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Officially Endorsing Barack Obama For President
Written by Mike Rundle on February 5, 2008
We don’t normally do this here at 9rules, but in our last podcast the three of us realized that we’re all backing the same person for President, and that’s Barack Obama. I can’t speak for Paul and Tyme on this one, but here are my reasons for why I will be voting for him:
- Obama has been against the Iraq war since the beginning, has not voted for it, and has never wavered in his beliefs that we need to get out. Even when Hillary was asked during the last Democratic debate if she regrets voting for the war, she never admitted she was wrong, and I think I’d have more respect for her if just once she said that she made a mistake. She continuously justifies her vote for the Iraq war and that drives me further and further away from supporting her.
- Obama supports marijuana decriminalization which would save the U.S. hundreds of millions of dollars per year, or more, since jailing someone is so expensive to taxpayers.
These are just a few issues that pull me to Senator Obama.
Whoever you support, make sure you get out and vote because it’s crucial.
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February 5th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
I guess I’m a little discouraged to see you guys come out with such a stance, but it’s not my site.
Without a long political debate, there are many things that concern me about Obama including fiscal policy and social liberalism.
And let’s face it, it doesn’t matter who was for/against the war anymore. The point is that it’s happened (which I didn’t support originally FYI), and now we have to deal with the situation. Also, he wasn’t even in office to vote for/against the war so I think his opinion on that issue is null and void.
Remember this, the U.S. has never had a president that was formerly a senator. Coincidence? I hope not.
February 5th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
@Mike: Those are the same positions as Ron Paul. Dr. Paul is for pardoning all non-violent drug users and ending the War on Drugs by legalizing them. Of course, Ron Paul voted against going into Iraq. More specifically, he introduced legislation to assassinate Bin Laden - you know - the guy that got us?
February 5th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
+1 Barack Obama
But to be honest, I’m mostly glad to see Dubya go. I don’t think any of the candidates running (including Republicans) could do worse than him.
That’s incorrect, Richard Nixon was the last president who was formerly a senator. Not exactly a great example of a president, but stands nonetheless.
February 5th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Well all be, Nixon was a senator. There goes that fact.
February 5th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Eric, I’m a huge Ron Paul fan and would vote for him over Obama, but since I’m a Democrat I will be voting for Obama in the primary (my state’s primary isn’t until the summer). However if Ron wins the GOP nomination I will absolutely, positively, vote for him over Obama.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I actually spent a few minutes going through all of the presidents of the 20th century, over a third were former senators.
Anyway, enough American history.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Actually, there are apparently 15 that used to be senators. I don’t know where I got that bad data, but I’m glad it’s fixed!
I want to clarify that I’m not disappointed that the 9rulers would make a stance for Obama per se but that they would throw their hat into the political arena. I have always valued Tyme’s, Scrivs’, and Mike’s neutrality on sensitive topics here.
February 6th, 2008 at 7:50 am
To continually harp on what their stance on the war was is a smokescreen. It’s kinda like looking at your girlfriend, her newborn baby and your empty bank account and continually telling her you never supported the idea of her getting pregnant.
What I hope you guys are doing, and now that you’ve made this declaration of support, is looking to the candidates who have a strategy for where we go from here AND understand the repurcutions of implementing said strategy.
February 7th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Well from India its hard to figure some of it out, but so far I root for Obama too.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Yeah…lets vote for a guy that doesn’t support the war and a person who will legalize weed. Perfect…who cares about the economy, jobs, …and basically everything that is way more important than weed.
The war needs to be won…before we pull out. Yep…lets pull the plug and demoralize the troops and the families of those who died. Come on!
Folks…vote your convictions…do not vote for candidate A because he/she has a ‘D’ after her name. If you love Ron Paul….vote for him.
“I’m a Democrat so I will vote for Obama..” Come on…
Vote for what you believe and nothing else…if you believe in lower taxes…vote that way…if you believe in only ending the war (which we need to finish)..vote that way.
Do not vote for a ‘R’ or a ‘D’ becuase your dad did and your Grandpa did.
Do not hold your nose and vote.
February 8th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Matt, what does “finishing the war” really mean? What’s the timeframe for that, and what are the metrics that decide whether we’ve actually “finished” it or not? Remember when Bush stood on the ship saying Mission Accomplished in Iraq? If our Commander In Chief thought that the Iraq war was truly over way back then, how in the world are we supposed to know when it’s truly over? American troops and Iraqi civilians are dying every day, and we need to get out because it’s not getting any easier.
For people that think the surge is working, the body count is only lower now compared to 2007 when it was the bloodiest year yet, now we’re back down to 2005 body count totals which is not an improvement. We went from bad, to really bad, to terrible, and now we’re back down to really bad. How long do we continue sending Americans to die in Iraq without an exit strategy? Bush doesn’t care about American lives any more, he’s now set on his Iraqi strategy because it just causes a bigger mess for the next President, and if it’s a Democrat, than Republicans can point and say it’s the Democrat’s fault for not cleaning up the Iraq war like they said they would.
February 8th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Here is the reason I will not be supporting Obama:
I had originally intended to support Barack Obama but changed my mind based on my reading of recent editorials in the New York Times. His health care program in particular, falls short of Hillary Clinton’s plan because it lacks mandated coverage and insurance without mandates has been shown to fail.
Of course, if faced with a choice between Huckabee and Obama it would be Obama for certain for me.
February 10th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Janet,
When was the last time a president genuinely did anything about health and education? When you’ve got that answer (which isn’t just a token gesture) you’ll realise that a good President and leader isn’t one who shouts that they have 7 billion things they are going to do, but one who will simply go out and do it.
Obama has an exit strategy - and you guys need to pull your heads out of the sand and recognise the reality. US troops aren’t the only troops being killed. So are the other countries stupid enough to back Bush. Like mine.
Iraq might have been something the US could have “democratised” from day one - instead of focusing on rebuilding the country by empowering it’s people - the work has gone to US contractors and, well, the body count continues to climb.
The country is in a civil war and you don’t get to waltz into one assuming victory before you’ve gone and achieved it - Bush may have taken Sadam down, but that’s not what you guys went in for. The entire war was built on a lie.
Accept that and move on - really, the important thing is that people vote at all.. a massive turnout will speak more of the demand for change than anything else.
February 12th, 2008 at 12:30 am
Good Move.
Well except…
Obama’s health care plan is actually probably more feasible, and more likely to pass the legislative bodies. Obama is not pretending it will be easy and that people will get things for nothing he is being relatively honest as politicians go, and I suggest reading his site, not the New York Times for information on his policy and plans.
Good going.
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Count me as bitterly disappointed that 9rules is endorsing anyone at all. It was always my understanding that 9rules did not have a political purpose but a community called ‘Politics’. If a member wanted to submit a Note or Comment about a political issue, that would be the correct place for it. I expect 9rule members to have the same legal rights of freedom of speech as all. We have articulate discussions and sometimes debates. I do not expect the owners to use their medium to endorse anyone when no poll of members was ever taken. More importantly, when the endorsement has no power or authority anywhere at all.