Marin IJ Endorses Barack Obama

[JustMyOpinion]

Yes, I know, this is no big surprise since it's Marin, please...

I have been reading the well researched and articulate posts in this forum for weeks. I admit I have learned a lot and respect the opinions posted.

I have always hated politics, and when I was younger (much younger) I didn't vote because I felt that our vote in CA didn't matter, and all politicians were liers and sophisticated salespeople vying to get a top job. Well, there's still some truth to that, but now as a mature adult I want to make the best decision that my conscience can live with, and it has been difficult.

I am an Independent voter keeping my options open to vote for the best person for the job whether they represent the right, or left and and I have looked at both sides as carefully as possible. It is frustrating because I don't think either party offers a best choice, Obama is inexperienced, McCain chose a VP running mate that doesn't have enough experience to be president if McCain becomes ill, dies etc. and that is a realistic possibility.

After reading the all of the posts here I am sure I am not as qualified as many of you to make a decision based on vast knowledge, and I am not alone. The article I am posting speaks for a lot of people like myself, it is simplistic, and the reasons that Obama appears to be the best of the two choices is simplistic. The highlighted areas below are my sticking points when it comes to supporting McCain.

IJ endorses Barack Obama for president
Staff Report
Article Launched: 10/19/2008 12:06:44 AM PDT

SEN. BARACK OBAMA is the right person, at the right time, to lead our nation. During this long campaign for president, he has proved his mettle as a courageous, thoughtful and articulate leader.
There is much at stake. The election will make history at a time when many voters are desperate for change.

President George W. Bush, who in 2000 said he was "a uniter, not a divider," is handing over the helm of a nation that is more divided than when he was sworn in at president in 2001. We are a nation that is entrenched in a costly war that many Americans oppose. We are a nation facing a daily dismantling of an economic framework in which we have long believed and invested. We are a nation that has seen our country's global image as a beacon of economic strength and human rights sink as rapidly as the Dow Jones in recent weeks. We are a nation that wonders, "How do we get out of this mess?"

The next president - whether he be John McCain or Barack Obama - has to unite the country and prepare it for a period of significant change.

Obama is the best choice to lead our nation as we approach a future that is filled with uncertainty.

His commitment to hope and change are more than political rhetoric. His inspiring life - punctuated by becoming the first African American to be a major party nominee for president - embodies hope and change.

At 47 and in his first term in the Senate, he can't match 72-year-old McCain's political experience. There's no question that
Sen. McCain is a fighter. He's earned that reputation as a pilot in war, as a POW in Hanoi, in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail. His nomination as the Republican candidate is a reflection of the respect he has earned and deserves. But Obama's campaign has included such important benchmarks as respect, civility and judgment.

His choice of Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as his vice president was an important example of good judgment.

A candidate's selection of a vice president is a critical reflection on his leadership and character. Biden adds an extra measure of leadership and experience to Obama's ticket.

McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was both impressive and shocking. It was impressive as a history-making acknowledgment of women's growing role in presidential politics. It was shocking in that Palin, while deserving of respect as a governor, has demonstrated before and since her nomination that she cannot possibly be the best-qualified female candidate McCain could have found.

Although touted as having the "executive experience" that Obama lacks, Palin's resume includes serving as mayor of a town that's smaller than Sausalito and as Alaska's governor for two years.

We'll take Obama's experience.

Palin's selection reflects what is troubling about McCain's candidacy. After building a well-earned reputation for being independent and a reform-minded maverick, McCain's campaign has veered too far to the right. Palin's selection amounts to a political maneuver that doesn't reflect an interest in uniting our divided nation. It was a critical lapse in judgment by an individual who wants to be our president.

Our nation faces some hard realities when it comes to national security, economic stability and environmental sustainability.

Obama has faced huge challenges in his life, his political career and this long campaign. He is confident, mature, measured and smart.

His election also would send a clear message to the rest of the world that the United States is serious about rebuilding its battered image.

Obama would help us find a way to bridge the partisan, cultural and economic divides that too often polarize our nation and hold it back.

The IJ endorses Barack Obama for president.

This election has turned people on each other, even in this forum and that is a shame since we all need to find a way to respect each other, and work together despite our differences.

[The Big Dog]

So the article isn't so much a ringing endorsement of Obama as it is a belittling, identy politics attack on McCain and Palin.

About what I would have expected from the Marin Incoherent Urinal. They are catering to their audience having lost sight of the fact that for the 254K or so leftists that inhabit Marin, there are hundreds of millions of people across the country who will suffer because of it.

The IJ's endorsement is hardly courageous since Barack holds a 20 point or so lead in California and probably double that in Marin.

So what are some papers in states where there is actually a race thinking? How about this morning's Columbus, OH, Dispatch, which is looking at issues instead of trotting out attack dog talking points.

Makes me wonder if the editorial board at the IJ thinks that their audience is a bunch of pretty, spoiled ponies too who look great but are too stupid to think any deeper than a talking point.

For president: John McCain

[/url]
A lifetime of sacrifice and service make John McCain best choice

Sunday, October 19, 2008 3:39 AM


For president of the United States, The Dispatch endorses Republican Sen. John McCain, whose experience, service and sacrifice for his country make him more qualified to lead the nation.

McCain's Democratic opponent, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, is a rousing motivational speaker, but his experience and achievements -- eight years in the Illinois Legislature and less than four in the U.S. Senate -- do not stand comparison with McCain's.

A resume containing so little evidence of leadership and accomplishment leaves in question Obama's ability to handle the most responsible and difficult job in the world, especially at a time when the nation faces a combination of problems so large and complex that they would challenge even the most seasoned leader.

Nor does it seem likely that a man who has traveled in the left lane of American politics for his entire adult life really is the bipartisan centrist that he claims to be. And with Democrats already in control of the U.S. House and Senate -- and the possibility that they might gain a filibuster-proof majority in the next Senate -- there would be little to check the inevitable excesses of one-party rule if a Democrat wins the White House.

This could have a profound effect on the U.S. Supreme Court. A divided Senate acts as a check on presidential nominations to the court by preventing the confirmation of justices with extreme views. But with a filibuster-proof Senate majority ready to do his bidding, Obama would have the unfettered ability to appoint justices likely to be judicial activists, eager to launch a new era of legislating from the bench. Such a Supreme Court could end up as a rubber stamp for, rather than a check on, the White House and Congress.

While neither party can make a credible claim to fiscal responsibility, the dangers of more deficit spending, a growing national debt and uncontrollable entitlement spending are likely greater with an Obama administration. Democrats have not controlled the White House and Congress simultaneously since 1994. A return to majority status is likely to unleash pent-up demand to enact a Democratic wish list of new and expensive social programs when the nation can't afford the ones it has. Given his party-line voting record in the Senate, there is no indication that Obama is able or willing to stand against such an onslaught.

But many of the policy choices the nation will have to make in the next four years are monumental and should be the result of a bipartisan dialogue, not of unchecked one-party dictate.

Debate and political give and take ensure that decisions have been fully vetted, that all interests and concerns have been weighed and that the resulting decisions enjoy broad public support.

Unlike Obama, McCain has a record of bipartisanship: He was a member of the Gang of 14 Republican and Democratic senators who joined in 2005 to preserve the Senate filibuster rule. Note that this courageous act, which enraged the Republican Senate leadership, preserved the filibuster power for what was then the Democratic minority in the Senate. And that was not the only time that McCain has bucked his party.

<< snipped >>

Among the top problems facing the United States is its dire fiscal situation. The nation has a $10 trillion debt and other unfunded obligations to entitlement programs that total $53 trillion. The federal deficit this year is nearly $458 billion and some project the 2009 deficit could hit $700 billion. Despite these staggering numbers, lawmakers and the president just approved a $700 billion Wall Street bailout that they don't have the money to pay for. In short, the United States is dangerously overextended at a time when a worldwide recession threatens.

For years, The Dispatch has called on the president and Congress to deal with this massive, mounting debt which threatens the prosperity and quality of life of generations to come. But year after year, the nation's leaders have kicked the problem down the road.

Seriously confronting this problem will require a president able to call on Americans to make sacrifices for the sake of their grandchildren.

The president will have to ask them to accept cuts in popular programs, tax increases and lowered expectations of what government can afford to do.

Because of the personal sacrifices that McCain has made for the nation, he has unmatched moral authority to call on Americans to take their medicine. If elected, that is precisely what he should do.

The Dispatch urges voters to elect John McCain as president.[/quote]

[The New Guy]

the marin IJ endorses obama? shocking!!!

i did find it a little more than odd how they used a large portion of their endorsement to run down palin's "limited" experience but never mentioned obama's experience at all. even the marin IJ realizes he has none to speak of.

as i've said before libs are a bit jealous of the fact that palin uses a stapler to put her resume together and obama doesn't require one.

[JustMyOpinion]

To respond:

I'd posted:

The article I am posting speaks for a lot of people like myself, it is simplistic, and the reasons that Obama appears to be the best of the two choices is simplistic.

I did not post the article because it was the best written available. I posted it because in a simple fashion it provides why some people feel Obama is a better choice despite his lack of vast experience. Actually, that is the point, McCain is too much the same ole, same ole, and to add he is showing his age, and while Palin has some experience in her Alaskan world I doubt she would know how to tame the DC sharks in a frenzy mode if called upon to be president.

Personally, I think McCain's campaign strategy of tapping into the emotions of the good ole Joe's, and you're just like us "stuff" is a mistake, and actually I think it is insulting. Americans are generally much smarter than to fall for the dumbing down campaign, and frankly that's when they lost me, and even some of the Republican voters for that matter. I don't want leaders that are like the average American, I want a leader that is capable of dealing with all levels of people, and possesses the abilities to understand the complexities of social class differences, to intellectually match, and exceed highly educated persons, to diplomatically work with, and manipulate political powers in the US and abroad, and that requires skill. The average Joe/Jane doesn't have those attributes, let's not fool ourselves. While I acknowledge many of you are very knowledgeable we need leaders that are not like us (so to speak), but are presidential and diplomatic instead.

All of the insults, detailed responses, smotes, and quick wit here will not change how I feel either...

[The New Guy]

frankly, we don't concern ourselves much with how one feels around here. we are mostly a thinking crew and prefer one's logical perspective rather than emotions on a particular topic. sorry to be so blunt but it needed to be said.

now back to our topic...

GWB was well known for working across the aisle as gov of texas. one of his regrets after being in DC for a while was that he couldn't get people there to play ball. it's hard to teach old dogs new tricks. congress is simply stuck in their partisan political ways and for the most part refuse to budge on anything. while we find it fashionable to run down the president for most anything that happens or fails to happen in washington, it is really the congress who should bear the brunt of our discontent.

but you really think obama will wave a magic wand upon his arrival, don't you?

cotton candy clouds, rainbow colored unicorns, and sparkly dust for everyone...

[JustMyOpinion]

Why TNG, you just have me all figured out don't you? I base all decisions based on emotion, and I needed to be put in my place. I can't wait for Barry to save the world, why, I've said all along he's the best, never once doubted it...

You've missed my point ole logical one.

[The New Guy]

then please help me see the light. ;D

[Mink]

All of the insults, detailed responses, smotes, and quick wit here will not change how I feel either...

More power to you JMO!! You go Girl

[JustMyOpinion]

Oct 22, 2008 15:27:33 GMT -5 The New Guy said:

then please help me see the light. ;D

I wish I could! ;D

[The New Guy]

maybe you need more wattage. your CFL isn't doing the trick.

[JustMyOpinion]

Oct 23, 2008 23:25:43 GMT -5 The New Guy said:

maybe you need more wattage. your CFL isn't doing the trick.

Cute!