Maybe he can....

This has been one of the tougher Presidential Primary seasons in a long time, especially after John Edwards pulled out.  I voted for him anyway, because I just wasn't ready to commit to either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.  

Like Pesky, I liked Obama but there just wasn't enough THERE there for me to go to him. As I told a friend of mine in an email today, my problems are that I know exactly I'm getting with Hillary, and I have no idea what I'm getting with Obama.

I have liberal friends (and I'm not talking about my friends who are elected officials, either) that are afraid enough that Obama will either roll over for DLC types, or be taken to the cleaners, that they have moved from Edwards to Clinton.

On the other hand, I have talked with several friends and acquaintances of late, people, by the way, who have supported female candidates for all levels of office, all of them Democrats, who have told me that they will vote for McCain if Clinton is the nominee.  It's that bad.

Then, on top of all of this, the 2008 campaign has turned three of my favorite blogs into unrepentant shill blogs, to the point where it has been painful to read them at times.  I can only hope that if Obama is the nominee, he can heal the wounds we've inflicted on ourselves (which, again, is why I am glad Edwards has refused to endorse).

However, in the long run, the only argument that could be made for a Clinton candidacy is that she has the people around her that brought peace and prosperity for eight years.  The only problem with that argument is that BILL did that, not Hillary.  In fact, when she was handed the chance to sell Congress on universal healthcare, she screwed it up, and this was BEFORE the debacle of 1994.  Based on the last restoration we had with W, I am not all certain that another restoration will work any better than the last one, except that we know that Hillary has at least a three-digit IQ, unlike Bu$h.

I also would remind you that this is NOT 1992, we are in far worse shape, and Hillary is NOT Bill; she will be in power if elected, not him.  The sad part for me is that, for the second time in recent years, something I have wanted desperately to see has become impossible because of the vehicle (or candidate) who would have achieved it.  Just as I had to back away from the first African-American Senator from Tennessee because it would have been a pseudo-Republican in Harold Ford Jr., now I have to back away from potentially the first female President, as I remain unconvinced that Hillary Clinton will be a net positive.

Yes, I have already voted for John Edwards, and I have my reasons.  However, for those of you who say that you cannot do that, and that it is down to Hillary or Barack, I will say this: it's one thing to say that you know how to solve our problems, as Clinton does.  It's completely another thing to lead people to where they want and NEED to go, and help everyone to go in that direction, as I believe Obama has the ability to do.  With some trepidation, but with the knowledge that he is our best hope of victory and hope of a better future, I would ask that you vote for the junior Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama.