The Vote from A Broad: Top Ten Reasons I Will Vote for Barack Obama

As I don’t currently live in the US, and have only half an ear turned to the primaries, I was planning to abstain from this month’s focus on the election. However, having recently gone head-to-head on the issue over pints here in Britain, I decided I just couldn’t contain myself. Though I am, perhaps, not the most informed voter these days, here are the top ten reasons I shall be voting for Barack Obama:

10. Michelle & Co

After eight years of Laura Bush and her daughters, Condi, and truly frightful characters like Karen Hughes and Harriet Myers, the “women” of the Bush administration have left Americans utterly starved for role models who embody (all in one package) strength, success, intelligence, fun, warmth, and (dare I say it) femininity. So of course, the main appeal of Hillary is her potential to make the Viagra-popping greys in Washington shut up once and for all and sing “Hail to the Squaw.” Neverthless, as I can’t actually bring myself to like Hillary Clinton, I’m afraid my best hope for seeing a good woman tear up the White House is, yet again, as First Lady.

Enter Michelle Obama. Despite what preconceptions you might have about the “universality” of a church-going African American lady from Chicago’s Southside, this woman is a powerhouse. A graduate of Princeton and (like her husband) Harvard Law School, she was in fact Barack’s senior and mentor when he arrived for work at Chicago’s Sidley Austin law firm. She later quit the corporate world to work for Public Allies (a non-profit that promotes minorities in leadership positions) and the University of Chicago Medical Centre, which (unless she turns up as a candidate in a few years — unlikely, given her expressed reservations about leading such a public life already) tells me she might just have a soul. An impressive 5’11, named in Vanity Fair’s 2007 “Best Dressed” List, and the doting mother of 6-year old Sasha and 9-year old Malia, Michelle would bring style, grace, and new motherhood to the White House like no one since (dare I say it) Jackie O’, whilst still packing the intelligence, success, and anti-housewife punch reminiscent of another past First Lady (dare I say it)…Hillary Clinton. In short, as a “First Family,” I like the Obamas, and feel they have as much cred in the way of girl power and family values as any of Obama’s rivals.

9. He Might Just Restore Some Patriotism

This is (both personal and national) a pride issue. Having spent two of the last three years outside of the US, I’m so sick of having to disassociate myself from “my” president. Granted, in selecting a candidate we should choose the person who will best serve America. But as the most powerful person in the world the American president must also be someone who will not only express compassion and justice toward the rest of humanity (as opposed to mere warmongering) but who, as our representative, will actually improve our tattered image abroad. While the rest of the world whispers about the prospect of the US joining the embarrassingly long list of countries (among them Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Germany, the UK, Liberia, Jamaica, Chile, and most recently Argentina) who’ve already elected female heads of state, I personally think electing Barack Obama would symbol a more progressive and inspiring “first” than electing Hillary. Having so often faced the skepticism of folks abroad when I tell them I’m backing Barack Obama, what I want now is to prove their sort of grim disillusionment misguided.

8. He Thinks I’m Entitled to Healthcare

I realize Hillary has a good historical claim to this one, but in many senses healthcare is still Obama’s baby. Since early in his career he has stated unequivocally that he supports universally-available, affordable, quality healthcare in the US, and was among the first of the major candidates to present a comprehensive, informed plan to get us there. As one of the 50 million uninsured Americans, that’s all I need to know.

7. Forget the Beer. He and I Should Inhale Together

What can I say? Half the election is about personal charisma, and in my book, Obama has it. He likes to cook Mexican food, smokes the occasional cigarette, and cites poker as his “hidden talent.” He prefers basketball to football, claims to have Jay-Z in his iPod, and reads John le Carre books for fun. (Ugh. If I hear one more candidate say they’re reading “a biography of Thomas Jefferson…”) When asked whether he ever smoked weed Obama famously replied “I inhaled frequently. That was the point,” and he has even admitted to trying cocaine. While Dubya has given us eight years of mind-numbing incoherence and weird snarly “laughter,” Obama has shown he can actually tell a joke. Moreover, when he laughs, he bellows like a man! Simply put, I like the guy, and wouldn’t mind at all having to listen to him for the next few years.

6. He Cares About the Planet

Um, I realize we’re only on #6 but being the eco-pansy I am this actually was what sealed the deal for me. Aside from having a near-perfect rating from the League of Conservation Voters and a record of introducing almost 100 environment or energy related bills as a legislator, Obama’s presidential platform includes an impressive emphasis on environmental issues. He helped compose and vocally advocates the Sanders-Boxer cap-and-trade climate bill (the most ambitious bill of its kind calling for an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and crucially, auctioning instead of grandfathering of permits), he was instrumental in the Senate in raising auto fuel efficiency standards, he has wisely advocated focusing an environmental budget on appropriate clean technology (unlike nuclear) and energy efficiency, he has said he’s prepared to commit to a Kyoto-like agreement without waiting for China or India, he wants to strengthen the EPA and revamp clean air and clean water legislation, and he drives a hybrid. The only down side to Obama is that to date he’s supported corn-based ethanol, but then again none of his leading rivals haven’t, and he is from Illinois, so I’ll let that one slide. Perhaps most importantly, Obama has young children, which to me means when he says he wants to give “our” children a healthy planet he actually has to think about as long-term as I can realistically hope a president will.

5. I Like Hearing My Candidate in Hip-Hop Songs

Everyone likes to back a winner, and no matter his status in the polls Obama seems to have won over at least a few among the most vocal anti-government crowd, the rappers. As a relaxing pause to this article, please enjoy some Obama shout-outs:

Lil Sci (a.k.a. John Robinson) — “Hit Me (Remix)”

Talib Kweli — “Say Something”

4. I Really Do Consider Him Qualified

Abundant experience does not a good president make. Look at Bush. He was a two-term governor of a major state and the son of a past president, and is hands down the worst president ever. Obama might not know everything there is to know about being president, however, (as Jake rightly pointed out) he has admitted this, which speaks to a level of prudence and humility that I would embrace wholeheartedly in the next American president.

Moreover, call me young and ignorant but I don’t really think of Obama as inexperienced. His career as a state and national senator, though short, is legitimately packed with hard work, consensus building, creative and well-thought-out legislating, and general pro-action. All candidates, regardless of experience, face a leadership test in their ability to run and inspire an energetic presidential campaign, and at this Obama has succeeded with flying colors. Even if he were a complete Washington outsider (which of course, he isn’t) I would consider the paradigm shift a virtue, as we move away from the rich-old-white-man prototype and embrace someone ever-so-slightly different. Put succinctly, I like his ideas, and I believe he has the ability (as much any candidate) to make them a reality.

3. A People’s President?

There are no trade-offs with this man in terms of who he represents. He’s a win for black people. He’s a win for white people. He’s a win for bi-racial people, and for people who don’t give a damn about race. He’s a win for Muslims. He’s a win for Christians. He’s a win for non-religious people. He’s as much a win for rich and privileged Ivy League-graduates as for poor black kids from the Southside. He’s a win for immigrants. He’s a win for the under-50’s. I’m a white middle-class expatriate female in her twenties, and for some reason, I feel Obama represents me. That Obama is doing so well in the polls speaks more highly of American voters than the success of any other candidate. He is a win for tolerance, for overcoming ugly histories, for uniting, bridging, and healing. Aside from Kucinich (who I love, but who will never win) Obama is to me the biggest, most realistic hope for a truly populist president.

2. Where the Heart Is

My #2 reason is a sentimental one: I just don’t doubt his sincerity. This relates closely to Reasons No. 5 and 7, but there’s nothing about Barack Obama that feels like a compromise. If elected, he would probably be our least “American” president since the dudes who were born before America existed, and yet I never question his patriotism. I believe he loves his country, and for the right reasons. While I deeply believe he cares about non-Americans (such as Darfurians and Iraqis) I also believe his chief concern is domestic issues. Call me bamboozled but I believe Obama’s interest in consensus-building is genuine – with the exception of some admittedly disappointing tit-for-tats with Mrs. Clinton during this primary I get the sense that he really does try to raise the quality of political public debate. Unlike Hillary, he didn’t carpetbag for his seat in the Senate, and also unlike Hillary, I don’t get the sense that Obama “believes” strictly what is politically advantageous. (For example, to my knowledge he’s the only leading candidate on either side who’s introduced a bill to prevent election fraud, and has said publicly he’d like the general election to be subject to campaign spending limits.) He is, frankly, an intellectual. His books, speeches, and performances in unrehearsed debates and interviews leave no doubt in my mind that he’s a gifted wordsmith and a progressive and dynamic thinker. The (relative) absence of nonsense catch phrases in his campaign leads me to be believe Obama isn’t about unwaivering party lines or blind political absolutisms, but rather, meeting the everchanging needs of his country. Finally, I’m down with his faith. While I don’t identify religiously as he does, Barack Obama has said some of the most compelling and intelligent things I’ve heard a public figure say about the role of spirituality in America, making him the first candidate in my memory who’s faith I’d actually like to share.

1. He Can Win a General Election

And at the end of the day, the sorry state of American politics brings us to this crucial point. Yeah, yeah, Hillary has the most support among Democrats. But as many (including our authors) have observed, there are compelling reasons to fear her ability to actually defeat whatever nominee the Republicans produce. You saw it here on the Seminal: a solid 50% of Americans simply would never vote for Hillary, while only 37% would never vote for Obama. Moreover, multi-scenario predictive polls have suggested Obama can secure a more comfortable lead over Giuliani, Thompson, Romney, or perhaps more importantly, Huckabee, than Hillary Clinton. In short, in a general election the man would carry all the positives of Hillary (except experience…if you really consider being First Lady “experience”) without her abundant negatives, meaning he can bring this one home for the Blues.

So there you have it, my one-pint-ten-point spiel. Apologies to John and Elizabeth Edwards for making this primarily an “Obama v Clinton” comparative piece, but then again, this is about as complex as I can make it on a Friday night in Brixton.

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