This was in response to a previous blog about how the Obama campaign is being killed by blogs.  Its a good read.  But here's my response:

Its nice to hear a well reasoned argument from a Clinton supporter. Thanks for posting this - it seems that on both sides of the court, there's far too much name calling, derision, and absolutes thrown around in a horribly discouraging discourse. As for your points, I disagree with them. I'm one of those Clinton to Obama voters that may or may not fall into your second group. The overall message of your blog I think is also at odds with mine. I think the blogosphere helps Obama. In light of recent events, its hard to keep the feeling of hope. I go to to the blogosphere and read support from fellow Obama supporters and it does alleviate my fears somewhat. Also, the blogs rarely are reflected by the MSM. There's no statistic to refer to, but my initial thoughts are that the blogs tend to stray toward Obama - which in recent days has not been the case in the MSM. You said: "However, my view is that most of the blogosphere backs Obama for reasons that have little to do with the man himself: - he was initially propped by anti-war liberals - he was further strengthened by Clinton-haters - then some of the public bought into the politics of change " I think he was initially propped by his books and his speech at the 2004 DNC, which in my mind, is one of the best speeches we've seen in a generation. At least thats where I got my initial favorable thoughts of him from (I was initially a Clinton supporter) - from that speech and also from reading his books which is a must read for any Democrat. Your second point is true, he was strengthened by Clinton-haters, but that doesn't make moot support for Obama. It means that people got so tired of the Clinton way of politics, that they were looking for a different candidate who embodied a different style of politics. No matter what has happened so far, it cannot be denied that he has still run a different, very transparent campaign. This accounts not only for the Clinton to Obama voters like myself, but the new voters who were simply looking for a new voice. I think your last point is the weakest. To say that people "bought" into Obama's voice of change is an accusation of ignorance. I can't agree with that. I'm as critical and skeptical as they come - I'm a surgeon. We need to be. And I don't simply buy into fads or phenomena without a healthy dose of research. There is a large group of successful and smart people who support Obama as well. I doubt that they simply just lost all reason and fell into his camp. I think there are a lot of factors into why people support Obama. I could list them all, but here are some of mine: -He inspires people to unite and do better for others and themselves. I haven't heard anything inspirational from Clinton or McCain other than a constant barrage of I'm going to do this for you and I'm going to do this for her and I'm going to do this for him... etc. Its not about we, its about her. -He has shown consistent judgement that has followed my own beliefs on foreign policy. He is against the Iraq War. He voted against having Iran labelled as terrorists. He supported precision strikes against al-Qaeda in Pakistan, which Bush eventually voted for. Clinton voted for the war, and I can't ignore that. -His economic policy is actually sound. He wants to create a National Reinvestment Bank to invest in fixing the infrastructure of the US to make it more palatable to business and commerce. Even Bloomberg applauded Obama on this. For those who care, Jim Cramer of Mad Money likes Obamas plans as well. -On health care, I know a thing or two being a surgeon. His plans on health care are similar to my own thoughts on it. Of course we all want Universal health care - but delivering it is not easy. Making it a mandate is a bad position to start discussions with the Republicans from. Also, you have to reform health care without losing the excellence of care it can achieve - making it a mandate could render health care as delivered by the government as badly managed as social security. When you're dealing with people's lives, you don't want that. -On family values and personal responsibility - Obama has spoken many times about how and why we need to look at ourselves to make the fundamental change. He talks often about turning off the TV, doing homework with your kids, etc. He loves his family, has a good family, and clearly relishes his time with them. He's the most family value friendly Democrat nominee we have had in a while. -On Education. He is the only candidate to talk about how our country is failing our kids. He has laid out specific plans to jumpstart this. He wishes to reform No Child Left Behind. He wants to increase the wages of teachers. He wants to give college attendees a 4k college credit. He wants to emphasize Math and Science teaching. He wants to teach our kids by not focusing on teaching for a test. He wants to create scholarships for those getting degrees in teaching. -On the environment. He maintains a strong lead on this as well. He wishes to reduce emissions by 80% by 2050. He wants 25% of all energy to come from renewable sources. He plans to invest in developing training programs for skilled workers in the green technology field. -Finally, his thoughts on ethics are some of the strongest I've seen from any candidates in recent years. In Chicago, he worked with the police to get them to be more transparent in their interrogations. This meant videotaping them. Initially resistant to this, Obama reasoned with them that it would reduce lawsuits and reinforce trust of the community in the police. He was right. The transparency produced by simply having a camera recording all interrogations as required by law has reduced interrogation based lawsuits for that department. Read about it here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303303_pf.html. He also has released his tax returns, his earmarks, and does not take lobbyist money. He's worked on and helped pass several laws regarding this in his time as Senator. Finally, you're last point: "Disclaimer: I support Clinton because I think she will be a stronger president. I don't need to have an inspirational leader in the White House - I find role models in more appropriate places. I need someone who can fix the mess and who knows how the goverment (the largest employer in the US) works and how to make it do what you need." First, you cannot assume that the government is like any other employer or company. They have some of the best benefits in the world, and it is hard to change personnel in a government run department. I work at a County Hospital - its damn near impossible to get change for the better by simply demanding it. People who work for the government are good people, they just need something to work for and to be reminded of the goal of their job - to make America a better place. Second, running a campaign is a microcosm of running a government. Obama has run an incredible campaign. Think of what he had to overcome to get to this point: -He is a black man named Barack Hussein Obama. Contrary to what Ferraro said, he is not lucky to be an African-American. -He was relatively unknown until his 2004 speech -He did not have access to the "top talent" in campaigning -He was not even supported initially by his own race. He in fact was losing to Clinton among African-Americans at the start -He required more secret service than any other candidate in recent memory. That's because he's had so many death threats against him - it just reinforces how silly Ferraro's argument is. Think of what Clinton had to run with: -Name recognition -Support of the DLC -Support of both Women and African Americans and Latinos -A large fundraising base (that rolodex of hers) -Access to the best campaign people in the Democratic Party I could go on. But for Obama to overcome this and out fund raise her is simply amazing. It speaks to not only his ability to organize and motivate his supporters. It was his ability to manage the money and plan for the long run past February 5th that has put him in this position. He is still the underdog candidate in my book. Again, I think you make good points. I just don't agree with them. I'm one of those Obama supporters who made a reasoned decision to support him. And this was hard for me - I voted for Bill Clinton, gave Clinton money initially, and supported both of them through the trying late 90s when everyone seemed to be out to get them. So it takes more than just fads and phenomena on blogs to get me to switch. Thanks again for this post.. we need more like it. And.. I'm probably going to post this seperately in another blog now that I saw how long my response was.