I've had a lot of people ask me why I'm for Obama. I generally select a reason and explain, but I can never fully express my thought without thinking of several counter arguments as I'm speaking-- and I just hope that if I'm arguing with someone they don't come up with them. Like policy: healthcare--- GREAT, right.... why no mandate? His argument that if people can afford it they'll get it is disingenuous because he's also said if he needs to put in a mandate to properly fund healthcare for sick people with the money from young healthy people, he will. Basically, to me no mandate is him not wanting to annoy his core troops-- us young college educated people many of whom may decide to not pay something like $200 per month for healthcare. Even though, he'll probably end up putting in a mandate to make all the numbers add up.
He seems like a really great person, but politicians are professional actors, so how do we really know. Finally! this story came out that makes me actually confident he's a pretty good guy. This is just a really nice story that may tell you a little about Obama as a human being.
Washington Post "Richardson's Choice"
Bill Richardson recalling a moment in one of the debates:
"I had just been asked a question -- I don't remember which one -- and Obama was sitting right next to me. Then the moderator went across the room, I think to Chris Dodd, so I thought I was home free for a while. I wasn't going to listen to the next question. I was about to say something to Obama when the moderator turned to me and said, 'So, Gov. Richardson, what do you think of that?' But I wasn't paying any attention! I was about to say, 'Could you repeat the question? I wasn't listening.' But I wasn't about to say I wasn't listening. I looked at Obama. I was just horrified. And Obama whispered, 'Katrina. Katrina.' The question was on Katrina! So I said, 'On Katrina, my policy . . .' Obama could have just thrown me under the bus. So I said, 'Obama, that was good of you to do that.'"
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3 comments:
That is a nice story about Obama genuinely being a nice guy. But at the same time it helps confirm the feeling that anytime a politician is asked a question they just pick up what topic it is and then give their caned speech. Moderators are not doing their job when a question can be answered knowing only that it is about Katrina.
Yeah, totally agree-- Richardson seemed to be especially extreme on that front. Every answer from him was a oration of his resume taking only the topic into consideration.
The health care issue worries me- I keep reading about how neither Clinton nor Obama is getting to the "heart" of the problem, and about how single-payer system is what we really should go for.
Also I just found out that WA has both a primary and a caucus, and for democrats, primary votes don't count- they have absolutely no bearing on the meting out of delegates...isn't politics complicated?
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