The GOP's Trivial Attacks Won't Work This Time

Voting against John McCain is an obvious decision. He represents a clear continuation of one of the worst presidencies in American history. He represents more of the same when it comes to George W. Bush's failed economic policy. He walks in lockstep with Bush when it comes to the Iraq war. He'll do just as much for America as far as health care and education as Bush has done (that's nothing.)

So yes I've long known I was going to vote against the Republican nominee because none of the mainstream Republican candidates offered any sort of real change from the failed policies of George W. Bush. None of them were going to be a reasonable choice for president considering the track record of Bush and his sub 30% approval ratings.

What I did not know is that I would have such a remarkable Democrat to vote for. Now that Barack Obama has essentially wrapped up the Democratic nomination, I'm excited to know that this November I'll be pulling the lever for someone that I truly believe in. Not to take anything away from Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and John Kerry (who I voted for in my first 3 presidential elections) as I think they were all good men who either were (Clinton) or would have been (Gore & Kerry) fine presidents but Barack Obama is a once in a lifetime kind of politician.

What makes Barack Obama so special? It's not so much the issues. Although the issues are the most important reason to vote for Obama over John McCain, but that would have been true of any of the Democrats running. What makes him special is his frankness, his honesty, his ability to cut through the crap. While Hillary Clinton has played politics as usual during this campaign (and greatly reducing my respect level for her in the process) Barack Obama has risen the level of what politics can be.

He speaks openly about the trivial nonsense that the GOP will be attacking him with. He knows they will try to make a big deal out of people he knows, out of some words he said taken out of context. He knows this and he's already blunting the effectiveness of these sorts of political dirty tricks by talking so openly about them. Last night's ABC News "debate" was an example of this low level of political discourse. And today Obama spoke about this in such a refreshingly straightforward and honest way. It reminds me of that Robin Williams movie where he plays the Jon Stewart type character who runs for president. While I can't remember the name of that movie and it was quite awful. The idea of it was beautiful. Honesty in politics. Not letting the debates become some muddled mess of tabloid "gotchas." It's certainly an idea to aspire to. That's a big part of the change that Barack Obama wants to bring to this nation's discourse.

Will these sorts of trivial attacks really stick in a time when there are real issues to discuss? There are millions of Americans losing their homes here in the US, there are thousands of soldiers losing their lives over in Iraq, there are millions of Americans without health care, and the economy is going down the drain.

The Republicans have nothing they can say about any of these issues so it's their entire strategy to turn this election into a farce. To make this election about Barack Obama's pastor instead of health care. To make this election about some words Obama said taken out of context ("bitter") instead of the economy. Will Americans really allow this sort of trivial nonsense effect their votes after seeing the damage of voting for reasons like this can bring? Sure the GOP propaganda network (AKA Fox News) is working overtime to try and make this election about every detail of Barack Obama's personal life, but will people really buy that again after seeing what it brings?

And isn't interesting that the attacks on Barack Obama are all on the people he knows and a few words taken out of context. Is these things really the worst thing about Barack Obama? If they are then he's the cleanest politician in ages. John McCain was involved in real scandal (look up "The Keating Five.") George W. Bush has to pardon himself for war crimes. And this is the best they can come up with against Barack Obama? It's ludicrous.