Vote Obama

On May 6, for the first time in a long time, Indiana primary voters will go to the polls to meaningfully vote for a Democratic nominee for president. This choice is not an easy one, as it demands of Democrats a critical question: Should they embrace their past successes, symbolized by the Hillary Clinton campaign, or bet on future gains, as in the youth movement and excitement of Barack Obama? \nIt must be made clear that both Obama and Clinton would represent the Democratic Party estimably on the issues. Both support universal health care, carbon cap-and-trade systems and a swift withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, and they both have similar positions on typical Democratic social issues (civil rights, gun control, abortion, etc.).\nWhy, then, do we endorse Obama instead of Clinton? We do not believe Clinton is a poor choice for the Democratic Party. We simply believe Obama is a better one. It comes down to who can most effectively deliver the change America desperately needs. This change is more than rhetoric or sloganeering: 81 percent of Americans believe the nation is on the wrong track. A return to the status quo will not do. Clinton’s long-standing connection to the political network her husband built, as evidenced by her long-planned campaign for president, only continues the fence-sitting and disruptive wedge issues that have brought our country to its perilous place.\nObama offers a productive way out of unending gridlock and divisive discourse. Obama has worked with Republicans and Democrats who disagree with him in order to advance substantial legislation. Yet, he has retained strong Democratic bona fides, refusing to compromise his bedrock values for temporary political gain. \nMirroring his unique style of bridging differences among political enemies in legislatures, Obama brings an impressive energy to the campaign trail. The participation of young people and new voters in this campaign has changed the dynamic of the Democratic Party. More than 1.2 million Americans have donated to Obama’s campaign, an unheard-of number. By injecting electricity into his candidacy, Obama has upended the common wisdom with an embrace of small-“d” democracy: people power. \nFor too long, American political leaders have manipulated citizens into political positions through fear and division, using everything from cynical gerrymandering to push polls. Obama tells it like it is. When confronted with reprehensible comments by his pastor, he did not shirk from his responsibilities, nor did he shove his spiritual guide under a bus. Instead, he addressed Americans directly about why some people still felt the way his pastor did, and he asserted that he could still befriend those with whom he disagreed – an admirable trait in the political realm, and one decidedly absent in the McCain and Clinton campaigns.\nObama’s campaign is founded on the belief that Americans can make the distinction between trivial and substantial, cheap and meaningful, illusion and truth. By voting for him, Hoosiers can prove him right.