Hoping for Obama

I am rooting for Barack Obama to win the nomination of Democratic Party, and win the 2008 Presidential election. As a Democrat, I see two candidates who have a real chance of getting the nomination and winning the Presidency. They are Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. In the beginning, I admired Hilary Clinton for her excellent performance in the debates. But over time, I have become convinced that Barack Obama is the right one for this country. What I admire most about him is that he has managed to transcend himself to a level above the other politicians by being more genuine and sincere. The 'sleaze' factor, which is associated with the politicians, does not apply to him. He has stuck to his message of ‘Time for Change’ without tweaking it to the current events. This is in sharp contrast to Hilary who first campaigned on her experience to protect USA, and now its is experience for ‘change’, as it became clear that the voters do not rate security as high as the need for a change. Senator Obama is a well-educated man who appreciates the goals and principles of the U.S. Constitution, and has thought through the many issues facing this country. His answers to questions are to the point, in contrast to the ‘cover all bases’ type of answers Hilary Clinton is notorious for. Obama was called ‘naïve’ for saying that he is willing to talk with Iranian Prime Minister to understand their viewpoint better. But I feel that is exactly what is needed for USA at this moment. The ‘my way or the highway’ foreign policy of this country has brought us nothing but the hatred of the rest of the world. The ability to work with the opposition is needed in the domestic front also, with U.S. Congress split almost fifty-fifty between Democrats and Republicans. By electing a black person with some background to the third world, we will be sending a message of reconciliation to the rest of the world. It is going to electrify international politics. Obama is the President USA needs at this critical time, just like Roosevelt was for the Depression days. I pray Americans will not ‘blow this chance’ like they did in 2000!

P.S. The Iowa caucus will begin in a few hours. I am so excited to see that Obama is leading in the polls. I hope that there is no ‘Bradley factor’ here (tendency of the people to tell the pollster that they will vote for a black person while planning otherwise!). If Obama wins, there is no stopping. He is going to win the whole thing!