Friday, January 04, 2008

The Stamp is on My Ballot Envelope


I just voted in the . Or rather, I will have voted as soon as I put the envelope into a mailbox in a couple of hours. I drew a blue ball-point line connecting the front half of an arrow to the back half. And that arrow was pointing at the name “.” I got to vote for him because I'm a of the US and Canada.

Last night I watched the Iowa caucuses on TV until ’s election central handed over to Larry King, who was going to keep the excitement going by interviewing Mike Huckabee and some of the others – but not Obama. I’d have stayed up all night, had more of Obama been promised.

This is the first time in ages that I’ve felt delighted about voting for a US . This guy is inspiring. I would have been satisfied to vote for , if Obama hadn’t been on the ballot. Or , if he had stood any chance of winning. (I hate to waste my vote on futile gestures.)

But ? No way! Even if she wins the nomination, I don’t think I can bring myself to vote for her — though I won’t promise not to until I know who the Republican nominee will be. It’s nothing personal, you understand. It’s just her I can’t stand. I can’t excuse her voting for the , and voting to continue funding it whenever the chance arose. She waits to see which way the wind is blowing before taking a stand. That’s politics for you, I guess — at least it’s the kind of in politics that she boasts of having. And that is exactly what I want changed.

Last night after the outcomes had been announced, each prominent candidate made a speech. Of them, only Obama mentioned nuclear weapons. As they campaigned, a few of the candidates have, when questioned, stated their intention of . Edwards did, for example. Obama has done so all along. But Hillary doesn’t promise any such thing. Maybe she'd make some reductions, but there’s no promise to eliminate them, since that would give others a chance to match the US arsenals. On another occasion, a peacenik woman asked whether she would and she said she would keep all options available.

Well, in that case, she won’t get my vote.

Obama’s speech was moving and convincing. He made several important promises, including this one, which impressed me. As president, instead of telling you what you want to hear, he will . Imagine that!

Labels:

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Metta,

I watched the debates as well on the weekend, both Republican and Democrat, and was not impressed by Obama. He seemed weak and weary. He stayed out of the arguements and let Edwards and Hillary go at it. I was actually more impressed by the Republican candidates. I heard alot of arguing but no answering of questions or talking about the issues. At least I got answers to issues from the Republican side.

My feeling is that most voters do not want a person in office who will continue to divide the country. Hillary nor Edwards will not unite the country. That leaves Obama on the Democrat side. I can't think of a single Republican who would ever vote for Clinton, so she cannot win. I think the Dems are realizing that and that's why you see Obama.

On the Republican side, you see McKain, who is old, but would definitely a uniter. Does he have enough originality to be a great president? He was a snoozer at the debate and looked very weak. Juliani is my favorable, but I doubt he would build a decent team around him to lead the country. Huckabee and Romney would be disasters.

9:56 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home