Reasons why I am voting for Obama for President

There are a myriad of reasons why Obama is my favorite candidate. Why I want him as President. Why I have given his campaign money and will probably do so again. (A first for me.)

There was a period of time in college where I felt energized about politics. Where I felt strong social commitments to fix things. It never truly went away, but as I have grown up, it has faded. Obama has brought it back to the forefront for me. He has energized me in a way no candidate in my lifetime has.

mightygodking mentioned last night how the rest of the world views this race — that women in leadership is old (world) news, but a black man in office is still a rarity the world over. This isn't why I am endorsing him, but he's right — it would make me proud in a way that Hillary wouldn't.

But here is a list of things I think are super cool.

• Obama's decision making.
  This is the hardest to define objectively, which is amusing, as I am speaking about his objective decision making. He seems reasonable. He appears more interested in doing what is right, even if it is unpopular because doing what is right is…right. And I trust him because of this. Where I feel Hillary panders to everyone like a desperate girl waiting to get asked to prom, Obama is just waiting for the opportunity to do good things in the role as President. I've never felt this way abotu a candidate before; I can only assume Kennedy sent out the same kind of vibes. things like this stance helps.
• Obama's stance on the war.
  This one is a little more obvious and concrete: the man doesn't approve. Clinton plays it tough with the war, but its obvious she is less hard-nosed about it than he is. He doesn't pull punches about it and that's a good thing. He is against the war and he is going to stop it. I don't trust Clinton for a second on this and even if I did, she can't even to own up for making a mistake voting to authorize it. Weak. More here.
• Obama's desire towards an open government.
  Obama has mentioned opening up a Wiki style website for commenting on bills. He mentioned in the debate last night making sure that bills and debates were televised. The man wants to open up the process and shine some light on the lobbyists and politicing that occurs. I work with technology, so the notion of a president who uses it to actually enfranchise and empower citizens is exciting. Plus, it is an easy and awesome way to engage people and start a conversation. I haven't heard anyone else suggesting these things; Clinton last night went so far as to suggest that televising debates on C-Span might not even work. Whu?
  "Giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days before signing any non-emergency legislation." is the official comment. More info is on his site here.
• Obama's immigration policy.
  Lastly (for now), is his stance on immigration. I detailed my opinions the other day, responding to the 'cheap labor and tomotoes' junk email, but then added a comment based on the debates list night. I'll repeat it here, because it really cemented my opinions on the two candidates:
  Last night in the debates, Obama gave a very similar answer to mine when asked what he was going to do about immigration and the loss of jobs from the poorer, inner-city African Americans to “illegal immigrants.”

  His answer?
  “To suggest somehow that the problem that we’re seeing in inner-city unemployment, for example, is attributable to immigrants, I think, is a case of scapegoating that I do not believe in, I do not subscribe to. I believe that we can be a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.”

  Hillary’s answer?
  “I believe that in many parts of our country, because of employers who exploit undocumented workers and drive down wages, there are job losses. And I think we should be honest about that.” And then she continued by saying that she wouldn’t grant licenses. (Obama would.) A little more is here, but it's not as exciting as his answer last night.

  And, of course, we are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants already. We have been from the very first. And the way forward is not segregation, finger-pointing and racism. The way forward is working together to overcome all our challenges. Obama's platform revolves around this belief in a way that Hillary's does not.

A complete list of his take on the issues is located on his website, in case I missed one you'd like to know more about.

There is little disagreement that he is less polarizing than Hillary. This is appealing to me. I believe the Democratic Party would be foolish to ignore this point — they need long-term image rebuilding and Obama would go a long towards helping the splt we have felt as a country over the last eight years.