Obama For President!

With the departure of Dennis Kucinich from the Presidential race, Gunfighter must find a new candidate to back. Knowing, as you do, how I feel about Republicans in general, it won't surprise you to know that effective immediately, I am throwing my whole-hearted support to Senator Barack Obama for the nomination of my party, and for the Presidency of the United States.

My reasons for supporting Obama are many and varied, but to tell you the truth I think that the most desirable trait that Senator Obama has, that perhaps only one other Democratic candidate possesses, and that is his ability to inspire people.

I suppose there are many that believe that a President has to have experience to lead the nation, but I submit that no one has that kind of experience. No one. I don't care how long you were a Senator, or a Governor, or a Member of The House of Representatives... I don't care that you built a business empire from the ground up. None of those things can truly prepare someone for the kind of power wielded by the President of The United States. That said, let's look at what a President needs:

The President of The United States should be someone prepared to follow the law. S/he must know what our Constitution says and DOESN'T say, and understand that the Constitution is a living, breathing document. It is meant to be interpreted.

The President must be a leader. A sitting President isn't the chairperson of some giant committee that decides policy. The President must lead... and must lead ALL of the people, not just those of his own party or political stripe.

The President must be strong, but not so strong as to think that all that need be done to solve a problem is to either ignore it, or bomb it into oblivion.

The President must know that s/he is a servant of the people. In a representative Democracy such as ours, dictatorial autocrats have no place.

The President needs to know the workings of government, and how to get things done in an ethical and legal manner.

The President should never lead this nation into the instigation of unnecessary wars.

The President must be reasonable. Reasonable people, of any political bent can always find some degree of middle ground... and really, at the end of the day, isn't finding middle ground what Americans are supposed to want? Something that we all can live with? A President has to know that there is no room for Shiite-like intransigence when it comes to leading our Republic.

As I said, I believe that a President has to be able to inspire people. Inspire them with goals, and with optimism, and with vision. Yes, vision. A vision of the things that this country should be, and can be again if we only have the courage and the will to move forward.

I believe that the Democratic candidate who embodies these things is Barack Obama.

I believe that Barack Obama has the leadership skills.

I believe that Barack Obama has the ability to build coalitions to get things done.

I believe that Barack Obama is a reasonable man.

I believe that Barack Obama is an optimist

I believe that Barack Obama is an inspiring leader, a man of vision and courage, and a man of character.

I believe that Barack Obama should be the next President of The United States.

Join me in joining him, won't you?

SHAME!!!

Has Senator Clinton lost her bloody mind?

Yesterday, while campaigning in New Hampshire, Senator Clinton did something that I thought only despicable and cynical Republicans did. She suggested that this country would be somehow more likely to be attacked by Islamic terrorists if Barrack Obama were elected President.

Senator Clinton, after having a weepy moment at an earlier campaign stop, took a stab at Senator Obama, who is the apparent front-runner, by suggesting that "I don't think it was an accident that Al Qaeda decided to test the new Prime Minister, immediately. They watch our elections... you are hiring a President to be there when the chips are down"

Pretty sad, Senator. It's only the second state and you are down to this. I'm not sure if you will win in New Hampshire or not, but I'll tell you this: You have given me another reason not to vote for you. I won't vote for you because you can't take pressure. There are 301 days left until the Presidential election, and you are cracking up already?

Great. I'm sure that you will be the scourge of evildoers everywhere. I am equally sure that they will all take you seriously as you issue dire threats with a quavering voice, wringing your hands.

I thought you said that you would be "ready on day one"... I'm not seeing it.

On the upside, your attack must really feel good for Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, whose playbook you must have stolen this attack from.

Shame on you. It isn't bad enough that you voted for the war. It isn't bad enough that you thought the "Patriot" Act was a good thing. You actually have the nerve to invoke the fear card.

You are despicable, ma'am. .. and you don't deserve ANY votes, let alone the nomination.

As I have said before, I have been and continue to be active in Democratic politics where I live, but I wouldn't vote for your for any reason. We already have had enough of Republicans.

Guilty Pleasures II

Do any of you remember that irritating song from about fifteen years ago, "Shiny Happy People"?

You do?

Well I do, too. I love that song.

I have no idea what it is about, I really don't, and I don't even know all of the words, but I love it.

If you don't remember it, look to your right and click the player at mt the top of the sidebar.

It's infectious, I'm telling you.

Oh, and am I the only person on the planet that thinks that Michael Stipe looks like John Malkovich?



I made soup last night... I'll post about it later once I get my pictures loaded.

GF

Last Night In Iowa

Late night, the people of Iowa did an amazing thing. They began the first step in the peaceful, democratic, transition of power from one chief executive to the next.

In case you haven't already heard about it, the Iowa caucuses were held last night, and Senator Barack Obama, of Illinois, was the clear winner for the Democrats.

I won't go into the specifics of the demographic percentages of who voted for whom and why, other than to say that, interestingly enough, in Iowa, Barack Obama gave Senator Clinton a bit of a thumping, even when it came to the votes coming from women. Apparently Obama garnered 5 percentage points of votes from women than Senator Clinton did.

Anyone who pays attention to Presidential politics are aware that winning... even decisively winning the Iowa caucus doesn't give a candidate a lock on the nomination of their party, but it sure gives the winner a big boost going into the New Hampshire primaries, which will be held next Tuesday, January eighth... with Michigan following on the fifteenth.

Together, Senator Obama and the people of Iowa have done another amazing thing in this caucus. They have shown America that at least from the Democratic perspective that this election will be about change, and they have shown that, not only by voting for a man that has said that he wants to be an agent of change in Washington (and God knows that we need it in this town!), but by signaling a dramatic change in the way young Americans think about race. Picture it... can any of you that are over 50 have ever imagined, when you were twenty five, that a Midwestern state, with a 94 percent white population, would have given a presidential primary victory to a black candidate?

Last night was one for the record books, friends.

This is a big country folks, and some states will be holding primaries as late as June, but I believe that this nominating process, at least for the Democrats will be locked up much earlier than that. I am certain that we will know who the party's nominee will be much sooner that. Who that nominee will be is still anyone's guess.

Another result of the Iowa caucuses is the ending of the campaigns of Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, and Mike Gravell. The herd must be thinned.

Stay tuned.

What Do You Mean "Undecided"?

Shortly before midnight on New Year's Eve, Mrs Gunfighter and I happened upon a speech being given by Michelle Obama, Esq. to a group of Iowans, regarding the upcoming Iowa caucuses. The content of the speech isn't important here, but the aftermath of the speech goes right to the heart of this post.

After the speech, Mrs. Obama spent some time pressing the flesh, which she was quite good at, by the way, and like a good politician she made eye contact with the people and asked if they were planning to caucus for the Obama campaign. Many of the people that she spoke to said that they would, and then there were these people: The people that actually said that they still hadn't made up their minds.

Now, I live and work in the Washington, DC area, and politics is a constant part of my life... I just don't understand how anyone in the state of Iowa hasn't figured out whom they wish to support.

I don't get it. I really don't. The Republican and Democratic candidates have been pounding through that state like nobody's business, and they can't make up their minds? Or is it just a privacy thing. That I get, but to tell you the truth, if Mike Huckabee, just for instance, asked me if I could count on his vote, I would tell him no, and I'd tell him why not... and then I would politely thank him for taking the time to talk to me anyway.

Are any of you really not sure of whom you plan to support in the coming election?

How can you not know?

GF