This post is more about organizing my political thoughts into something coherent than actually stimulating a discussion, so to that end I’m disabling comments on this post.  Disagree if you like–that’s fine–but you’re not going to convince me that you’re right, just as I’m not going to convince you that I’m right.

I voted for Barack Obama primarily for the following reasons:

• He is adequately progressive on social issues.  That is important to me.
• He has demonstrated, over and over again, a capacity to think about issues in a way that no president (or anyone else, for that matter) has in my lifetime.  I have confidence that, under his administration, he will not make any “knee-jerk” decisions, or pander excessively to special interests.  His decisions will be considered and rational.
• His plan for troop management in Iraq and Afghanistan is tolerable, though it would be great if he could find a way to get troops out of Afghanistan as well.
• His tax plan is also tolerable.  I can understand why the upper-middle and upper class aren’t a huge fan, but from where I sit (few assets, low income, student loans), Barack’s tax plan is what I need.

 
I admit that Barack has made a few mis-steps in his campaign, though–nothing huge, but enough to give his detractors some cannon fodder.  The Jeremiah Wright incident, going back on his word on Campaign Finance stuff, his comment about “bitter” Americans “clinging to their religion and their guns,” and generally distancing himself from much of the traditionally conservative base in the south.  These incidents reflect the fact that Obama still has some skills to master at the highest political level.

I also admit that McCain has alot going for him–at least, he did before his campaign got in full swing.  He absolutely one-ups Barack on experience, and has demonstrated that he can vote against party lines (though, under the Bush administration, he supported Bush more often than his campaign would like us to believe).  He would make better decisions regarding the “War on Terror” than W, and I think he’d pander less to the special interests than W as well.

However, I just couldn’t bring myself to vote for McCain over Obama.  Here’s why:

• He’s conservative on the social issues that matter a lot to me.
• I believe that, largely, a McCain administration would not be a significant change from the current administration.
• His choice of VP seems to be pretty poor.
• His tax plan, and his plan on energy, seems slightly inferior to that of Obama–at least where I sit in my life right now.
• Overall, his campaign has taken a striking turn from how McCain presented himself a couple of years ago.  Gone is the Straight Talk Express (which I kind of liked, and definitely respected), and in its stead is something much less forthcoming and much more confrontational.  
• Lastly, there have been hateful comments made by supporters of each candidate.  However, in my opinion, the amount of hate on the McCain side is greater than on the Obama side, and McCain and Palin haven’t exactly done their best to quash it.  The amount of people that are voting for McCain for some hateful reason or another (“Obama is not a Real American,” “I don’t want a black president,” “Obama pals around with terrorists,” etc) is mind-blowing to me.

 
A McCain presidency is not what we need now–this country needs to put differences in political opinion and vote for a candidate that will speak for moving us away from eight years of failed policies and towards finding real solutions to the major problems our country faces today.  I believe that Obama is better equipped to tackle these problems in a way that is satisfactory, not only to me, but to the majority of this nation.

If you disagree with me, all I really hope is that it’s because of issues–maybe you like McCain’s tax plan better, or maybe you like his approach to alternative energy better.  That’s fine I guess–that’s the point of democracy, after all.  Just as long as you don’t support McCain because you “can’t stand the thought of a Muslim Arab President.”  That just doesn’t make any sense, plus it’s an awful, hateful thing to say.

If you agree with me, please vote for Barack Obama as soon as you can.  Especially if you live in Indiana!  We could use your votes!