Why this fifty-five year old white lifelong Republican wants Obama to win

Sorry, white guilt doesn't work on me. I've been passed over for jobs and I never owned any slaves. You're going to have to give me a better reason than that.

Frank Schaeffer has captured the very essence of "Why We Can." Excellent post. Thanks Chique.

So, JohnA, you've been passed over for jobs, and you never owned slaves?? What's your point?? -- women and minorities have also been passed over for jobs, and THEY never owned slaves, either. If you're thinking white guilt, you're missing the point. McCain is pandering to everything sour and sleazy and mean-spirited, and it's so obvious, even an ethical lifelong Republican can see it. And it's why McCain is ultimately doomed. Huzzah!!!

JohnA - you're assuming that all Obama supporters are with him because of white guilt? Try taking race or gender out of the equation and look at what Obama, Hillary and the democratic party represent compared to what the republicans have given us so far. You may have been passed over because of affirmative action, and many blacks have been passed over for the opposite reason - the point is that neither should happen. We're all human beings with equal rights and that is part of Obama's message.

Having said that, with the countries money and debt to other countries continue to dwindle because of an illegal war, our economy is in the tank, our infrastructure is falling apart, gas continues to rise, the unemployment rate is at its highest in 22 years, foreclosures are at an historical level and most American's can't afford heath insurance . . . you now have a more than legitimate reason to worry about finding or losing your job. All brought to you by the failed republican administration that is more worried about power and lining their pockets than they are about the very people they're supposed to represent.

Supporting Obama for me, and for many people, is a color blind decision. We support him for what he stands for.

No one tells you that you are being passed over for affirmative action. You have to assume things like that. I think the majority of Americans are well past the race, gender prejudice. I don't expect it to be an issue in the election. They will try, people will ignore, they will try again. There may even be a backlash. I am really proud of this country right now.

Chique, Thank you SO MUCH for this post!! That man is beautiful in his thought and reasoning and I hope that somewhere along the line before november hits that he gets MASSIVE amounts of exposure and helps out the middle ground who don't know where to turn!
p.s. sorry for the run-on sentence!!

I love Frank Schaffer read him everyday on the huff!!!

Best post by an Obama supporter up to now (that I've read).

see you got this lifetime republican rooting for obama why because people are fed up with this corrupt administration

What want is an America we can be proud of. Leaders who lead forward with concern not for only us; but a global leader. Integrity and a humanitarian!

I think I don't know a darn thing about where he stands on many issues, so I can't really support him. Hopefully, if he wins presidency, he won't do any damage and just keep the status-quo. I'd be literally afraid of Hillary getting in, but I don't feel threatened by Obama. He seems like a fictional character anyway. Who is Obama, really?

And since this is so 'not' about race to some (or so we are constantly told) the author just had to announce he was white. Please. Don't tell me this isn't about race. Sean "Diddy" Combs also proved otherwise right here on Current when that was all he could mention without putting one coherent sentence together about any policy. And why wouldn't a Republican want to vote for him? He is so much like them already regarding his AIPAC speech and his lobbying to the same industries they do, including the cancer causing coal industry. I'm sure those obsessed with him above everything else only see him in a "romantic" other wordly light, but the reality is he is just like all the rest when it comes to playing the game. And really, this is not 'news.' This is just more political pap from Huffington Post.

"Obama offers civility. Obama speaks in complete sentences, well-turned paragraphs, offers thoughts with intellectual depth, nuance, humility and compassion. "

I couldn't agree more!

obama talks the talk but can he walk the walk,mccain has been in the military and in situations none of us can fathom,he is not a rebublican cookie cutter,he has something obama does not,experiance.

Why are people so willing to believe something without a single bit of evidence? Let's talk evidence. Proof. Just because someone says it is so doesnt make it so. Name one thing he has accomplished in his entire life. It doesnt have to be major, it just needs to back up some of the things that are being said. One thing. I noticed when I re-read this post that the only reason that is given is that he inspires people and that people believe he believes in "bringing people together" but can you think of another time when people were more separated? I cant. "Obama doesnt play on our fears" How do you think he got this far? He ran on "change" to play on our fears! Of course he is playing on our fears. Fear of more of the same! But is it true? Wouldnt you think that someone that is running on being different and new would have some new and different ideas? I havent heard any. Everyone is just so excited about something new and different they forgot to ask what it is, and they dont care. They just want "change".

Nice words for support of Obama. Nice that you can think outside your assigned party.

I don't buy importance of any election or even this election.

Mainly because of this quote (coupled with what I already think):

"The salvation of America and the human race depends on the next Election, if we believe the newspapers. (1848)

Not to say a President can't do good in the world and America (Abraham Lincoln), just I don't buy the uber importance of this one.

No one said the article wasn't in part about race, it's an unavoidable factor that needs to be talked about. What some are saying is that for "them" the decision to support Obama wasn't about race. Obama is nothing like a republican regardless of what anyone disagrees with and spinning it that way will never make it true.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but your endorsements of Obama seem to hinge around "inspirational" more than being an effectual leader. There's a lot of idealism to be found here. I should know, I'm a hardcore idealist. But with references to Obama being the embodiment of an incarnate JFK, I think people have been laying on the "Inspiration" a little thick. Not to be sarcastic, but since when does a 55 year old renegade republican necessitate a seal of approval? I was once a Republican as well. You're just like the rest of us, you're finally beginning to think for yourself.

I'm a 40 year old multiracial male, and am thrilled with the campaign Obama is waging. However, given the deceit we've undergone under the Bush administration, I haven't lost my sense of realism. Obama has come out of "nowhere", and this should curb anyone's enthusiasm for Obama as a candidate for supposed change. Why should Obama be any different than the current political climate? There are extensive parallels to be drawn to the sixties, and if agents for change were silenced then, why would it be any different today? I'm not trying to offer gloom and doom, but let's be clear, human nature "never" changes. People really need to put their enthusiasm in check in light of such realities.

I believe people are being caught up in their emotions for all the "idealism" Obama represents as the first black democratic presidential candidate. Some people seem more hung up on that, then really studying what this guy is all about. Listen to the media, and he starts to sound like the immaculate conception. He's almost "too clean". Study social/mass psychology and it's the making for the perfect storm. Bush capitalized on our fears, Barack seems to be capitalizing on our desperation for change. Every political figure has a theme to run upon, but when that theme blinds supporters to other hidden realities, no one should complain in the wake of their decisions for not having a balanced viewpoint.

I've been following Obama ever since he electrified the DNC with his speech prior to John Kerry's induction as the democratic presidential candidate in 2004. Obama completely overshadowed Kerry that night, as a CNN commentator spoke what has almost become prophetic : "You may very well be looking at the next president of the United States". Anyone watching that night couldn't help but be stunned at the oratorical ability of this young man. It was as if CNN in private clamored, "Forget Kerry, get your hands on this guy!"

I can honestly tell you that no other media source has gotten behind Obama since that night like CNN has. I watched CNN promote this guy from day one. You couldn't have asked for better promoters, or a greater marketing campaign. What has become sickening, not unlike support for the Iraq war, is that the propaganda is overwhelmingly obvious. Journalism these days is just somebody elses agenda, not objective reporting.


Obama was the reluctant candidate from the beginning, and why not, he's black. There's no mistaking his "Rockstar" qualities when he speaks, but usually under such circumstances that's when people can become the most delusional about their idol, and reasoning goes out the window. None of the above should be an indicator of my lack of support for Obama (Hell, his bumper sticker is on my car). It's just that our government is representative of an aristocracy, not a democracy. There are more forces at work to frustrate "idealism" than there were 40 years ago. No single man is going to change anything that isn't meant to be changed. Plenty of good hearted souls have learned that the hard way, and have either assimilated, or faded away.

Young people seem to be too caught up in the present, without factoring in historical patterns. You can't know where you're going without knowing where you have been.

I agree Lerxst, no one man is going to change anything "unless" he has the full support of the country behind him. The apathy we're responsible for gave us what we have today, and I think the reason he "inspires" us and it seems like that's the extent of it is because what other president in recent memory has even given us the remotest of possibilities that we will be listened to and "our" will be done? We can either sit back and let things happen we don't like or stand up and fight for change. All of us.

Actually, what I like best about Obama is he makes sense, what he hopes to do has a ring of truth and although far from infallible, his judgment I trust. I hear you about history and none of us should vote blindly, become delusional or expect miracles - but please let's don't extinguish the first spark of hope this country has seen in a very long time.