Why Undecideds Who Don't Like Either Candidate Should Choose Obama
North Star Writers Group
October 27, 2008
By Rob Kall
Yesterday I met two men who were undecided. Both told me they didn't like either candidate but they were determined to choose one to vote for. I think there are a lot of those kinds of folks out there.
Here are some reasons I gave to choose Barack Obama.
International respect and influence. Most of the other first-world nation´s citizens are praying – eight or nine to one – for an Obama victory. If Obama wins, he will be beloved by the world like no president since JFK. Now, the right wingers may mock the French and engage in xenophobia, but stronger international relations are essential to the USA's future.
Consider that as the economic crisis worsens, as all the experts predict, a global economic response will emerge. A USA with the weakened, diminished stature the Bush/Cheney/Rice Administration has produced will be far less effective and influential than a strong Obama Administration embraced by the world.
Effective Leadership. One undecided white male, about 50 years old, said that if you were filling a CEO job at Coca Cola, there are hundreds of people with comparable CEO experience from other Fortune 500 firms, but not for the job of president. Funny thing is, running for president has some similarities. Each candidate must engage in raising hundreds of millions in funding, hire managers, select advisers, build a team of thousands or even tens of thousands, develop marketing, media and technology strategies, and build strategic alliances. It's pretty well agreed Obama has done a brilliant, perhaps historic job building his campaign. John McCain's campaign is also historic – as a mocked, laughable buffoonery – lacking principle, strong leadership or vision.
Then there's McCain's relationship to technology, or lack of it. You don't need to be an IT expert, but you should at least have a handle on the technologies that are changing the world. Failure to be able to navigate even the simplest uses of computers indicates a lack of curiosity, a dependence upon others that keep McCain in the dark, so he really can't full grasp the full power and potential of technology. We need a leader who at least gets the technology enough to see its potential so he can ask for the next level of performance.
McCain's judgment. I'm talking about Sarah Palin. Can you imagine her engaged in a serious discussion with another leader of state – Gordon Brown, Vladimir Putin or Nicolas Sarkozy? They would certainly not take her seriously. A majority of Americans do not believe she is capable of taking over as president. Look at her embarrassing interviews with Katie Couric. Sarah Palin may be able to throw nasty verbal attacks in front of crowds, but she's no leader. McCain either failed to properly vet her or he knew it all along and he went with her because he thought she'd add enough to his campaign to help him win, even though she is so clearly, obviously not presidential. McCain chose to make a choice that supported his campaign at the price of offering a seriously capable candidate for VP. She may be mavericky, but underneath it all, there's very little there and you have to blame John McCain's judgment for putting her a 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency. What an insult to America. She'd make Dubya, who many historians agree is the worst president in history, look good.
Finally, look at the man himself. Consider the performance in the debates. Obama was steady, calm, with all his facts at hand. McCain was literally doddering, unsteady, depending upon shallow talking points, not drawing upon a reservoir of knowledge and wisdom. Obama stayed with issues, McCain went on the attack. We need a grownup who can remain steady while facing the crises he will inherit from George W. Bush.
You may not know Obama as well as you like, but in the last two years, you've had a chance to see him operate. You've probably received e-mails or DVDs or seen attacks on him. But if you go with your observations of how he's handled himself, what's he's actually said and done, I think you'll have to conclude he comes up looking to be the better man. And that's what America needs today.
2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.
Yesterday I met two men who were undecided. Both told me they didn't like either candidate but they were determined to choose one to vote for. I think there are a lot of those kinds of folks out there.
Here are some reasons I gave to choose Barack Obama.
International respect and influence. Most of the other first-world nation´s citizens are praying – eight or nine to one – for an Obama victory. If Obama wins, he will be beloved by the world like no president since JFK. Now, the right wingers may mock the French and engage in xenophobia, but stronger international relations are essential to the USA's future.
Consider that as the economic crisis worsens, as all the experts predict, a global economic response will emerge. A USA with the weakened, diminished stature the Bush/Cheney/Rice Administration has produced will be far less effective and influential than a strong Obama Administration embraced by the world.
Effective Leadership. One undecided white male, about 50 years old, said that if you were filling a CEO job at Coca Cola, there are hundreds of people with comparable CEO experience from other Fortune 500 firms, but not for the job of president. Funny thing is, running for president has some similarities. Each candidate must engage in raising hundreds of millions in funding, hire managers, select advisers, build a team of thousands or even tens of thousands, develop marketing, media and technology strategies, and build strategic alliances. It's pretty well agreed Obama has done a brilliant, perhaps historic job building his campaign. John McCain's campaign is also historic – as a mocked, laughable buffoonery – lacking principle, strong leadership or vision.
Then there's McCain's relationship to technology, or lack of it. You don't need to be an IT expert, but you should at least have a handle on the technologies that are changing the world. Failure to be able to navigate even the simplest uses of computers indicates a lack of curiosity, a dependence upon others that keep McCain in the dark, so he really can't full grasp the full power and potential of technology. We need a leader who at least gets the technology enough to see its potential so he can ask for the next level of performance.
McCain's judgment. I'm talking about Sarah Palin. Can you imagine her engaged in a serious discussion with another leader of state – Gordon Brown, Vladimir Putin or Nicolas Sarkozy? They would certainly not take her seriously. A majority of Americans do not believe she is capable of taking over as president. Look at her embarrassing interviews with Katie Couric. Sarah Palin may be able to throw nasty verbal attacks in front of crowds, but she's no leader. McCain either failed to properly vet her or he knew it all along and he went with her because he thought she'd add enough to his campaign to help him win, even though she is so clearly, obviously not presidential. McCain chose to make a choice that supported his campaign at the price of offering a seriously capable candidate for VP. She may be mavericky, but underneath it all, there's very little there and you have to blame John McCain's judgment for putting her a 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency. What an insult to America. She'd make Dubya, who many historians agree is the worst president in history, look good.
Finally, look at the man himself. Consider the performance in the debates. Obama was steady, calm, with all his facts at hand. McCain was literally doddering, unsteady, depending upon shallow talking points, not drawing upon a reservoir of knowledge and wisdom. Obama stayed with issues, McCain went on the attack. We need a grownup who can remain steady while facing the crises he will inherit from George W. Bush.
You may not know Obama as well as you like, but in the last two years, you've had a chance to see him operate. You've probably received e-mails or DVDs or seen attacks on him. But if you go with your observations of how he's handled himself, what's he's actually said and done, I think you'll have to conclude he comes up looking to be the better man. And that's what America needs today.
2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.
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