Weekly Mail Non Endorsement of Barack Obama
Originally Written November 1st
Halfway through the 2007 Peter T. Liberti memorial golf outing, I was sitting with Ray and Karl, and the subject of the Presidental race came up. Back in 2006, the three of us had agreed to a political ceasefire, and for the most part it had held. Karl asked the two of us who we were supporting. Ray said most likely Hillary Clinton but also Barack Obama. I said that my guy was falling out of the race, was running out of money and that as much as I liked him, I was probably going to have to find someone else. I didn't think John McCain would make it to November 2007, much less November 2008.
But now we are just hours away from election day and John McCain is still standing, barely, but standing nonetheless. This should be a slam dunk decision for me. And yet.....
Over the last winter I read the late David Foster Wallace's essay Up, Simba!, a chronicle of McCain's 2000 bid for the White House in which he lost to Governor George W. Bush of Texas. The tactics used by Bush's campaign were so foul, I can't imagine McCain could even look at Bush. I've contended for years that the best candidates for both parties that year were the ones that finished second. (Bill Bradley lost to Al Gore.)
The 2000McCain was the one I supported, the one I considered my favorite politician. I loved the fact that he was a Vietnam hero, like my father. I loved the idea that he was willing to reach across the aisle if he felt his parties position was wrong. I even tipped my hat to him on issues I disagreed with him on, such as terrorist prison torture. He spoke his mind, good, bad and ugly.
That McCain appears to have left.
Because now, John McCain walks in lockstep with President Bush, by his own admission, 90% of the time. He embraces many of the economic policies that have gotten us into the mess we are in now. I don't like some of the things he has done in this campaign, he's fought this fight much dirtier that I ever would have expected from a man I believed was above all that.
But I can't vote for Barack Obama.
I unofficially voted for Obama in the primaries (I'll post that e-mail on my blog) and there's alot to like about him. I can dig his change we need mantra.
But what I can't abide is the kid gloves treatment that he has gotten from the media. I have never seen a candidate have his fanny kissed by the mainstream media as much as Obama has. Lee Cowin of MSNBC gushed like a 16 year old at a Jonas Brothers concert about how it was "Hard to stay oblective" about Obama. This isn't Keith Olberman or Randi Rhodes, this is a legitimate reporter.
Even negative Obama stories that eventually came to fore were buried. For weeks, Obama went unchallenged about America hating preacher Jeremiah Wright. And when he did get challenged, Obama vowed not to disavow Wright, then did just that. That also went unchallenged. Then there was the Bill Ayers story. The former Weather Underground terroristserved on a board in Chicago with Obama, and Obamahad a meeting at Ayers' home when Obama first started running for office. Obama's defense was that he couldn't be linked to someone who comitted crimes when he was 8 years old. Does that mean I can go out and have lunch with David Berkowitz because I was three years old when he terrorized New Yorkers back in 1977? Yet the media bought that explaination too for the most part.
And there has been almost no mention of the Tony Rezko scandal. Rezko, a sleazy Chicagoreal estate developer, was a key member of Obama's 2004 Senate campaign. He also made some questionable real estate deals with Rezko. Yet you have to dig real deep to get any information on this.
There is alot to like about Obama, about the energy he brings, about the enthusiasm he generates. I was out with a bunch of interns from the Weekly Standardat the2004 DNC, and the place came to s standstill when Obama spoke. He can downright give a speech.Nobody can deny him that.
That he has come as far as he has is a testament to his intellect and his courage. A product of a welfare mom and an absentee father, Obama sounds like the person Jay &the Americans had in mind when they sang "Only in America/Can a kid without a cent/ Get a break and maybe grow up to be President."
I get it.
After 8 years of PresidentBush, the lousy economy,the two warsthat drag on whileOsama Bin Laden lives on, Obama is running on the opposite of whatever Bush says.Bush says the sky is blue, Obama saysthe sky is gray. Bush is the least popular President in the last 80 years. Obama is the mostpopular candidate for PresidentI have ever seen.
Yes I get it.
But did anybody elseactually listen to what Obama was saying during his acceptance speech? He pretty much promised to lower the federal defecit without raising taxes on 95% of the country. He also promised togive everyone health insurance also without a tax hike. He promised to rid us of our dependence on foreign oil without off shore drilling. He vowed a victory in Iraq whilealready conceeding defeat. He vowed to take back Afghanistan from the Taliban, but he wants to bring all the troops home.Kind of hard to win the game without putting players on the field isn't it?
During thefirst debate, Obamaand McCain were asked THREE times what programs they would tablein order to pay for the 700 billion bailout plan. McCain offered an awfulplan. Obama, realizing thatanswering that question would renderhis DNC speech moot, refused to answer. Less than a week later, the press dumped on Sarah Palin for not answering questions.Obama is counting on the fact that people want Bush out so bad, that they will overlook or even ignore his shortcomings.The media is his biggest ally in this endeavor.
I realize that come Tuesday, Barrack Obama is very likely going to be elected our nation's 44th President.If and when this happens, I will support him and I will be rooting for him, unlikemy Democrat friends who got giddy everytime Bush screwed up.If Obama can lower the deficit,bailout the banks, give everyone in the country health insurance all by raising taxes on5%of the population, God Bless him.And if he can win the war in Iraq and theWar on Terror by pulling out all the troops, he'll go down as the greatest President this country's history. He'll get my vote in 2012.
I just can't give it to him in 2008.
Halfway through the 2007 Peter T. Liberti memorial golf outing, I was sitting with Ray and Karl, and the subject of the Presidental race came up. Back in 2006, the three of us had agreed to a political ceasefire, and for the most part it had held. Karl asked the two of us who we were supporting. Ray said most likely Hillary Clinton but also Barack Obama. I said that my guy was falling out of the race, was running out of money and that as much as I liked him, I was probably going to have to find someone else. I didn't think John McCain would make it to November 2007, much less November 2008.
But now we are just hours away from election day and John McCain is still standing, barely, but standing nonetheless. This should be a slam dunk decision for me. And yet.....
Over the last winter I read the late David Foster Wallace's essay Up, Simba!, a chronicle of McCain's 2000 bid for the White House in which he lost to Governor George W. Bush of Texas. The tactics used by Bush's campaign were so foul, I can't imagine McCain could even look at Bush. I've contended for years that the best candidates for both parties that year were the ones that finished second. (Bill Bradley lost to Al Gore.)
The 2000McCain was the one I supported, the one I considered my favorite politician. I loved the fact that he was a Vietnam hero, like my father. I loved the idea that he was willing to reach across the aisle if he felt his parties position was wrong. I even tipped my hat to him on issues I disagreed with him on, such as terrorist prison torture. He spoke his mind, good, bad and ugly.
That McCain appears to have left.
Because now, John McCain walks in lockstep with President Bush, by his own admission, 90% of the time. He embraces many of the economic policies that have gotten us into the mess we are in now. I don't like some of the things he has done in this campaign, he's fought this fight much dirtier that I ever would have expected from a man I believed was above all that.
But I can't vote for Barack Obama.
I unofficially voted for Obama in the primaries (I'll post that e-mail on my blog) and there's alot to like about him. I can dig his change we need mantra.
But what I can't abide is the kid gloves treatment that he has gotten from the media. I have never seen a candidate have his fanny kissed by the mainstream media as much as Obama has. Lee Cowin of MSNBC gushed like a 16 year old at a Jonas Brothers concert about how it was "Hard to stay oblective" about Obama. This isn't Keith Olberman or Randi Rhodes, this is a legitimate reporter.
Even negative Obama stories that eventually came to fore were buried. For weeks, Obama went unchallenged about America hating preacher Jeremiah Wright. And when he did get challenged, Obama vowed not to disavow Wright, then did just that. That also went unchallenged. Then there was the Bill Ayers story. The former Weather Underground terroristserved on a board in Chicago with Obama, and Obamahad a meeting at Ayers' home when Obama first started running for office. Obama's defense was that he couldn't be linked to someone who comitted crimes when he was 8 years old. Does that mean I can go out and have lunch with David Berkowitz because I was three years old when he terrorized New Yorkers back in 1977? Yet the media bought that explaination too for the most part.
And there has been almost no mention of the Tony Rezko scandal. Rezko, a sleazy Chicagoreal estate developer, was a key member of Obama's 2004 Senate campaign. He also made some questionable real estate deals with Rezko. Yet you have to dig real deep to get any information on this.
There is alot to like about Obama, about the energy he brings, about the enthusiasm he generates. I was out with a bunch of interns from the Weekly Standardat the2004 DNC, and the place came to s standstill when Obama spoke. He can downright give a speech.Nobody can deny him that.
That he has come as far as he has is a testament to his intellect and his courage. A product of a welfare mom and an absentee father, Obama sounds like the person Jay &the Americans had in mind when they sang "Only in America/Can a kid without a cent/ Get a break and maybe grow up to be President."
I get it.
After 8 years of PresidentBush, the lousy economy,the two warsthat drag on whileOsama Bin Laden lives on, Obama is running on the opposite of whatever Bush says.Bush says the sky is blue, Obama saysthe sky is gray. Bush is the least popular President in the last 80 years. Obama is the mostpopular candidate for PresidentI have ever seen.
Yes I get it.
But did anybody elseactually listen to what Obama was saying during his acceptance speech? He pretty much promised to lower the federal defecit without raising taxes on 95% of the country. He also promised togive everyone health insurance also without a tax hike. He promised to rid us of our dependence on foreign oil without off shore drilling. He vowed a victory in Iraq whilealready conceeding defeat. He vowed to take back Afghanistan from the Taliban, but he wants to bring all the troops home.Kind of hard to win the game without putting players on the field isn't it?
During thefirst debate, Obamaand McCain were asked THREE times what programs they would tablein order to pay for the 700 billion bailout plan. McCain offered an awfulplan. Obama, realizing thatanswering that question would renderhis DNC speech moot, refused to answer. Less than a week later, the press dumped on Sarah Palin for not answering questions.Obama is counting on the fact that people want Bush out so bad, that they will overlook or even ignore his shortcomings.The media is his biggest ally in this endeavor.
I realize that come Tuesday, Barrack Obama is very likely going to be elected our nation's 44th President.If and when this happens, I will support him and I will be rooting for him, unlikemy Democrat friends who got giddy everytime Bush screwed up.If Obama can lower the deficit,bailout the banks, give everyone in the country health insurance all by raising taxes on5%of the population, God Bless him.And if he can win the war in Iraq and theWar on Terror by pulling out all the troops, he'll go down as the greatest President this country's history. He'll get my vote in 2012.
I just can't give it to him in 2008.
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