I’ve spent more time doing research and listening to statements from all the candidates during this presidential campaign than any other. Like most voters this year, I’ve realized we can’t hold our leaders accountable for misguided policies if we don’t understand those policies. After carefully assessing the positions of each candidate, last week I voted for Barack Obama because John McCain just doesn’t see the big picture. Here are the reasons why I believe Obama is the superior candidate:
Obama understands the plight of the little guy because he’s been one. Don’t let the degrees from Columbia and Harvard fool you. He just recently finished paying his school loans. He knows from personal experience that not everyone who needs help is lazy or trying to game the system. His campaign is focused on giving everyone a voice in policies that affect their lives.
Obama understands that when a person has a vision and the means to fulfill that vision, he or she is less likely to need public funds. His vision for our citizens addresses disparities in education, employment, and health care. He knows that better educated people who receive fair wages, work in supportive environments, and have access to disease prevention and treatment services are healthier and more productive. Healthier people cost public and private insurers less money. Productive people purchase their own necessities as well as luxuries that generate tax revenues to fund the cost of government initiatives. They invest and save for the future, which strengthens our financial institutions. They also give to those who are in need.
Obama understands that a comprehensive energy policy can strengthen the world economy. He supports policies to help this country lead an energy revolution that can create good jobs for people around the world without sacrificing the futures of people in this country.
Obama is a Christian by choice, not by force. He was exposed to a variety of faiths in childhood but “was not raised in a religious household.” That helps him understand people of other faiths, who are citizens of every nation, including ours. Though we are electing a commander-in-chief, not an evangelist-in-chief, non-believers will be more likely to embrace Christianity if they see Christian principles in action without having those principles shoved down their throats. Jesus said, “he that is greatest among you shall be your servant,” not your master. Obama’s policies encourage servanthood.
Obama is better prepared to communicate with and address the needs of a multi-cultural world. He has lived among, worked with, and/or visited blacks, whites, Christians, Muslims, Americans, Indonesians, Africans, the poor, the working class, and the privileged. The policies of previous administrations often have favored a single demographic at the expense of all or most others.
Obama’s connection with other faiths can keep us safer. According to the New York Times, an Islamist website closely linked to Al Qaeda has endorsed John McCain because his positions and plans will make recruiting for the organization much easier. The site further stated that potential recruits will be reluctant to confront Obama, who has a Muslim grandfather.
Obama’s brand of Christianity embraces the needs of the living as well as the unborn. He believes that it is proper for states to restrict partial-birth abortion, but he voted against an Illinois bill because it didn’t include an exclusion for mothers whose lives would be jeopardized by giving birth. He also has said “we should be doing everything we can to avoid unwanted pregnancies that might even lead somebody to consider having an abortion.”
Obama is probably the most experienced candidate in U.S. history. His experiences include:
- Working to empower people as a community organizer and as an attorney for a firm that specializes in civil rights law and economic development
- Serving on the board of directors for several organizations dedicated to improving the lives of people
- Serving three terms in the Illinois State Senate, where he gained bipartisan support to reform ethics and health care laws and chaired the Health and Human Services Committee
- Teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School
- Representing Illinois in the U.S. Senate
- Helping to create bipartisan legislation that addresses many of the most pressing issues of our time: greater public accountability in the use of federal funds, lobbying and electoral fraud, climate change, nuclear terrorism, and care for returning U.S. military personnel
- Serving on committees that address every area of government: Foreign Relations; Environment and Public Works; Veterans’ Affairs; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Homeland Security; and Governmental Affairs
- Traveling abroad to meet with leaders in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Obama is not God or Superman. He didn’t create the world, and he can’t leap tall buildings in a single bound. His strength is listening. He understands that he doesn’t know everything. His campaign staff members praise him for listening to dissenting opinions before he makes decisions. The changes in his campaign seem less like calculated political moves and more like adjustments to newly discovered realities.
McCain obviously isn’t listening. The American people want a leader with real vision to address real problems. McCain has constantly misrepresented Obama’s views and focused on distractions rather than addressing the issues.
We cannot afford to elect a man who lacks vision. Where there is no vision, the people perish (Prov. 29:18).
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Jacqueline Laurette Jones is author of Unmasking a Diagnosis: How to get Help for a Confusing Chronic Illness Without Filing for Bankruptcy.
