When I go to the polls tomorrow, I will cast my vote in the Democratic Primary for Senator Barack Obama, and I urge all of my readers to join me.There are not significant policy differences between Obama's platform and that of Senator Clinton. For the most part, any differences in their positions are subtle. I would be comfortable with the policy direction of either candidate.
But there is a difference in the tone of the campaign, and the consequences of the election. The Clinton campaign has demonstrated that they will resort to Rovian tactics in order to win. The direction their campaign took in the days preceding the South Carolina primary was an affront to me and many other Democrats who want this election to be about issues and the direction of the country, not about the politics of racial and gender division.
It validated my long-held belief that we need to move away from the Bush/Clinton oligarchy that we have created over the last 28 years. Almost all of Washington is beholden to one family or the other for their jobs, their status, and their influence. The Washington class cares less about governing than it does about keeping it's power firmly entrenched, and the Clintons betrayed their desperate need to hold that power by risking Democratic party unity in an effort to keep it.
As such, I am casting my vote for Obama as a vote against the entrenched power of the Bush/Clinton dynasty.
I am not calling my vote tomorrow an "endorsement," as Obama is not my first or second choice for the nomination. Had he stayed in the race, Governor Bill Richardson would have received my vote (and endorsement) enthusiastically. In his absence, I planned to vote for John Edwards, but that too is not an option. Obama is now the best hope for the Democratic party, and America.
Tags: Election 2008 Democratic Primary Barack Obama Massachusetts
Posts
