An open note to Senator Obama: Ok, so the calls have been made, the letters written, the pamphlets distributed, and several people have trudged through the snow to my door to let me know they care. I’ve listened, I’ve mused, and I think my decision has been well-placed. You got my caucus last night — please don’t make me wish I had supported someone else.

I attended my local precinct last night mostly because I’m amused by the entire process and it’s one of the few places where my presence has some sort of true impact on numbers. Consider my particular location — we had a total of 80 people present, so my voice was about 1.25% of the total, whereas in the entire United States, my vote is approximately worth 4 ten-millionths of a percent. Oh, wait! The Electoral College pretty much destroys that entirely. Nevermind.

Out of the group, Obama got 35, Clinton got 2?, and Edwards got a similar 2?. A few people tried to go for Dodd or Biden but quickly shifted to one of the three camps once they saw that the viability of their position was, at best, poor. The caucus itself was fairly uneventful — no speeches were made, we just gathered and then proceeded to spend far more time counting each other than any group of semi-intelligent beings should ever waste. As soon as everyone was accounted for, 95% of the people left. As it turned out, they still had to elect delegates to the county meeting and, since I was one of the few left behind in the Obama camp, I am now one of the seven delegates to my county’s meeting, which appears to me to be little more than a formality.

My reasons behind picking Obama were many, although there weren’t really any Democrats that I didn’t like in some fashion or another. About the only thing I don’t like is his stance on abortion, but where can you find a pro-life Democrat anywhere? I pick my battles, I guess.

Here’s my overriding reason, which I would have stated at the caucus had that sort of thing come up: When choosing a president, you can support someone that is a radical, wants to make big changes, or really sees a government running different from the way it currently is but in the end it’s a stupid thing to do. Why? Change is good — don’t get me wrong. Different viewpoints are appreciated and welcomed as well.

But there’s a balance to be struck — the world is what it is, and government works in a certain way. Remember, the president is simply the head of the executive branch. There’s 485 other people in Congress that you have to get everything past first and if you can’t work with them, your radicalisms won’t do you any good. The best of intentions will simply lead you to a migrane. The best candidate who will be successful is the one who can straddle the fine line between new ideas/change and the status quo, and I think Obama has that quality.

Here for your pleasure is a rundown of my thoughts on the candidates of which I have an opinion about. If you don’t give a wet slap, feel free to mosey on down the road to your next website:

John Edwards – As a person, I really like Edwards. I think he has a great personality, seems like a solid, hard-working kind of guy, and would be the sort of man you’d find behind a grill at a family reunion with a smile and a sizzling burger for everyone that came by. That being said, I think he is too radically blue-collar oriented. I realize that he is championing for the common man, but the fact is that the changes he proposes to help the common man go violently against the way the system currently works. Sure, I’m all for change in this area to prevent corruption, greed, and so forth, but you can’t change it overnight and Edwards’ plan proposes changes that would ultimately impact the economy in a negative manner. It’s a pity — I think he has a lot of down-home common sense, and as Aprille stated, he and his wife are a class act. I just think he’s too far off the dart board to be viable. Oh, and for future reference Mr. Edwards? The whole mailing-pamphlets-like-hail thing? You came on a bit strong.


Hillary Clinton – I think Hillary has a lot of powerful ideas and I’m interested in the idea of a female president; I think it would lend some interesting emotional leveling to the position. That being said, in terms of change, I worry that she sits too much in the camp of “business as usual” and will be easily pulled into that position again as president. Sure, she’ll make change as a Democrat, but I wonder if her ideas are fresh enough to really break out of the status quo and push for new thoughts and processes in Washington. I don’t think this is the case. I believe she is so able to bridge the gap between parties that she will compromise to an excess instead of standing ground on some key issues. If I had a choice between keeping things steady or throwing the state of the Union into chaos incarnate, well — I’d rather we not rock the boat. But I think it’s time for some new directions, and I don’t know if Hillary can steer the van hard enough. For the record, however, she has a hell of a resource in her husband campaigning for her. He gives one amazing speech.


Ron Paul – Gosh I love this guy — solid, true to himself and his beliefs, articulate and interesting to listen to, and not afraid to speak his mind. It’s a shame his position isn’t viable in our government system. Again, he’s too far off the target to make an impact. Electing Ron Paul into office results in a lame duck that can flap its wings all it wants, veto veto veto, and end up with nothing useful by the end of the term. Pure visionary radicals like Paul won’t make changes because the system is designed to filter out ideas that are off the chart. A pity — I’d champion this guy in a second if I thought he’d be effective. Ron, anytime you’re in town, lunch is on me.


Mike Huckabee - No, no, No, NO, NO! How many times do I have to tell you people, you do NOT want government involved in religion? This includes someone who is running and getting votes solely on the basis that he is a good, Christian man. What, I ask, does that have to do with the price of tea in China? The fact that Huckabee won Iowa makes me feel ashamed and dirty.


Mitt Romney - My opinion of him actually has nothing at all to do with religion because, if anything, he’s been the best at keeping his belief system out of the race. The thing that creeps me out about Romney is how much he just reeks of old-school Republican good-ol’-boys club scent. His entire demeanor is geared towards being a schmuck. Even if he had the best policies in the world, I couldn’t place my trust in him because he just feels like a weasel.


Rudy Giuliani - O.M.G. You have to be kidding. A guy whose entire platform is based around a notion of, “I dealt with NYC on 9/11, therefore I can deal with the country.” Besides being a total asshole, Giuliani is incompetent and overblown.


Barack Obama – Articulate (and I use that in the non-offensive way), sharp, clear, straightforward, and with an incredible ability to balance both common sense and a reaching for the stars. He is the best combination, as I stated above, of the power of change and the smarts to keep from making changes that will screw up the system. He has made plenty of bold statements, promises, and ideas without going outside the realm of what is possible and plausible. He has reasons for his positions and a pretty clear idea on how he’ll implement them. At this point, I don’t expect rock-solid plans, but I do think you need to have some thoughts on it, and he has some pretty clear ones.


That is, in effect, my rundown. The other candidates I haven’t paid enough attention to or they haven’t left enough of a mark on me to matter.

So, what do you think of the whole she-bang so far? Interesting? Stupid? Too early to tell? Don’t care?