
I believe that Obama is the only Democrat who can win a national election, especially against John McCain. With Clinton, Republicans rally to vote against her. With Obama, Republicans disgruntled with McCain either stay home or vote Obama. Barack's message of hope and change in America from the ground up will appeal to independents even more than it has in the primary season. He will win with large margins, go into the White House with soaring popularity, and be able to push through landmark legislation. He will push to end the reign of lobbyist power in Washington and we will see our system be repaired in needed ways.
A Rasmussen Jan. 26 polls show Clinton at 47% and McCain at 45% in a match; and it shows Obama at 46% and McCain at 41%. A NBC/WSJ Jan. 24 poll shows Obama and McCain tying at 42% and McCain beating Clinton 46% to 44%. These aren't big wins, but if the Democrats WANT to win, they better choose Obama over Clinton.
Sure, we may not have the sweeping reforms of true visionaries like Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich, but we will progress. Hillary Clinton will not bring progress. She will bring political deadlock, all the baggage of the previous Clinton administration, all the sleazy lobby dollars, and more of the same Washington dynasty.
I was wary of Barack Obama because he's voted at par so many times with Clinton on issues like funding the war and renewing the Patriot Act. But I have come to respect him. I thank him for taking Clinton to task over her health care plan, which would cater to the insurance industries (who contribute to Clinton in record numbers, more than any other candidate, including Republicans) by garnishing people's wages if they could not afford insurance. If a poor person has to choose between feeding their family while paying their rent and personal health insurance, how will garnishing their wages help?
I've been studying Obama's record and have come to admire it. He's been an elected official longer than Clinton. He's more experience as an office-holder. His management work as a community organizer far exceeds any real management experience you can twist her record into showing. The health care flop she managed in the 90s and sitting on Walmart's board is all I can discern as real management experience. Both I see as failures. Obama was a successful manager who transformed neighborhoods.
He was right about the war. And this issue means a lot to me. Clinton can twist her words as much as she wants. Everyone in America knows that she voted to authorize the President to use force in Iraq and that he would use it. She and her supporters often lie about the intent of different amendments surrounding that vote, but the record is clear, as the media has finally reported so well this week. Clinton was clearly afraid of being on the wrong side of the issue, so she didn't vote against it. She thought the war would be over in a week and gas prices would drop significantly, and Americans would be happy about the war. Obama on the other hand, like Al Gore, made public speeches warning us of what would really happen, and how immoral the war would be. Plain and simple, they were right. The politicians who practiced war out of fear were not.
Barack Obama does not take money from lobbyists or PACs. This is an extremely important issue to me. I invite you to read this long list of Clinton campaign finance scandals, and why I'm frightened to let the Clintons have another whack at selling our country out.
I've piles of research about how the scandals of the Reagan/Bush administration involved the Clintons in Arkansas, how Bill Clinton's administration carried on with many of those sad blemishes on American liberties, and how Bill Clinton opened the doors that allowed George W. Bush's administration to render our Constitution useless. I'd love to discuss this with any of you and provide you with some reading. To me, it is clear that continuing the Bush/Clinton dynasty is dangerous for our nation.
But even if you take Hillary Clinton out of the mix, Obama is still the right man, right now. His magnetic personality, powerful ability for speech, and youthful vibrance make him the perfect man to run against old, monotone McCain. America electing a young black man with the name Barack Hussein Obama will do us a world of good with our world image. No candidate can offer the national and international healing by perception alone that Barack Obama can.
Sure, in my dream America, the constitutional warriors of the far right and far left, Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich would be cleaning up America with sweeping reforms. But it didn't happen. We're down to three candidates. And as far as I can tell, there's only one progressive with any regard to the constitution left in the race, and his name is Barack Obama.
Tomorrow, you can sit home with apathy or take a little time out of your day to cast a vote. You can do nothing or you can do something. You can continue to sit silent and let career politicians take away your liberties, give your tax dollars to corporate buddies, and betray our founding fathers' vision. Or you can turn out in record numbers and remind everyone that Americans do care about America.
Please vote tomorrow.
--MJS
--------------------
I am writing in hopes of encouraging my fellow New Yorkers, and fellow Americans who live in states that vote in February 5th primaries, to make certain they do so tomorrow. It is a heated primary, an important primary, and it will do the entire nation some good if we see record numbers at the polls tomorrow.
I've studied the poll data, and find the samplings flawed myself, so I will refrain from making any predictions. Personally, I feel that anything can happen tomorrow, in any state. In a rare moment for modern American politics, ANYTHING can happen---if you make it happen. Your voice will indeed be heard tomorrow, if you make it so.
If you're a registered Democrat, and I have become, our primaries offer proportional distribution of delegates. With projected close contests, this gives we New Yorkers a very big voice. New York is not a sealed deal for Hillary Clinton unless Clinton supporters rally. If Obama supporters rally, Barack can walk away with many of NY's delegates. I believe an upset is possible. I believe that Barack Obama can win Hillary's "home" state of NY.
And that leads me to the second part of this diatribe. I will be voting for Barack Obama, and I would like to tell you why. While at first I began supporting Obama because I believed he was the only one who could defeat Clinton, I have slowly come to the point of view that many reached before me. America needs President Obama.
I believe that Obama is the only Democrat who can win a national election, especially against John McCain. With Clinton, Republicans rally to vote against her. With Obama, Republicans disgruntled with McCain either stay home or vote Obama. Barack's message of hope and change in America from the ground up will appeal to independents even more than it has in the primary season. He will win with large margins, go into the White House with soaring popularity, and be able to push through landmark legislation. He will push to end the reign of lobbyist power in Washington and we will see our system be repaired in needed ways.
A Rasmussen Jan. 26 polls show Clinton at 47% and McCain at 45% in a match; and it shows Obama at 46% and McCain at 41%. A NBC/WSJ Jan. 24 poll shows Obama and McCain tying at 42% and McCain beating Clinton 46% to 44%. These aren't big wins, but if the Democrats WANT to win, they better choose Obama over Clinton.
Sure, we may not have the sweeping reforms of true visionaries like Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich, but we will progress. Hillary Clinton will not bring progress. She will bring political deadlock, all the baggage of the previous Clinton administration, all the sleazy lobby dollars, and more of the same Washington dynasty.
I was wary of Barack Obama because he's voted at par so many times with Clinton on issues like funding the war and renewing the Patriot Act. But I have come to respect him. I thank him for taking Clinton to task over her health care plan, which would cater to the insurance industries (who contribute to Clinton in record numbers, more than any other candidate, including Republicans) by garnishing people's wages if they could not afford insurance. If a poor person has to choose between feeding their family while paying their rent and personal health insurance, how will garnishing their wages help?
I've been studying Obama's record and have come to admire it. He's been an elected official longer than Clinton. He's more experience as an office-holder. His management work as a community organizer far exceeds any real management experience you can twist her record into showing. The health care flop she managed in the 90s and sitting on Walmart's board is all I can discern as real management experience. Both I see as failures. Obama was a successful manager who transformed neighborhoods.
He was right about the war. And this issue means a lot to me. Clinton can twist her words as much as she wants. Everyone in America knows that she voted to authorize the President to use force in Iraq and that he would use it. She and her supporters often lie about the intent of different amendments surrounding that vote, but the record is clear, as the media has finally reported so well this week. Clinton was clearly afraid of being on the wrong side of the issue, so she didn't vote against it. She thought the war would be over in a week and gas prices would drop significantly, and Americans would be happy about the war. Obama on the other hand, like Al Gore, made public speeches warning us of what would really happen, and how immoral the war would be. Plain and simple, they were right. The politicians who practiced war out of fear were not.
Barack Obama does not take money from lobbyists or PACs. This is an extremely important issue to me. I invite you to read this long list of Clinton campaign finance scandals, and why I'm frightened to let the Clintons have another whack at selling our country out.
I've piles of research about how the scandals of the Reagan/Bush administration involved the Clintons in Arkansas, how Bill Clinton's administration carried on with many of those sad blemishes on American liberties, and how Bill Clinton opened the doors that allowed George W. Bush's administration to render our Constitution useless. I'd love to discuss this with any of you and provide you with some reading. To me, it is clear that continuing the Bush/Clinton dynasty is dangerous for our nation.
But even if you take Hillary Clinton out of the mix, Obama is still the right man, right now. His magnetic personality, powerful ability for speech, and youthful vibrance make him the perfect man to run against old, monotone McCain. America electing a young black man with the name Barack Hussein Obama will do us a world of good with our world image. No candidate can offer the national and international healing by perception alone that Barack Obama can.
Sure, in my dream America, the constitutional warriors of the far right and far left, Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich would be cleaning up America with sweeping reforms. But it didn't happen. We're down to three candidates. And as far as I can tell, there's only one progressive with any regard to the constitution left in the race, and his name is Barack Obama.
Tomorrow, you can sit home with apathy or take a little time out of your day to cast a vote. You can do nothing or you can do something. You can continue to sit silent and let career politicians take away your liberties, give your tax dollars to corporate buddies, and betray our founding fathers' vision. Or you can turn out in record numbers and remind everyone that Americans do care about America.
Please vote tomorrow.
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