On January 5th, the leading Democrats debated in New Hampshire, two days ahead of the state's primary election. I thought Barack Obama did well, answering questions and staying on point. He is the front runner by far and just had to keep from slipping up. I think he did well. John Edwards made excellent points, naturally, as his aggressive style is well suited to the debate format. Hillary Clinton had an emotional outburst and seemed only negative. But this post is not concerning the Democratic side of the debates.
Before the Democrats debated, the leading Republicans had their debate. Most of the media picked up on the fact that the participants seemed to have it in for Mitt Romney. This was true. But what struck me the most was something that my wife and several co-workers of mine noticed - that was the level of disrespect for Ron Paul. I disagree with Ron Paul on a host of issues mainly steaming from our very fundamental differences in political philosophy. Simply put, I am a progressive liberal and he is a libertarian. But if you watch that debate, Paul makes some excellent points. This is part one of the debate - you can follow links to the next parts:
Rather than disagree with him or answer him, all the other candidates (with the notable exception of Mike Huckabee) were openly laughing at him. They treated him like a joke. He was actually making some good points and their response was to laugh. I thought this was very telling. My point of view is different from theirs. If they were to be elected, they would laugh at me too. It is disgusting. Kudos to Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee for standing up to the hateful condescending voice of the GOP political establishment machine.
But that we really need is Barack Obama as President. I disagree with Obama on some issues (such as Abortion) but I know he has written of the difficulty of these issues and has deep respect for the other side. It is someone with his character and willingness to work with others that we need in this divided and dispirited nation.
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About Me
- Matt
- Lima, Ohio, United States
- I was born and raised in Ohio. I am a lifelong Catholic Christian who has always been interested in the big questions of life. I have a passion for learning especially Philosophy, Science, Religion, History and Culture. I graduated from the University of Toledo in 2001 with a B.A. in International Relations. I married my soul-mate, Jen in 2001 and we moved to rural Tanigumi-mura Japan where we taught English for 3 years. We moved to California and lived in San Francisco and the Bay Area for 4 years. Tired of sitting on the sidelines, I began volunteering for the Barack Obama campaign in March of 2007 and was eventually hired as a Field Organizer. Through the Obama campaign, I found my calling and moved back to Ohio to continue organizing. In 2009 I helped the field operations of the Keith Wilkowski for Mayor of Toledo race. After that, I was hired as a Regional Field Director for 15 northwestern and north central Ohio counties for the 2010 Democratic Coordinated Campaign. Jen and I are continuing to volunteer as we wait for the next organizing opportunity to present itself.
2 comments:
Matt,
Greetings from Montana. Sorry about the loss tonight. One thing about this - if you look closely at the exit polls, the spin being given is very wrong by the Hillary campaign. Exit polls show that people who decided in the last week and month voted for Obama and broke even on those who voted in the last 24 hours. There was something very, very wrong with the polls. Pat Buchanan suggested that there was a "secret vote." I think that's right; there are a lot of people who did not vote for Obama who otherwise said they would or who otherwise aren't captured by pollsters (for instance, Hillary overwhelmingly won amongst people without a high school education).
On the debate, Obama looked very, very tired (they all did).
Ron Paul does say some interesting things, and Huckabee is a much more complicated candidate than his caricature. One of my best friends in DC is from Arkansas; he's convinced that if the Republicans won the presidency, that he would be the best one could hope for because he really is someone who takes actions against poverty and is not at all a conservative when it comes to fiscal issues.
As you know, I don't support any of the candidates (not even Dennis Kucinich). I still have an interest in the process and believe that Obama is (like Dean four years ago) making a very necessary point in involving people in the process of their empowerment. You are evidence of that.
That's important and wherever people can find that empowerment in their own collective action, then that's a good thing. I do think over time that this avenue is not ultimately empowering (it's a strategic and a tactical decision as much as anything), but anyone on the road to finding that for themselves and engaging in this dialogue is a good thing.
So, thank you for what you are doing. You don't have my vote, but you have my admiration and respect and solidarity.
Best of luck as the campaign moves forward,
Jim
P.S. Polls in Montana (which are meaningless in the big picture, show a toss up on the Democratic side and a toss up on the Republican side - not sure who is winning on the Democratic side, that vote isn't until June - the Republicans come much sooner and Huckabee has the slightest of leads in a 5-way race (I think the five are 4 points apart).
Montana could vote Democratic in the presidential election (there is deep dissatisfaction here with the direction of the country and the war in Iraq); however, I think it's a slight Republican advantage, especially if Romney is the nominee (hardly likely, but who is on that side?)
It was interesting that the polls were right on for all the Republicans , Edwards and Obama. What was different was the number of votes for HRC. Where did they come from? There were alot of last-minute calls to voters that lied about Obama and the weather was warm and older women who are HRC's base came out in large numbers, but many are still thinking that something was stange about these results. Now I don't want to jump on board the conspiracy bandwagon, but it is in the interest of everyone that this be examined closely.
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