obamamania

[caspian_x]

Look, I think I get it - at least to a small degree. He's a great orator. He's young. He's not considered a Washington 'insider'. He talks about change and bringing the nation together. I'll even go so far as to say that he's inspiring (at least in theory. When you disagree with nearly every substantive thing the man says, it's difficult to truly

Comments

[clayfoot]

Yes, we can!

I don't get it either. He's only 4 years out of the Illinois legislature. He hasn't even had time to accomplish much. I worry that he'll get into office and pencil whip every spending measure the Democratic Congress sends him, just like Bush did with the Republicans.

[caspian_x]

IAWTC

[ubersaurus]

Well, certainly he's had a voting record in the senate that one can find some tidbits from. I read a good article about that just the other day, let me see if I can find the link.

Yes, here we are.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23276453/

I think the little box listing 10 key votes from Obama in the senate sum up why *I* like him. He's stuck to his guns, and they're guns I can agree with.

Not being in Illinois I can't conveniently look up anything from his 4000 vote log there, but I'd assume that for the most part it would follow a similar liberal line.

[caspian_x]

Oh I'm sure his voting record is very liberal, no question. But I was talking more about actual accomplishments. Bills introduced, sponsored, that kind of think. Some of the links people posted here have educated me a bit on that because I really hadn't heard of many of them (and considering there's absolutely zero chance of me voting for him given his far, far left record, I hadn't really looked into much).

I do enjoy, however, that everyone keeps saying that he'll bring people together and get stuff done, yet at the same time he sticks to his guns, which are the Senate's most liberal guns of 2007. If he really does stick to his guns and he really is as liberal as I think he is, then how exactly is he gonna "bring people together" and "get stuff done"?

[ubersaurus]

Well, you said it yourself. He's likeable and charismatic. If someone doesn't pay much attention to politics, they'll probably go along with him on those points alone.

More likely it's just the same thing every politician says every election(remember when Bush was the "compassionate conservative" who'd reach across the aisle?) and I don't think anyone takes that kind of talk seriously. But we can all dream. It may happen eventually!

[k_sui]

HAHAHAHA

You want style and substance?

How quaint.

[caspian_x]

No. Style is nice. Substance is more important. All I see from Obama is the former, which causes me to scratch my head,

[k_sui]

Well, Uber's link was pretty good.

Here's the wiki:

As a state legislator, Obama gained bipartisan support for legislation reforming ethics and health care laws. He sponsored a law enhancing tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and promoted increased subsidies for childcare. Obama also led the passage of legislation mandating videotaping of homicide interrogations, and a law to monitor racial profiling by requiring police to record the race of drivers they stopped.

Sounds pretty traditionally Democratic. And I know he's a huge support of E-85 which I recall you not liking.

[mirlandano]

Funny you should mention E-85, that's actually one of my bigger issues with Obama. While I was working on a project for GM's Live Green Go Yellow campaign, I really turned in my support of the stuff. It's just not a good environmental choice though it's a decent something for a transition. My fear is that building the infrastructure to support the transition will take both distract us and cause us problems in the future.

I really wish that his environmental policy would reflect that better.

Bad post timing, buddy. I only got 7 mins left at work

[resk]

But what has Barack Obama actually accomplished?

Extremely easy, fast wiki result.

But that's not your BIG question, which is THIS:

So I ask you, those of you who are giddy with Obamamania, besides his great oratory skills, what is it about him that you so adore?

I BELIEVE him. He is the most sincere candidate I have ever seen. I believe that he can bring about change because HE believes it

Re: Bad post timing, buddy. I only got 7 mins left at work

[caspian_x]

Well, in terms of my big question, I think you just answered it: nothing. I assjme that it's not his dashing good looks that make you believe in him, but rather his oratory skills: what he says, how he says it. If that's all it takes to create a political fervor these days, I'm kinda scared for our country.

Re: Bad post timing, buddy. I only got 7 mins left at work

[thunderclap8]

I think that's all its ever taken to create a political fervor in the US. I would even argue that you can't create a fervor without great oratory skill.

Re: Bad post timing, buddy. I only got 7 mins left at work

[caspian_x]

A fair point. Though how the heck do we explain Bush, then?

I guess I just find it sad that a man with relatively few political accomplishments (one might argue zero major accomplishments) has this huge frothy swarm of support and may very well be our next President.

[9thmoon]

I'm really having trouble biting my tongue when the Obama fangirls start in. They don't sound like adults talking about politicians, they sound like teenage girls talking about The Beatles. It's really disturbing. What's more disturbing is that I find him quite charismatic, and that I can't find hardly any information about his _actual_ stances on the issues. He's good at saying what people want to hear, that's for sure. And part of me thinks that (if he is) a moderate Socia- I mean, uh, Democrat might be better for our country right now than that smarmy s.o.b. who almost assuredly has the Republican nomination wrapped up.

[caspian_x]

I do find myself liking his optimism. At least until he starts talking about issues, which is quite rare. He's usually talking about 'hope' or 'the future' or 'change' or some other vague obscurity that couldn't possibly be seen as controversial.

If there wasn't a war on that I think will be seen 50 to 100 years from now as a major defining moment in world history, I might be tempted to go with the Republican pundits, stand against McCain on principle, and vote for a Democrat. Since, however, I agree with McCain on the Middle East and on Healthcare, ans since those are really my two biggest issues, I'm slowly warming up to the smarmy sob.

[clayfoot]

The problem with Washington! Don't for get about that issue!

[clayfoot]

Me, too. I actually like that he voted against the Iraq war from the beginning, but I can't find anything else to recommend him, and I'm baffled by his supporters' enthusiasm for him, even though they don't seem to know anything about his experience, either.