Tuesday, September 23, 2008 | by nathan

Why I’m Voting Obama (Part 1)

A couple people have asked me for an accounting of why I’m voting for Obama in this election cycle. I don’t want this to turn into a political blog; I really don’t, but I do believe that a lot is at stake in this election, a whole lot, and I’m by no means a pundit, but I can’t resist. Unless things get nasty in my comments (please don’t be nasty in my comments) I think I’m going to try to do one of these a week until the election. If you hate this sort of thing as much as I USUALLY do, please feel free to look at the pretty pictures.

My dad was born in 1935, six and a half years before the start of World War II, right in the middle of the Great Depression. He grew up in rural western Arkansas, just over the Oklahoma state line, as FDR’s New Deal was getting food and jobs to people just like his family all across America. He and his family saw people and communities righted and redeemed by the New Deal.

My dad, more than any other person, is responsible for the formation of my political beliefs as they now stand and have stood for a long time, because my dad taught me to believe that hard work will get you almost anywhere you want to go in life. He taught me that none of us stand alone, and that America’s greatness exists primarily in its people’s willingness to work together, to accomplish things together, to help each other out, to be great, together.

Lofty ideals to be sure, but my dad is almost 3 quarters of a century old now, and he still holds fast to them with passion and hope. Like me he simply does not understand why some people cannot countenance paying taxes so that children can be assured healthcare. Like me, he doesn’t understand why anyone needs a Hummer, or how Karl Rove or Pat Robertson can sleep at night knowing they’ve frightened millions of very poor, very religious and faithful people into voting against their own economic interests. Like me he doesn’t believe that government is automatically bad or good, that it’s just what it promises to be: We The People.

My parents are liberals, and they raised me with a certain set of values to which I adhere tightly, because to me they seem right. Barack Obama’s campaign and message embodies to me, more than any I’ve ever seen, what my parents taught me to believe in: that America, while not perfect, is capable of being its best when its people decide to work together to help one another out, rather than to let fear divide us. We’re at our best when we sacrifice for the good of all of us rather than let greed and fear turn us against one another.

I sound like one of those Barack-Obama-is-the-Messiah apologists now, so I’ll just say that I’ve read all his position papers and that I by no means think the man - or the campaign - is perfect, and if you’re one of those on-the-fence voters saying, "But what do we really know about him?", I’d say you’re being inexcusably lazy considering that this is the Internet age and there’s a wealth of information out there. If reading position papers or issues statements just isn’t something you’re capable of, then you don’t get to make this claim.

But when it comes down to it, I can honestly say that I’m voting for Barack Obama largely because he seems to share this vision of America that my parents raised me with: as a place where hard work and determination will get you where you want to go, and where we don’t let big business and corporate interests compromise that guarantee, and where we all sacrifice some, and work together to try to reach consensus and make our society a better one for all of us. That’s what I was raised to believe, and I see those beliefs reflected in Barack and Michelle Obama, in Joe and Jill Biden, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Andrew and Apple Rice, Jim Roth, and many, many others, and that’s why I’m a Democrat.