4 reasons 4 obama

I'm both voting and caucusing for Obama. Here's why:

1. Inclusion- Obama has a proven track record for creating a broad electoral coalition and being able to reach across partisan divisions to work in legislative consensus with Republicans and Independents. Both are essential for this country to effectively turn the page after George Bush. In presenting her credentials, Hillary Clinton never fails to reference her capacity for taking on Republicans in a fight. She has also never once demonstrated a capacity for transcending those fights.
   
2. Accountability- Obama has consistently pushed for greater transparency in government. A principal reason why Hillary Clinton failed as her husband's 'health care czar' is that she insisted on formulating her plan behind closed doors--up to the point of excluding members of congress within her own party from deliberations. The Clintons refuse to release their tax returns or make public the documentary evidence of Hillary's supposed 'experience' gained during her husband's presidency. One of the most troubling aspects of George Bush's presidency has been the degree to which he has made secret what goes on in the White House. There is no evidence to suggest that a second Clinton presidency would reverse this trend.
3. Electability- With the exception of Arkansas and New York, every primary that Hillary Clinton has won has been by a thin margin based on the Democratic Party's core constituency. Every one of the primaries and caucuses that Barack Obama has won has been a landslide victory. Hillary Clinton enters the general election race with the highest name recognition and highest negatives of any politician in America. Short of improbable landslide victories in every remaining Democratic contest for the nomination, it is impossible for her to achieve the Democratic nomination without resorting to back-room deals and chicanery, the net result of which would be to cause the voters who have been turning out in droves to support Obama to sit out the general election--while Republicans and right-leaning Independents, united in their contempt for Clinton, turn out in droves.
   
4. Change- It isn't just a campaign slogan. The day that a brown-skinned man with an African surname and an Arabic middle name takes an oath to "...execute the Office of President of the United States, and ... preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States..." the perception of America changes utterly--both in the World's eyes and to America itself. While electing a woman president would also be a landmark event, the implications are not as great--particularly not on the world stage, particularly not with regard to this woman.

America and the world need a fundamental break from the practices and policies that resulted in and are exemplified by George W. Bush. Barack Obama would be this country's first truly 21st century president, someone with the multicultural background and broad understanding to heal the many divisions that exist between America and the rest of the world, as well as those within America itself.

Hillary Clinton voted to authorize and has failed to show the slightest shred of remorse for what she continues to call "George Bush's War." That inability to admit error and failure to show judgment that surpasses political expediency squarely places her along side George Bush--stuck in a "post 9/11 mindset" that cannot possibly transcend the promises and failures of the 20th Century.

America and the world have an absolute need for moral and political leadership that will lead us forward... and that's why I'm voting for Barack Hussein Obama.