Why

Having looked over a number of entries I was a little disappointed in myself. The tone was more negative than I would like. This could be a reaction to all the negative campaigning McCain has been doing. That is irrelevant I can't control what someone else does. I can only control how I react.

Taking a quick reflection of why I care and why I came to support Obama. I find the answer in two places. This is one campaign, one politician, one leader who is working to bring people together. This theme was introduced to America in the 2004 keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. It seems this is a rarity in current day politics. We have been so consumed by the divide and conquer approach to politics we had come to accept it as normal. It is so refreshing to see that people are coming together to build something, to take control.

I spent a day at a phone banking center this past Febuary in Missouri for Obama. The diversity in the room was so reassuring so uplifting. There were only maybe a dozen people there. However, we were old, young, middle aged, black, white, asian, students, retirees, stay at home parents. That experience was very reassuring that this was more than just a political campaign. This is what can be done when people join forces to make something positive happen.

The other reason I have come to support this campaign, this movement is my son. I have mentioned in previous post I attempt to approach politics from the perspective of my son. From the perspective of little man I am looking toward the kind of world that will be there for him as he grows up. Again I am attracted to the diversity of the movement. Having grown up in a small town in the Midwest diversity consisted of pretty much Catholic or Protestant. I am proud to report us catholics outnumbered the protestants by a pretty wide margin.

Responsibility, over the last 8 years we as a country have been more than willing to pas the buck onto the next generation. I am of the age that I can remember the budget deficits and the national debt clock. It was a time when we thought we would never be able to pay down the debt. Some real head way was made during the Clinton administration. It doesn't matter who gets the credit, it was happening. The Bush administration has come in and totally reversed course and accelerated the problem. I can remember studying about how much of our tax revenue was needed to simply service our debt. We are back with that problem, compounded by the fact that so much of that debt is held by foreign interest. This can provide a real destabilizing effect on our country and our economy. So many people I meet feel we need to take on not only person responsiblity but also generational responsibility.

Shared interest, we as a world, as a country, as a community are interconnected. Sorry there is no way around it. This needs to be reflected in our nation conversation. Foreign policy, the health care debate, tax policy are all chained to this reality of shared interest. We have two choices. We can stick are head in the sand and deny it or we can open up to it and own it. Senator Obama's background his life story has provided him with a unique understanding of this importance. Just as important he has a unique experience of living this in his personal life and bring it to reality in his practice and politics.

War Policy, this maybe what gained him the most attention on the national stage. He seemed to have a uncanny prescience regarding the Iraq War. Having skimmed his 2002 speech it is very enlightening to his approach. He makes clear he is not against all war. However, he was definately against this war at this time and he laid out his reasoning in a very coherent and precise manner.

I sat down to type a few lines and have gone way past what I intended to say. It is good to pull one's self out of the negative back and forth of the campaign. There will be plenty of time for that over the next two and half months. It is important that we continue to be motivated by the positive energy and direction that Obama presents us as a possibility. This was just one more reminder on how easy that is to do.