[Grovenet] If you support Obama . . . .

[Katie Allnutt]

On Jun 25, 2008, at 12:05 PM, Steve Jerrett wrote:

> Bob,
>
>
> I don't support  Obama, but I also don't support McCain.
>
> Give me something substantive, beyond pre-packaged rhetoric and  
> feel-good
> fervor, that I can use to evalute Obama.  What are the specific  
> changes he
> will make and how will they be accomplished?
>
>
> Steve
>
I was going to try to write a short (if there is such a thing in  
politics) reply but you have already found some 2nd amendment and  
death penalty issues that give you some insights.
My summary of Obama and why I am supporting him boils down to the  
philosophy that this country is designed to be 'of' the people, 'by'  
the people and 'for' the people and Obama has not only studied that  
concept but he has applied it as well.
When he was a community organizer he didn't go in and say here is  
what you need to do, he went in and asked questions. What do you want  
to accomplish? What are your options for making things better for  
yourself? And what are you willing to do to get there. (With some  
guidance from a community organizer.)
He doesn't say that there should be no guns. He doesn't say that  
there should be no death penalty. He says, where do we (the big WE)  
want to be as a country and how do we get there from here.

Nobody should hold any illusions that Obama or anybody else will save  
us from ourselves. It is up to us to run this country and he  
understands that it is a shared responsibility from all of us.

If you read what he actually says as opposed to how other people  
summarize his words it is pretty reasonable stuff.

You ask, what are the changes he will make? How will he accomplish  
them? I don't think any candidate can accurately say because things  
could change between now and Jan '09. But he will ask the questions  
that need to be asked, even the hard ones. How does our  
constitutional history and plural society guide us in making these  
tough choices? That is the thing that he can handle better than the  
other guy.

Will he be the better choice? Yes. Will he be perfect. No.

Katie