Until now, I haven't put into words why I'm so energised by Barack Obama.
As I think about him, the other candidates that were in the race, and the other remaining candidate, I realize I was an admirer of his style and substance from the start.
As a fan of The West Wing, the long-running NBC drama that dramatised a smart, moral and honest Democrat in the White House, I had dreamed of seeing something like that happen in real life.
When Hillary announced, I was not particularly pleased because I know what a target she is for the right-wing. I know she's smart. I know she's got the right position on most issues I care about. But I want to win, and I can't take another close race. We need a big margin to compensate for the cheating that Republicans will try to pull again. Our election process just isn't good enough, in my opinion, to handle close elections, because of inconsistencies about how votes get counted, how local areas do or don't follow the rules, and how special situations get handled. 2000 and 2004 proved that.
So when Barack Obama announced, I wanted and listened carefully to what he had to say. I liked it, but more importantly, I liked they way he presented himself. Very non-confrontational. Very smart. Very disarming. Just what we needed in a candidate to handle the kind of attacks that will be aimed at them from the right.
So he's run is campaign now for 15 months, and after watching the news almost daily, reading his first book, watching every debate, watching many rallys, attendeding one, and meeting him in the street, I feel assured I've made the right decision.
He's just been so positive. He's made it a goal of the campaign to be positive and not go negative. I think it would be hard to find a quote from him that is unfair to an opponent. Although, he said in the rally I attended they have slipped. It may be costing him because negative tactics tend to work, unfortnately. But I think he he really deserves credit for running a much more positive and fair campaign than his opponents. I'll wager that his broad appeal is a vindication of his kind of politics.
