I've Decided on a Presidential Candidate

I’d written back in February about my relative indifference regarding Clinton and Obama, and had discussed the good and bad points of each. In balancing these back at the time, neither came out as a favorite.

I have finally made a decision on who I support as the Democratic nominee. I am supporting Obama, but that support is less dramatic than that expressed by many of his supporters. I continue to harbor some concerns over a perceived lack of patriotism on the part of Obama, and further, I don’t think he marks the dramatic change that everyone else believes he will bring.

That being said, this decision is based more on how Clinton and her campaign have comported themselves than it is about anything Obama has done to gain my support. I know the stakes are high, but nothing justifies the scorched earth policy the Clinton campaign has employed recently. I believe, had Hillary stuck to attacking McCain and the Republicans and offering up her ideas, I would most likely have decided I would support her. That has not been the case.

I’m not sure what she is trying to accomplish, but it is not becoming, and does not denote the change that people are seeking. Obama needs to stay on top of his game, and he needs to keep to the high road. Thus far, he’s given that perception, even if some his surrogates aren’t a lot better than Hillary’s.

I don’t think the in-fighting has irreparably hurt the Democratic Party…yet. However, if it continues beyond the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, I believe it will begin to cause damage to Democratic chances in November. I’m all for fighting it out to the end, but only if Clinton can learn to conduct her campaign appropriately, and, at this point, I don’t believe she can. For that reason, I hope Obama has definitive wins in those two primaries. I hope that will pretty much end the election.

The last thing this party needs right now is a brokered convention.