This article from Vanity Fair sums up my viewpoint perfectly, so there is no need to write it again.

“Don’t blame Sarah Palin, just Stop Paying Attention”
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/01/dont-blame-sarah-palin-just-stop-paying-attention.html

I saw Glenn Beck in action last summer at his Restore Honor Rally. His speech sucked and his audience looked ancient and out-of-shape. Rush Limbaugh makes money getting simpleminded people to feel good about their intellectually undernourished brain spasms. He’s very good at it, and I scarcely believe a fraction of what he says. Sarah Palin embarrasses herself almost immediately upon opening her mouth to speak or upon moving her fingers to send messages to her dull flock. I just don’t believe these people can really motivate anyone to do anything except misspell words on the signs they take to their corny rallies and vote for candidates who will immediately screw them upon entering office. Past that, I don’t think much gets done.

I’m a highly educated person and a cynic of politicians and believe in this man as our next president. He has already proven himself as a fantastic leader with high ethical standards. He has begun to surround himself with reputable and informed advisers. Seems like the most solid ground work for a presidency we could hope for.

Top 5 reasons why I believe in Obama:

1. He has demonstrated his leadership abilities through his campaign. Can I point out that he is a young-ish black man who has broken into an elite league of priviledged, rich, white men? He is a shining example of the meritocracy that I long for in America. He raised $58 million dollars in the first six months of his campaign. That was a record. He raised $37 million in January 2008. Another record. He raised far more money after that, for which I can’t find statistics at the moment. For donors to keep giving money over such a long stretch, the campaign must spend it wisely, efficiently, and continually impress their supporters. Managing hundreds of millions of dollars? Seems that Obama can already handle that.
2. He demonstrated outstanding leadership again by keeping the same campaign staff. Hillary Clinton fired several of her staffers. If I recall, at one point when her campaign was not going well before the Iowa Caucus, she turned over all of her top advisers. John McCain fired many top campaign staff members during his campaign. Obama picked good people who helped him win. He is doing the same with his cabinet. As any political expert will tell you, it turns out that the Obama campaign has been one of the best organized and executed presidential campaigns in memory.
3. He has solid and trustworthy judgment. Look at his voting record and see if you can spot inconsistencies. They are few and far between. Our other choice, John McCain, voted blindly alongside the republican party while they made some terrible mistakes. To date he is still a proponent of the Iraq war and will never speak out against the mistakes made in Washington.
4. He is aware of non-political issues. When I first became a fan, I’d read this article written by Marc Andreesen. Some of you will recognize the name, but he was the founder of Netscape, and I had the privilege of working for the same research lab, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, as he made famous. He is one of the world’s most respected entrepreneurs. I simply find him to be a wise and forward thinking man. I really encourage anyone in high tech to read this interview. He spent 90 minutes with Obama and concluded that Obama is Smart, he is not a radical in any way, he is the first Credible Post-Baby Boomer president, he cares about technology, American jobs in high-tech, and America leading the world in innovation. See how he ran his election? Videos on the web, regular email to keep supporters updated, using the web as a primary source of communication & solicitation. I was impressed.
5. He has proven that he has the country’s best interests in mind. He hates partisan politics and evokes a strong sense of Nationalism and Cooperation that America has lacked for at least 20 years. He may not be perfect but he strives to improve America. He has done it as a Community organizer (Mock if you want), as a civil rights attorney, as a 3-term Illinois Congressman, and as a US Senator. I can fairly conclude that he is not “All Talk” at this point. 

think about who I am — my father was Kenyan; I have close relatives in a small rural village in Kenya to this day; and I spent several years of my childhood living in Jakarta, Indonesia. Think about what it’s going to mean in many parts of the world — parts of the world that we really care about — when I show up as the President of the United States. I’ll be fundamentally changing the world’s perception of what the United States is all about.

Listen for yourself, jot down your answers, and see if you are right.

Madeline Albright Quote

I read all of ‘em

One Heartbeat Away from the Presidency

A Washington Outsider

Russian Diplomacy

At the United Nations

What Does a VP Do?

Click here for the answers.

Once you’ve had a moment to consider, please think hard about putting this woman into office. She seems to embody some of the values Americans seek, but like they always say in this town, You can’t polish a turd.

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