BARACK OBAMA for PRESIDENT

By Michael J.W. Stickings


This has been a long time coming, but, with Super Tuesday now upon us, and with John Edwards out of the race, and with Al Gore never in it, I have come to support Barack Obama for president.

This is my personal endorsement -- not the official endorsement of this blog (there isn't one), nor the endorsement of the co-bloggers, some of whom have already expressed their support for either Obama or Clinton.

I value highly the opinions and perspectives of my co-bloggers, and I have read again and again what they have written for and against the two remaining Democratic candidates. Their arguments are intelligent and impassioned -- and truly persuasive. I remained with Edwards, however, until he dropped out of the race, knowing all along that he wasn't going to win the nomination. But now is the time to come out publicly, and after much thought, in support of one or the other. Some prefer to withhold their support or otherwise to remain silent with respect to their preferences. I, too, sought to remain detached throughout the process, but, as I have watched this race unfold, and as I have thought carefully, often agonizingly, about the two main Democratic options, I have come to see that Obama is the right choice to lead the Democrats into the election and to guide the country through the years ahead.

The presidency of the United States is not like the premiership of a parliamentary democracy. The president does not lead the government as an executive sitting in the legislature. He or she does not command his or her party in the legislature. He or she cannot tax, cannot spend, cannot pass his or her agenda as he or she sees fit. The president has enormous executive authority, to be sure, particularly over foreign-policy and military matters, but being president is often more about personality than policy. Which is to say, it is about leadership. The president sets the tone in Washington, throughout the government, and across the country. He or she can use the bully pulpit to address issues that he or she deems important. He or she is the face of America abroad. This is not to say that policy doesn't matter. It does -- and in a significant way. Policy, as much as personality, is what differentiates the Democrats from the Republicans. In the end, the president may not be able to force his or her agenda through Congress, but the president's policy positions matter a great deal. Still, it seems to me that leadership is what matters, the ability to guide the country through difficult times and pressing challenges, and to do so with with vision and inspiration. It is Obama, I believe, who is just such a leader.

The point is, while the policy differences between the Democrats and the Republicans are significant, and often massive, the policy differences between Obama and Clinton are generally quite minimal. There are differences with respect to their health-care plans and economic-stimulus packages, for example, but they are close on the issues that matter to us. The Iraq War is a testy subject, but, even here, the significant difference concerns what happened in the past, when Clinton voted to authorize the war and Obama voted against it. This speaks to Obama's prescience and courage, and to Clinton's willingness to go along with the opposition when it matters most, but, on the whole, they are more or less in the same place looking ahead.

So why Obama and not Clinton? I have my doubts and reservations, which is why I have waited this long, but it seems to me that Obama is the true leader and genuine visionary here. I take nothing away rom Clinton, who is an admirable woman and a solid Democrat. She would be, I think, a competent president, perhaps even a very good one. But the capacity for greatness -- and greatness is what America needs -- resides with Obama. He has justly been criticized for using Republican talking points against Clinton and for speaking vaguely about unity, presumably reflecting a willingness to compromise with Republicans at the expense of core Democratic (liberal-progressive) principles. On this latter point, friendliness with the unfriendly GOP, both Obama and Clinton have aroused concerns, one reason why many of us supported Edwards. And yet, I do not distrust Obama. He is running a tough, competitive campaign against a tough and worthy adversary. He has made mistakes, he has at times run a dirty campaign, but we should not hold such missteps against him.

America needs to look to the future, not to the past. It is time for Americans to put the Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush era behind them and to elect a president who can bring out the very best America has to offer, both to itself and to the world. It is time for vision, for inspiration, for greatness, for a president who can lead America forward through difficult times, who can address the pressing challenges America and the world face, who can fight for health care for all Americans, who can fight for the poor and the disadvantaged, who can fight against climate change, a president who can fight but who can also lead both by example and by persuasion, who can rebuild what has been destroyed, who can return America to its rightful place among the great nations of the world, who can restore America's image and reputation around the world, America's credibility and moral leadership, who can lead the struggle against injustice wherever injustice may be found, who can bring Americans together in common purpose, who can bring the world together through respect and admiration, yes, a president who serves and commands with the noblest ambitions.

America, in short, needs Barack Obama.

He has my support. I hope he has yours.