Thursday, January 10, 2008

Naming a president

How to pick a president? Right up front, I've got to go with the person who reflects my political, social and moral beliefs. For me, that means a strongly entrenched leftist. It means someone who believes that morality and family values means feeding the hungry, clothing the ill clad, providing healthcare for the sick and sheltering the homeless. It means someone who is NOT interested in what I do in the privacy of my own home or within the confines of my own body. It also means someone who understands that mythology is not science and that the free study and expression of science, technical skills and the arts are key elements in developing our youth and our future.
All that pretty much eliminates all the current republican contenders.
I'd like someone who understands the Constitution of the United States and is willing to make the defense and protection of the pursuit of the principles put forth in that document their number one priority. Afterall, the Constitution states that as the prime function of the administrative branch of government.

Up until recently I thought that the best way to pick a president was to get the person who was most qualified for the job. You'd have to look at foreign policy experience, domestic policy, economic know how and all those other academic type areas of knowledge. With that I was an early supporter of Bill Richardson. There isn't anyone among the dems who has more experience than he.
Well, it became obvious that Richardson's campaign was going nowhere. Let's face it, the guy just doesn't have media appeal. So I looked at the remaining candidates and the one who believed the most like I do and the one who was addressing the real issues of the working class, foreign policy and really digging at the meat of todays problems was John Edwards. So I became an Edwards supporter.
OK, so Edwards doesn't seem to be carrying the day in 2008. People are looking for something different. Hell, I'm looking for something different which is why I became such a strong Edwards supporter but it doesn't look like he's going anywhere in '08. Damn, and I thought an Obama-Edwards ticket would be ideal.

Well, that leaves me with chosing between Clinton and Obama.
Sure it'd be great to see a woman as president. We've waited long enough and so many women are ready. Hillary is probably quite capable of being president.
Obama is a bit limitted in his experience. He has only been a United States Senator for a few years and has virtually no foreign policy experience. Isn't that what it's going to take to get us out of the mess we've made for ourselves iin the world today? As much as I think the time is right and we need a black man to lead us out of the cold unfriendly environment we've created in this country, maybe we'd better go with Hillary. . . but then it happened. I listened to Mr Obama give a speech. It was his victory speech the night he won the Iowa caucuses. Holy shit! This guy is a communicator. This guy inspires. This guy could really lead! He's fucking brilliant in his oratory skills. He sounded like the old time statemen. I as reminded of Jack Kennedy with just the slightest hint of Martin thrown in every once-in-awhile. Holy FUCKING shit. We've got ourselves someone who can lead, inspire and communicate with the masses.
Now let's face it, the president doesn't have to be an intellectual gold medalist. We've certainly had that proven to us in the past 40 years, but what a president really neeeds to do is get up there and speak to the American people and get them behind his the vision and the goals he sets down. I believe that no one among the group of current contenders will be able to do that the way Barack Obama will be able to do it. IN fact, no one in the past 45 years has come close to Obama's oratory skills. "But Sage Hillbilly, he doesn't have any experience working with foreign leaders or anything else!" So what. He can hire that. There will be hundreds of perfectly qualified candidates lined up for positions in an Obama cabinet. Hell, Bill Richardson will need a job as will Bill and Hill Clinton and John Edwards. A president needs to surround himself with people who can deliver the information he needs. He doesn't need to be the guy with all the knowledge. He just needs to be able to deliver it to the American people and the leaders and citizens of the world.

I'M FOR BARACK OBAMA! I believe he can become the greatest president we've had since FDR or even Lincoln.

I've just got one suggestion for the Obama campaign. Sooner or later you're going to have to appeal to the millions of white male voters in America. If you don't get a good portion of their vote, you aint gonna sit in the house on Pennsylvania Ave. so here's my suggestion. . . just a though, it might be bad, but think about it. . . start referring to Barack as "Barry" now and then. White America is always going to be a little tiny bit hesitant with the Islamic name. They just are and there is nothing you can do about it. Sorry. Maybe in a few years they'll change, but you don't have time for that. In the meantime, slowly introduce "Barry" to the public. Let's face it, Barry is not Islamic. Most of the Barrys I've known except for my cousin were Jews. How can you beat that? It will break down just one more barrier in the road to the White House that winds slowly and long through middle white America.

But I'm with you whatever Barry! OBAMA '08!!! We WILL change and we WILL feel good about it.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

I am curious as to why you don't consider Dennis Kucinich, he espouses all the left of the center beliefs that I know of..

Obama, on the other hand only partially does.

SagaciousHillbilly said...

Yes, Kucinich is probably closest to my political center, but you gotta look at reality. Kucinich is about as electable as my flock of turkeys.
I love the guy ever since he was the youngest mayor in America back in the 70s and I think it's great he was elected to congress, but he's not going to get elected president in this lifetime.
Yea, yea, ideology is all well and good if you're 21, but as a pragmatic 50 something I don't just vote with my heart anymore.

Unknown said...

I too am a fifty-something. I understand what your saying and on a certain level agree with you.

I just hold on to my romantic notion that I must vote my conscience, thats all ;)

Buzzardbilly said...

Honestly, I'll vote for anyone who doesn't have a strong connection to Bush or any of his leanings.

Forrest Proper said...

Yes, Kucinich is 1st choivce, and Edwards is great too, but I suspect by the tim,e we vote, it's going to be Obama vs. Hillary, and I would never vote for a Republican-lite like Hillary.

Experience is over-rated. I remember the story about JFK during the Cuban missile crisis- all his "experienced" advisors wanted him to attack the Russian ships when they got to the first "stop" line, but JFK felt, in his gut, that he had to give the Russians a bit more time, so he did. Now we find out that if he had followed the advice of his experienced advisors the Russians would have retaliated and we'd have been in WWIII.

Fuck experience, I want a decent human bean as President.

Simply Curious said...

Can't we all just vote for the guy that looks the best in a speedo?

Anne Van Meter said...

Within one paragraph, I knew, beyond a doubt...

I love you SagaciousHillbilly!!!

I think Hillary would be fantastic to talk with, but I think that her ties and her goals have changed dramatically since she tried to make herself co-president and take action on healthcare and family issues 15 years ago.

Now? I want someone intelligent, brave, not tied into oil-wealth, pro-education, -choice, -healthcare, -evolution. Obama is looking better all the time.