Clinton or Obama?

A few people have emailed to ask who I am supporting in the Democratic presidential primary. We have two good choices, two very capable senators. Both candidates have talked about experience and readiness. However, if people voted for candidates based on governmental experience and good legislative records we would all be writing a lot more about Sen. Chris Dodd.

People don’t usually choose a candidate based on policy plans or the source of their campaign funds or even their legislative voting records. Our selections tend to be much more intangible. You run the numbers, read the info, but in the voting booth, we tend to listen to our guts. In 2006 I outlined my criteria for evaluating candidates. It works better for state and local races but with some adaptations it can be applied at the national level.

I’ve listened to the candidates, read their autobiographies, looked over the analyses in newspapers, and watched a few debates. I don’t watch much tv so all that money spent on ads is lost on me. The shiny flyers that come in the mail are counted and filed but not really examined. Robocalls are also counted but they don’t have much influence. No one has come to the door (we live on an out of the way street; candidates very seldom find us). I’ve listened in on about four Clinton press conference calls. I’ve been to the local Obama office twice in search of a sign.

Letting all that roll around what I come up with is Barack Obama. The best way to express the tipping factor is the difference between leadership and management. I could go into the passages in their writings that pushed me in one direction or another or my reactions to their speeches or my views on health care and foreign policy or the aspects of their biographies or past that attracted me or gave me pause. But these are not logical decisions. I think Sen. Clinton would be an excellent manager, someone who is well-versed in matters of policy. I think Sen. Obama would be an excellent leader, inspiring not only those in government but Americans generally. My gut says go with Obama. So that’s what I’ll do.

You may agree; you may not. You may be planning to vote for Ron Paul. Regardless of your views, I urge you to vote. The best thing that could come out of this election is a substantially increased voter turnout.