By Jeanie Wallace, in support of Barack Obama for president:
For those people who are still trying to decide between Barack Obama and John McCain, and for those seeking reassurance that they've made the right choice, and even for those who seem to be having difficulty understanding this historic election, I would like to offer a few thoughts in support of Obama's candidacy.
First of all, let's remember that we raise children in this society to believe that anyone can grow up to be president, and that they should do their very best in school and for their country. Barack Obama bought into that value. He excelled in school, despite a very unsettled childhood, ultimately graduating from Harvard University and then giving back to his community through charitable work. For this, Republicans deride him as an elitist. Personally, I think it is in the country's best interest to have the most intelligent among us for leaders, especially when they put community ahead of self-interest.
At this point in time, we are a nation (and a planet) in crisis. Health care costs are rising at an alarming rate. Insurance premiums tied to employment are going up at about 20 to 25 percent per year; a standard PPO now costs over $20,000 per year for a family, and that is a lot of money that could be available for salaries. The United States is the only industrial nation in the world that does not provide health care for all its people, yet as a nation we spend twice as much per capita on health care as anyone else, and the most common cause of personal bankruptcy is medical costs. People should not have to choose between keeping their homes, feeding their children, and paying for health care. Only the Democratic Party has stood behind universal health care. While Obama's plan is not perfect, independent health care advocates say that it will extend coverage to 50% of Americans who don't now have it. McCain, on the other hand, is offering a $5000 a year plan, with no means of controlling the rising costs.
At long last, most people are recognizing the certainty of global warming, and even acknowledging that we have to do something about it. Many still don't realize how serious the situation is, but at least they are beginning to wake up. It's not just the polar bears who are doomed. It is probably too late to save them. Small changes in ocean temperatures are killing off large numbers of algae, which both absorb huge quantities of carbon dioxide and form the basis of the whole ocean food chain. Imagine the consequences worldwide if there were no more fish in the ocean at all. And without the algae, we lose the ability to regulate carbon dioxide altogether. If there is one good thing to come from rising gas prices (and there is), it is that we have begun to realize that we CAN reduce our consumption of oil and gas, and we have begun to seriously consider alternative, less harmful, sources of energy. But McCain and Palin believe that our response to rising gas prices should be to stick our heads under the sand, and drill for more oil here at home and off our shores. This is not only shortsighted, it is alarmingly arrogant. It disregards our own children and grandchildren, and all people around the world. We are a nation with vast intellectual and technological resources; let's put them to good use.
And of course there is the issue of national security. Iraq did not attack us on 9/11, and Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction at the time of our invasion in 2004. All indications are that those stockpiles had been destroyed years earlier. And yet thousands of our own servicemen and women have been called upon to sacrifice their lives in Iraq, and their families have suffered unspeakable loss. And hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have lost their lives, because President Bush decided to save them from their (admittedly brutal) leader. The world has turned against us over this, and we have only helped the terrorist cause by building international resentment of us. A failure to engage in intelligent foreign policy has cost us a great deal, including hundreds of billions of dollars. This past weekend, Barack Obama received the endorsement of Colin Powell, which should satisfy the doubts of anyone who was worried that we would not be safe with him as president. Before he retired, Colin Powell was the highest ranking general in the Army; he was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the first President Bush, during the Persian Gulf War; he is a Republican; and he was George W. Bush's Secretary of State at the beginning of the Iraq War. His opinion should not be taken lightly.
Go ahead and vote for Obama because of the failing economy. That is certainly another area in which he is more qualified than McCain. But I think health care, global warming, and national security are more compelling reasons.
Finally, I need to address the shock we are seeing among some people that Barack Obama could actually be elected president. Please remember that we are a democracy, and it is because people have voted for him that he has gotten where he is. I find it very troubling, indeed, that some people consider their own disapproval to be more important than the right of the voters to choose the president. During the primary season, Barack Obama was not my first choice. He wasn't even my second choice. But having watched him and listened to him these last few months, I am convinced that he was the right choice, and I am glad that so many other primary voters prevailed over me. At this stage of the game, he is also the only choice.
Please don't forget to vote on November 4. And then give our new president a chance to prove himself.
Jeanie Wallace is chairwoman of the San Benito County Democratic Party.
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