Voting for Obama

February 19, 2008

The presidential primary circus landed in Wisconsin today, and Emily and I cast our votes at Edison Elementary School. During our brief time in the sun our area got numerous candidate visits. If it weren't for the 8 1/2 inches of snow on Sunday, I might have heard Obama speak in an auditorium 10-15 miles away. But it was not to be.

I have done a fair amount of wavering between Clinton and Obama. I am smack in the middle of Obama's preferred demographic.. and that makes me suspicious of myself. Clinton's appeal to blue collar workers is nothing to take lightly. In fact, they may well be right that when it comes to getting through congress the bills that will most help them, Clinton would be stronger. I would also like to register a high level of discomfort with the focus on Obama as someone who personally represents change. These are the kind of Romantic hopes that are always dashed. If we elect Obama in November we will wake up the next morning and still be faced with the same problems and the same intractable politics. Republicans will still sabotage good legislation (as they are currently doing). Gas will still be too expensive.

Obama feels more and more like a big play man.. someone who could push the ball forward thirty yards or so. Clinton feels like a vote for a first down. (To use a football analogy.) I find it hard to resist going for big yardage in this election.. one that could break us out of the tired mold. Couple that feeling with the lame attacks coming from Clinton about plagiarism and his refusal to debate her.. and the way her camp hints that they will stop at nothing to get the nomination.. and I start to look more confidently toward Obama. But that being said, I wish the rhetoric around him as a person would cool off.