The Frequent Critic Endorses Barack Obama for President

AP Photo Obama in St. Louis Oct 18

The big endorsements for the presidential elections are starting. We recently had the Washington Post , The LA Times, and the Chicago Tribune endorse Senator Barack Obama for President. My local metro area newspaper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer also endorsed Obama, along with several other Ohio newspapers. And today, on NBC’s Meet The Press, Former Bush administration Secretary of State Colin Powell gave Obama his seal of approval.

So, now is a good time as any to throw in my 2 cents. I know I am just a tiny speck compared to these large national newspapers, but I felt it important that I make it official that “The Frequent Critic” also endorses Barack Obama for President. This should be of no surprise to any regular readers of my blog.

I admit that I can’t add much to all the wonderful things that the other “endorsers” have had to say about Barack Obama. But I do feel the need to add something. He’s the first politician in a long time that I truly believe that I can trust to do the right thing for the country and for its people. He is intelligent and is able to convey his thoughts and ideas in a calm, rational, and respectful manner, and this talent can help him to restore world respectability to the United States of America. I actually donated money to his political campaign. Not very much, mind you, but it was more a symbolic gesture for me. I have never felt the need to add to a politician’s campaign fund until Obama became the Democratic nominee, and my desire to see him succeed made me actually open my wallet and put my money where my mouth is. To say it plainly – I like him, and that's something that I have been unable to say about any political candidate since I started voting in 1973.

If you haven’t had a chance to read all the other endorsements, which are much more thoughtful than mine, I have some of the excerpts below.

And most importantly, whomever you want to win on Election Day, just be sure to actually VOTE. That’s the only way to make sure that your candidate of choice is represented.



Excerpts from Endorsements:

Colin Powell: "I think he is a transformational figure, he is a new generation coming onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Sen. Barack Obama,"

Washington Post : Mr. Obama is a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building. At home, we believe, he would respond to the economic crisis with a healthy respect for markets tempered by justified dismay over rising inequality and an understanding of the need for focused regulation. Abroad, the best evidence suggests that he would seek to maintain U.S. leadership and engagement, continue the fight against terrorists, and wage vigorous diplomacy on behalf of U.S. values and interests. Mr. Obama has the potential to become a great president. Given the enormous problems he would confront from his first day in office, and the damage wrought over the past eight years, we would settle for very good.

The LA Times.: Our nation has never before had a candidate like Obama, a man born in the 1960s, of black African and white heritage, raised and educated abroad as well as in the United States, and bringing with him a personal narrative that encompasses much of the American story but that, until now, has been reflected in little of its elected leadership. The excitement of Obama's early campaign was amplified by that newness. But as the presidential race draws to its conclusion, it is Obama's character and temperament that come to the fore. It is his steadiness. His maturity.


Chicago Tribune : We have tremendous confidence in his intellectual rigor, his moral compass and his ability to make sound, thoughtful, careful decisions. He is ready…This endorsement makes some history for the Chicago Tribune. This is the first time the newspaper has endorsed the Democratic Party's nominee for president.

Cleveland Plain Dealer : He is young and obviously cannot match the government experience of his Republican opponent, John McCain. But from the moment he electrified the 2004 Democratic Convention by declaring that America's shared values must trump its racial, religious and ideological divisions, Obama has demonstrated uncommon grace, confidence and intelligence.

Obama has challenged Americans to dream and to hope, to be realistic in the face of great problems and to trust in one another. To minorities and other Americans on the margins, he offers living proof that this nation can fulfill its ideals. To the world, he offers quite literally a different face, one that embodies America's diversity and boundless opportunity.

That is a recipe for the fresh leadership this nation desperately needs. And it is why we urge his election as the 44th president of the United States.





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