Quote:
Originally Posted by IllTestYourGirls
Did you vote for him because of his voting record? His background? Because he and ALL the other democrats in 2005 and 2006 voted NOT to increase the debt ceiling.  |
Well we're gonna be at odds because I see you're a Rand Paul fan, and I can't back anyone who's in favor of no regulation for huge corporate interests in vital industries ... i.e. energy, health care, etc.
That said, I'll be bluntly honest... I usually vote not for a person but for a platform. For a set of core values. Obama had me enthusiastic because in addition to being the supposed champion for the values I'm most aligned with, he clearly had the charisma to motivate people, and that's an asset for a politician that many don't have. (And yeah, an asset that can cut both ways, to be sure.)
I'll simplify here because it's a message board, but my reading of the conservative vision for America is this: large multi-national corporations > government > average individuals. In other words: let the corporations do anything they want to do, and use the government not to regulate them but instead to keep average individual people in line and behaving in ways deemed OK by the corporate elite.
I know this isn't the vision of the average conservative, I live in Texas and know many who don't want the world to be that way, but it's what the people they elect end up pursuing once in office nonetheless.
So I voted for Obama as a counter to this vision for America. Ideally, government should be a tool of average individuals. The power it does have should ensure a certain minimal standard of living for the people who are skilled, working hard and participating, and it should use its power to make sure that large corporations play fair and don't use THEIR immense power and advantage in ways that turn the rest of us into indentured servants.
Having said that... I'm not sure I'm seeing Obama fighting the fight that I hoped he would. He's looking pretty chummy with Wall Street these days. Which is what Clinton did really. So it's starting to look like those people who claim the game is rigged from both sides were correct all along. Other than a few social issues they let us argue over, not seeing a lot of difference between the two sides.