The periodic political post, part 2

Well, I might as well come out. I'm officially a Barack Obama supporter; I've gone and contributed (monetarily) to his campaign. Encouragingly, this is not a lesser-of-two-evils type of decision for me. I'm actually quite pleased to be supporting Senator Obama.

So, why not Senator Clinton, you ask? Well, my first objection was rooted in how long it took her to de-support the war, if she actually has, which is unclear to me at this time. I don't fault her for voting for the invasion in the beginning (though I am in awe of the seemingly prescient wisdom of those who voted against it at the time); at that point I would have voted for it, based on the information available to me at the time and my mistaken belief that the President of the United States would not simply blatantly lie in order to get his war.

I admit, I have been caught up in the emotional response to Senator Obama. The man is a wonderful speaker (and, yes he is articulate, but I cringe whenever I read/hear the MSM describe him as such). However, that's not my only reason for supporting him. When I look at his experience besides Senator Clinton's, I'm just more impressed with what he's done than I am with what she's done. He seems less part of the establishment, while she seems more invested in the establishment.

Finally, what sealed the deal for me most recently, or rather, confirmed my leanings, as I had already voted for him at my precinct caucus, is the tack Senator Clinton is taking in her opposition to Senator Obama. She has gone off on this "Obama is all talk and no plan" theme, which is pretty slimy if you ask me, because it has no basis in fact, and she knows it. (For further discussion of this topic, see this post.)

Finally, and this is more pragmatic than idealistic, I think Senator Obama has a much better chance of defeating Senator McCain in the general election. I think Senator Clinton will lose. Hard.

Don't get me wrong; if she wins the nomination, I will most likely vote for her. I take back anything I may have said about McCain possibly being reasonable. He may not be the worst thing to happen to this country (difficult to beat BushLite at that), but he would certainly be plenty bad enough.