Inspiration
I was disappointed in the debate on Sunday. Although I didn’t get to see it live, I’ve pieced it together from different clips on YouTube and around the web.
Barack Obama is not a master debater. I’m hoping that he’ll step back and above the attacks from Hillary Clinton, stop attacking back, and return to discourse like the speech he gave here. It’s worth the 34 minutes to watch it, if only to revive the hope that the Democrats will not fracture the party completely, but will discuss the issues without personal attacks and gutter sniping. ‘That goes for all of them, including the proxy candidate, Bill Clinton. They would do well to read Lawrence Lessig’s blog post today suggesting that they’re becoming infected with the Karl Rove virus.
Our California primary is less than 2 weeks away. I have put my name into the lottery for a ticket to the last debate, hoping to see a true discussion among the candidates of what can be done to set our country back on course. I do not want to hear more distortions from Hillary about whether Barack Obama supports Reagan (he doesn’t), Bill Clinton needs to back off and let his wife be heard, and Barack Obama needs to remember that part of his appeal is that he is trying to conduct a positive campaign. I want to support that.
One thing on the Reagan nonsense that Hillary should remember: Barack Obama spoke about Reagan in an intellectually honest way. Facts are facts. Like him or not, Reagan did what he was elected to do at a time where the public was calling for change. That’s all Obama said. He didn’t say what Reagan did was good, he didn’t say he admired Reagan’s policies, and he didn’t say he wanted to be like Reagan. He said the truth, even if it meant an opening for Hillary Clinton to distort it. It is that propensity to distort and be intellectually dishonest that turned me away from supporting Hillary Clinton.
I don’t care what her gender is any more than I care what Obama’s race is. If she can’t trust me to hear the truth, she isn’t going to get my support.
Do we really want more years of the backbiting and bickering? Or is it time for a new style? One that calls us to sacrifice, to hope, and to be honest with one another?
Technorati Tags: obama, clinton, democrats, debate, speech, great speeches, politics, conversation