My name is Rob Babb and I support Barack Obama

If you’ve bothered to ask me over the last 2 years who I will be voting for, we’ve undoubtedly had a discussion about Barack Obama. I’ve made no secret of that fact, but I’ve also tried to let people voice their thoughts and kept silent on my own much of the time. He’s my favorite in this years election. I feel he encompasses the most similar value set to my own, and I feel he offers the best chance to turn this country’s direction towards a better and brighter future.

Money

I often hear people say that they don’t want to vote for Obama because he’ll raise their taxes. The interesting part is that all of these people come in far below the $200,000 point at which Obama has said hell be raising taxes. That means all of these people will be getting more of their tax money returned to them under his plan. Don’t just listen to me, look at the independent tax centers analysis. Obama’s plan targets not just one segment of the population, but rather covers an incredibly comprehensive set of material. He’s using a much larger net to diversify his plan, just like any good financial long term investor. The other great part of this is who is supporting him… none other than Warren Buffet! If you have the oracle of omaha backing your economic plan you must have something right.

Values

In reading Obama’s book Audacity of Hope, you get a glimmer into his insight and thought process. My primary interest was his ability to separate his own personal moral/ethical/value compass from the decision making process of government. He understands that government has no business involving itself in individual rights. He understands that the government doesn’t have the right to define marriage. He understands that Roe v. Wade was a fundamental right for women to decide what is right for themselves.

But, the part that most stood out is his understanding of how the nuclear family’s downfall over recent years has caused much of the moral degradations we’ve seen. He recognizes the importance of having a dual parenting environment and speaks to those points frequently. He also doesn’t pretend to have a perfect family. The last chapter of his book tells of the hardships his own family has sustained under the pressures of both parents working and driving their own careers. He recognizes that traditionally the mother’s career suffers after child birth, and even saw it within his own household. This realization drives him to continually push for more benefits for single mothers and things like universal day care for everyone. Which, by the way, most Western nations already have universal day care because it is a recognized investment in the future of the nation. Also he supports early childhood education programs which have a proven record of success for encouraging more studious children who are excited to learn.

Intelligence

Over the last 8 years if we’ve learned anything, we’ve learned it’s important to have a leader who possesses a level of intelligence in the upper percentile of the population. That’s not to say that they must be an expert on everything, but the President of the United States needs to have the ability to learn quickly from his advisors, comprehend the information presented, know how to ask the tough questions to weed out the garbage information, process all of the information they are presented with and make the tough decisions. Not only that, but they must be able to multi-task and prioritize in this fast paced world. I want a president that will never, ever, say “I’m not a….” and toss his hands in the air like a bafoon. Instead I want someone who will call in the best and brightest advisors in the world to help present the best possible solution to every problem.

Universal Social Care

Obama’s plan for universal health care has a lot of promise. As the greatest democracy in the world and the most advanced civilization on the planet I feel we have a responsibility to take care of all of our citizens to the best of our ability. Typically many people argue against social welfare, however when you probe them further it’s not the actual concept of helping people that they are against but rather the implementation and corruption of those programs. I don’t disagree that there are abuses of these systems, but my feeling is that the benefit far outweighs the minimal abuse or corruption of the systems. I feel it is our responsibility to continually improve these programs and at the same time we should be weeding out the abuse.

Universal health care falls into these same discussions. Usually people don’t have an argument against withholding medical treatment from people, but rather they look at other nations’ implementations (like canada) and then jump to a position of defensiveness because they don’t want to see the same problems implemented here. They are letting their fear dictate their decisions, rather than rationally evaluating the pros and cons of investing in the health and well being of our entire nation.

Running Mate

Historically the Vice Presidential candidate has rarely played a huge role in government unless something happened to the President. I say historically, but in recent years we’ve seen sweeping assumptions of power by the current VP. This expansion of power brings into focus a much more important aspect of who the VP candidates are this year. Senator Biden has expertise on the national stage for 6 terms. He has dedicated the majority of his life to working in washington and has been involved with foreign relations and even chaired the committee. In contrast to his opponent, he intelligently evaluates each decision and firmly understands the separation of powers our country was founded upon.

I wouldn’t normally pay nearly as much attention to he VP position, but I see a real potential that the VP of the next administration may either continue to have a substantial position of influence, or may even be called upon to take over the nation. In those circumstances I have a very real confidence in Joe Biden to fulfill those duties, and a very real fear of his competition potentially having that position.

Conclusion

All of these issues and many more that could be discussed in perpetuity are why I support the Obama/Biden ticket. I will happily talk to anyone who wants to discuss anything further. I don’t hope to convert anyones views to match my own, but I do hope you know your candidates and that they will truly represent your own view points.

So let’s all get out there and VOTE! It’s not just your right, it’s your RESPONSIBILITY!