(Untitled)

[nylan]

From my posts of late, I'm sure you all have picked up on the fact that I've been reading up on and learning more about the Obama campaign of late. And yes, I'm certainly leaning strongly that way. But I do have a question: for those that have leanings to other candidates, would you please share your opinions on that with some explanation of why

Comments

[nylan]

The problem I have is that so often those things are ideals more than anything. I mean, reading through what he'd like to see happen, it sounds great. But do you really think he'll be able to accomplish it? We're talking some huge, sweeping changes in there. I don't doubt that he can accomplish some of it, but I doubt he can put it all in place in 4 years, especially working through a congress and senate that are going to dispute things.

So often, with huge policies like that, it's all interconnected. You pull the money from one front to fund another. That works fine if you can get that money, but if the congress won't let you cut that money, then you have to find another place to get the money or just not spend it.

Maybe that's why I'm excited about Obama's campaign. Not because of what he says he wants to accomplish in terms of policies... but because of the more simple, more basic premise he's running on. He's saying "you should be involved in your government, you should have the opportunity to have a say." But even more simply, he's saying "if you want things to change, you need to stand up and get involved and start changing them." Some of his policies are aimed at making it easier for people to get involved--putting information online in an easy-to-access format for people to review and stay involved, creating a website for people to give feedback and comment on bills from congress for days before he signs or vetos it, etc.--but the core premise he's running on is that we need to get more involved. And all the campaigning in the world won't matter if people don't take a more active hand in the government. It's a message of hope and empowerment, saying that we can change the government, that we can change the world. That's a powerful message, and one I think this generation is really ready for. We're tired of this stagnation, we're tired of seeing things slowly slide into shit.

It's not about specific policies. I don't hear that note of empowerment in either of the other campaigns, and I think that's what I'm missing and longing for. McCain wants to keep the priority on combatting terrorism and islamic extremists... ok, I can respect the reasoning there even if I don't know that I agree with it. But, to me, what I want to hear then is not just that he wants to keep it going, I want to hear what we can do to help if we do agree with him. Donations to a war fund, baked goods/cards/care packages we can send to the troops? Some period of enlistment for general Americans who aren't in the armed forces but do want to help out? I want to hear how we can get involved.

[dandelion_wings]

"Maybe that's why I'm excited about Obama's campaign. Not because of what he says he wants to accomplish in terms of policies... but because of the more simple, more basic premise he's running on. He's saying "you should be involved in your government, you should have the opportunity to have a say." But even more simply, he's saying "if you want things to change, you need to stand up and get involved and start changing them." Some of his policies are aimed at making it easier for people to get involved--putting information online in an easy-to-access format for people to review and stay involved, creating a website for people to give feedback and comment on bills from congress for days before he signs or vetos it, etc.--but the core premise he's running on is that we need to get more involved. And all the campaigning in the world won't matter if people don't take a more active hand in the government. It's a message of hope and empowerment, saying that we can change the government, that we can change the world. That's a powerful message, and one I think this generation is really ready for. We're tired of this stagnation, we're tired of seeing things slowly slide into shit."

a lot of his policy ideas are similar to clinton's. and i hear a lot of talk from others that say that they are tired of his speeches and want to hear what he says about the 'issues'---personally, i think the way he has been running his campaign is EXACTLY what many of us need. we need to feel a part of it, we need to feel that we can make a difference, we need the 'hope' that 'yes we can'. you hit it right on the head. and as far as his policies go---i can and have read them on his website. :)