Why I Voted for Obama

By AMANDA KOCH, Assistant Managing Editor

I am a registered independent. I voted for Obama, and this is why (in no particular order):

1. I want my president to be smarter than me. I don’t want Joe Six-pack to be anywhere near the presidency. I appreciate that my president can beat me in the high school octathalon. In fact, I pray he does. And not by a little. By a lot. He should remember every important Supreme Court case, because I won’t. Maybe he should even be elitist, or at least he shouldn’t be forced to pretend he’s not. I am intelligent; my president should kick my ass in that respect. I eat arugula, the president should eat more; it’s grown by U.S. Farmers; you should probably eat it too, it’s good for you.

2. I don’t mind losing (and this may be the thing that bothers me most in McCain speak). When I played sports when I was younger – softball, volleyball, basketball, track – winning was everything. When I became an adult, compromise became everything. I don’t mind losing, as long as it works out for the better. In my life, in my business, I have to talk to people. Sometimes I have to back off, sometimes I have to push them. Honestly, it’s not about winning; it’s about accomplishing something better than what is going on now. I think Obama gets this.

3. I don’t think he’s a socialist, so he doesn’t seem so bad to me. I don’t think he’s going to take all my wealth and give it to the less fortunate. Actually, I don’t have a lot of wealth, so when my friends complain about this sort of thing I laugh to myself – we are the poor the rich are sharing with! But, even besides that, and this is where my disdain of all politicians plays in Obama’s favor. He doesn’t really mean what he says. Sure, maybe we’ll lean a little further in that direction, but not as much as he promises. We will never be a socialist nation.

4. I really don’t mind the rich helping the poor. Carnegie did it. Rockefeller did it. Gates does it. I do believe helping the poor is a virtue, so buck up. I also believe that my contribution to the betterment of society makes my country a more pleasant place to live – for me. Call it selfish, I call it self-preservation. I want to live in a nice place, so I help and better my community the best way I can. This is not a novel idea. Like I said, Carnegie did it; it just sucks that we don’t have as many helpful rich, so we have to force them to be helpful. If only they would realize, what’s good for them is good for me.

5. I’m tired. I’m tired of the way things are going and I need a change. It’s not good right now, and McCain does agree, fundamentally, with a lot of Bush policies, that makes him a loser. I do need a change. I’m not as afraid as change as some other people. Change is never as big, as traumatic, as you think. It’s just change, not the end of everything we know.

6. Obama is good for the world. Yeah, I know, overarching in an overbearing way. It may be trite and unnecessary to some, but I’d like to regain the respect of our allies. I’d like some acceptance in the world community – isn’t that what we preach to others? I’d also like some help, and we don’t get that now, because we are assholes. I try not to be an asshole to others.

7. The economy sucks and I think Obama will be logical and even-keeled when it comes to dealing with the economic troubles. That’s what we need, because, frankly, I don’t think any administration completely owns the economy, but they most definitely have to deal with it. Cool as a cucumber is better than pink as a pickle any day in any situation.

8. I think Obama owned the debates. It was close, but Obama explained things to me, and I understood. I got why his health care is a problem solver. I have no doubt McCain thought his proposal for health care was good, but am I eligible for his $2500 tax rebate on top of my employer health coverage? I still don’t know. On his web site it told me if I make $180,000 I can get better coverage than a member of Congress, with no increase in taxes. I don’t make this kind of money, and I am still wondering why he headed this section by addressing the middle class. Is $180,000 average for the middle class?

9. I think I’ll just add this at the end here, because after all this I want to be honest you – I really do not like Sarah Palin and her views, and I am really disappointed McCain chose her. He was OK in my view, he’s not the devil like some people think; I really think he thinks his policies will help America, even if I may disagree with some of them, but Palin was a poor choice. He catered to the far right even though he claims to be a “maverick”, and if he had chosen his own running mate he or she would undoubtedly be more centrist. His choice lacked political smarts, and he needs political smarts to get us through the labyrinth of world situations/communities/events/problems/triumphs/etc. Palin is the first failure of a possible McCain term. I do believe this.

10. After I realized my Palin rant was No. 9, I thought I should come up with a legitimate No.10. — so, I’m going to go back to Obama’s old-school argument which he used in debates. Iraq was a bad choice; Iraq was a horrible choice; Iraq was a mistake. I remember when the war was about to begin, and I was talking to my friend, I said, “What about Afghanistan? We aren’t done. How is Iraq more of a threat than a country like Iran?” If Obama had been president, I have not doubt he would have started the war against the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan, and, you know what, he probably would have won it, because he realized Iraq was a mistake, it was a distraction, it was completely unnecessary. We would never have even gotten into the Iraq mess, and maybe we’d even have the upper hand on al-Qaida.

It’s late and I’m tired, but I just wanted to sort this out. It helped to write it all down. I think I made a good choice. I do live in Jersey though, so does it even matter?

Amanda Koch can be reached at amandarosekoch@gmail.com.