Friday, September 19, 2008
Trip Budget A Bit Lighter
I had joked that I was going to finance my trip through Africa by not being available to the political organzations and candidates who wouldn't be able to reach me by phone. But I gave in and sent a donation to embattled Barack Obama. I haven't given anything to anyone since I gave to Gov. Richardson in the primaries. But it's time for me to step up and put some cash behind Obama/Biden. After all, my trip through Africa is made easier to some degree simply by his candidacy. It shows people here that America is what we claim to be. At least, if Obama loses, I got to see the effect he has had in Africa--something few people get to see. It is extremely heartening to see the excitement here.
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3 comments:
I've never, ever donated a dime to any politician before this year. We need a few more friendly faces in the world. Obama, I believe, is the best chance we have of bridging that gap through diplomacy.
I've sent too much money to politicians, though my most effective donation, I believe, was to help start up TPM Muckraker. That got real results.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/
I'm glad you changed your facebook politcal from moderate to liberal leaning moderate. The moderates are responsible for believing that Bush is a "uniter, not a divider" and putting him and the disgusting Rove machine into the White House where they governed from the hard right. If Maverick McCain couldn't even choose his own running mate (he wanted Joe Lieberman), they certainly wouldn't let him move to left to govern. In fact, once he's in the White House, they'd be praying for his death so Sarah Palin can turn the White House into a Christian taliban.
I've voted Democrat in every election, with a few independents for Congress. I believe in the ideas of being fiscally conservative and states rights over federal. Problem is, the current Republican party supports none of those things in practice. Republicans can never give me a reason to vote for them because they throw in issues like abortion, religious agendas, privatization of education and health care, and that AK-47s are somehow included in the 2nd Amendment. This is why I'm a registered Democrat.
I believe in fiscal conservatism, while being socially progressive. Kind of like Canada. ;)
As much as I like Obama (and I contributed to his Democratic nomination), I lost my faith when he selected Joe Biden as Vice President. Biden has consistently voted on the wrong side of free speech in technology issues. It's because of the DMCA that I signed over my first rebate check from George Bush to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Biden has been my arch nemesis for some time.
I liked McCain back in 2000 because he seemed like a moderate Republican. I would have certainly preferred him over GWB - at that time. So when Biden turned me off, I started reconsidering McCain.
Then he selected Palin, and I was insulted. I really, really want a woman (v) president, but not just ANY woman. I never thought I could despise a woman more than Ann Coulter until Palin came on the scene. I've clawed and scratched my way through a male dominated industry, and here come Palin riding the glass elevator McCain provided for her.
At that point, I was turned off from McCain for good. He's no maverick. He just abandoned the center, which I would argue, was where his greatest support came from.
I'm still worried about Biden, but I'm hoping a combination of seeing how important technology and the internet has been to Obama's campaign, he will come around. Maybe he just needs a little more education.
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