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Alec Galambos (Altanta, GA)

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This is great and everything - but let's make sure Obama actually wins in November by reaching out.

Responsibility is the REAL American Value

By Alec Galambos - Sep 9th, 2008 at 5:45 pm EDT

Also listed in: Students for Barack Obama

American citizens,
This November, we have a huge decision to make. We all want to step up and do the right thing for our country, but the back-and-forth in the media and the scathing, degrading campaigns aren't helping too much. Lately, the two big parties have been doing their very best to capture your vote based on values. They both understand that you are a person of integrity and spirit that cares about protecting the American dream - this is what presents us with a choice. Independent of any political discourse, of which there is much to be had, we, as voters, should be examining the choice at hand in terms of our responsibility as citizens.

The process of understanding what a citizen's responsibilities are is very introspective and personal, but hopefully you'll listen to a few of the things that I've come up with (and that, hopefully, we agree about):

1. It's our responsibility to make sure that the candidates actually are ready to lead.

2. It's our responsibility to elect someone that cares about the citizens that elected him.

3. Most importantly, it's our responsibility to make sure that no Americans suffer (and I mean REALLY suffer) as a result of a government policy.

Now, here comes the examination. First, a quick disclaimer: I was born (and much later, registered) an independent mind, and was taught to figure out what I thought was right before buying into political campaigns. Now, with this set of values in mind, I've discovered things in the past few months that have led me to write this article. In terms of the values I listed above, here are each of my observations:

1. It looks like Mr. McCain certainly knows how to deal with bad situations, and can solve problems well. Mr. Obama seems just as capable - he's dealt with a lot of adversity in his life and is definitely a smart guy. Now the VP candidates - Mr. Biden seems to have the know-how and determination to say what he means and lead with logic; the one I have trouble with is Mrs. Palin. Independent of any right-wing leanings, she hasn't been the most straightforward person in her political career. As mayor and governor, the facts show that she has fought corruption and pork-barrel politics, but has engaged in them at the same time - firstly, she ran for governor on a platform of building the "bridge to nowhere" before later rejecting it. As governor, she blocked investigations into corruption coming from her own office. This kind of shakiness in a leader would be a huge problem, and it's our responsibility to avoid those kinds of leaders at the ballot box.

2. In this case, I don't know if we can really make that judgment quite so fast about Biden or Palin - so let's just look at the big guys. After a little research, this choice got a lot easier. The fact is that McCain's campaign has 11 lobbyists that serve as advisers or are otherwise on the payroll - these are people whose job it is to express the interests of corporations in the pharmaceutical, oil, software (Microsoft) and airline (Delta) industries. Yuck. On the other hand, Obama's camp has no lobbyists on the payroll, and has raised an unbelievable $16 Million from individual donors that couldn't give more than $200 but gave anyway. To me, it's become clear which candidate is more accountable to the citizens directly, and that it's our responsibility to vote with that in mind.

3. This is a big one. While there are all sorts of ways to look at this problem, a lot of Americans have expressed that they and their families suffer most when they reach into an empty wallet. There's real weight to the GOP claim that Obama is another "tax-and-spend liberal," but let's take a look at the facts and the policies. Using the numbers that both campaigns have released, it turns out that Obama's tax plan does actually cut taxes for a staggering 95% of Americans, and that the only people that pay a little more are the richest 5% of us - by abolishing the Bush tax cuts, that wealthiest 5% are helping to reduce the financial suffering of so many Americans and still aren't being punished for their success. The "spend" part of that accusation doesn't make too much sense either - if you look at some recent history, you'll see that the last three 'fiscal conservative' presidents (Reagan, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr.) gave us national deficits of 200+, 300, and 482 Billion dollars (respectively) while Clinton (the last "tax-and-spend liberal") left office with 200 Billion dollars in the bank. Again, it seems clear that one candidate is better prepared to safeguard the American people from economic turmoil. We wouldn't be doing our duty as citizens if we continued to support a set of policies that hasn't worked in decades.

So - it seems to be pretty hard to reach a conclusion as a 'values' voter, since both campaigns are begging for your vote; but for one such voter, it's become easier as the past few months have gone by. If there's one important thing to do as a citizen before this election, it's to evaluate the evidence and think for yourself. My evaluation has lead me to Obama over McCain, but I'm writing to preach the decision-making process more than the candidate. So when you step into the booth in November, remember to be independent, be a values voter, and be responsible - the prosperity of our nation depends on it.

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