Why I Support Barack Obama

 

I didn’t support Barack Obama from the beginning of this race.  Early on, I had believed Bill Richardson or Dennis Kucinich had the policy stances I agreed with most closely (i.e. far left wing) and that John Edwards had the good looks and demographic appeal to actually win the race, he reminded me of another a relatively moderate, white male from the south who easily won elections to lead us in peaceful, more economically stable times.

 

However, after seeing Obama’s victory speech after the Iowa caucus, I was drawn to his sincere passion and message of unified progress.  He may not have much in common will Bill, but he sure seemed to mirror the style of Jack, an even more moving icon in the history of progressive politics.  Since then, I have firmly been in Obama’s camp, following each contest closely and practically using every moment that I am not working or sleeping to read news analysis on the internet.  Obama may be leading the race by more than 100 delegates, but he is still clearly the underdog.  Despite what national poles say, if Clinton had won more states on super Tuesday and swept 11 primaries/caucuses since, we would barely remember Barack Obama’s name.  Just the fact that Hillary is still in the race shows how powerful Obama’s adversary for the nomination is.

 

He has been accused of being all words and no substance.  Of course, this is an accusation offered by those who probably envy his eloquence and his ability to motivate and unify others with his speeches.  At the end of the day, all politics is is words.  These are words that devide us in fear or unite us around a common cause.  They are words that scare people into not trusting those who are different than they are or bring hope for change and a better future.  That is, words build political will and political will is exactly what we need if we are going to take this country in a new direction.

 

Setting this observation aside for a moment, it should also be pointed out that Obama does have substance – i.e. specific policies and plans he promises to promote as president to bring about change.  I am not sure how anyone could doubt that after watching the recent debates.  But if you do, I would like to point out one specific area in which Obama leaves everyone else behind when it comes to detailed, thoughtful policy positions: disability rights.  If you check out the websites of the “final four” contenders for the white house, you will notice that Obama is the ONLY candidate that lists disability policy as a tab on the issues section of his site.  It is #2 on the alphabetized list, taking its place as a PRIORITY, right along side of the sexier, more widely noticed issues like the war in iraq, the economy, and healthcare.  His disabilities tab includes a video blog (that is accessible to people who are Deaf/HH with captioning) outlining specific policies he would pursue as president to help people with disabilities.  Specifically, he promises to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and support key legislation that will liberate people with disabilities and give them a more full range of opportunities in where and how they can study, work, and live (i.e. he gives his support strengthen or pass to IDEA, ADARA, and CCA).  A detailed account of his policy plan is available for download as a PDF.

 

So, the next time someone accuses Obama of being all talk and no substance, ask them if they have heard of the Community Choice Act.  If they say they haven’t, tell them how Obama has and how he supports it and other specific and thoughtful policies that will free our people!