My Two Cents: Obama Should be President

It ain't easy being a progressive Democrat. Picking from this bunch of candidates requires a lot of nose holding and turning a blind eye. However, I have picked my candidate for better or worse. To best summarize my pick for the Democratic nomination, I’ve broken down some facts on my top two candidates based on issues of importance to me. Without further ado, John Edwards and Barack Obama…

Choice
Sen. Edwards has received a 100% approval rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America and Sen. Obama has received a 0% approval rating from the National Right to Life Committee. Both voted against the Federal Abortion Ban, which shows they aren’t afraid to stand up for women even on the most nuanced of reproductive health issues.

Judiciary
With the Supreme Court packed with right wing zealots and the circuit courts becoming equally scary, the federal judiciary is one of the most important issues on the social justice front.

Sen. Obama has said "There is nothing wrong in voting against nominees who don't share a broader vision of what the Constitution is about. The Constitution can be interpreted in so many ways, and one way is a cramped and narrow way in which the Constitution and the courts essentially become rubber stamps for the powerful in society. And then there is another vision of the court that says that the courts are the refuge of the powerless because often times they may lose in the democratic back and forth; they may be locked out, prevented from fully participating in the democratic process."

Sen. Edwards on the current state of the courts: “I call it 'protect the powerful' jurisprudence because that is what it is designed to do: Maximize the constitutional protection for corporations and property rights. Minimize the constitutional commitment to equality. And restrict the power of the federal government to solve the country's problems.”

Gay Rights
Both Sen. Obama and Sen. Edwards have issues when it comes to gay rights. They both think gay marriage should not be legal. Instead, they favor civil unions. While this is problematic for obvious reasons, none of the other electable candidates have a different opinion. Both candidates also support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and the inclusion of sexual orientation in the hate crimes law.

War
This is the hardest issue for me. I am a pacifist. I don’t support war. I don’t support military strikes. And I certainly don’t support the slaughter of innocent Iraqis and Americans. Accordingly, I do not think we need to attack Pakistan or Iran. That makes my decision on these two candidates tough. Both buy into the War on Terror, both do not rule out military strikes.

Environment
Daily Green did a great job of lining up all of the candidates’ environmental plans. Check out Sen. Edwards’ and Sen. Obama’s.

If you ask me (and clearly someone did since I’m writing this), carbon credits are the way to go. If we make it more expensive to pollute, it should drive up the cost of oil, forcing people to opt out of purchasing it. In turn, this should encourage research and development of renewable energy. Additionally, it would cap emissions which is good for the air we breathe. Both candidates include this in their plan.

On this issue, I like Sen. Obama’s plan more. It’s more aggressive and looks at the idea of using nuclear energy. I know that nuclear is a progressive no-no, but I disagree. I have yet to see a compelling argument against it. If we allow for reprocessing in the US, then we would have less waste to dispose of, making the Yucca mountain experiment unnecessary.

Health Care
This issue makes my head spin. Both Sen. Edwards’ plan and Sen. Obama’s plan claim to give everyone without insurance, insurance. However, unless someone is truly able to tackle the insurance lobby, none of this is going to happen.

Electablity
So with all of that said, I believe it comes down to electability. With a lot of polls showing Clinton, Edwards and Obama neck in neck in Iowa, it’s anyone’s guess what could happen. However, I think that Sen. Barack Obama’s smooth talkin’, center appealing, hopeful message could appeal to the most people nationally. So Obama it is, for whatever that's worth.