Published: June 03, 2008 03:33 pm            

ROOT: Barack Obama for president

Before I say anything I want to remind everyone that my political views are not the views of the Union-Sun & Journal and this is not an official endorsement by anyone other than me. So if you have a problem with this column then email me, don’t bother the paper.

I’m sick of stereotypical politicians. I am a huge Bill Clinton supporter and I think he was a brilliant domestic president. He lacked foresight in foreign affairs that could have saved us a lot of our current international problems but his ability to make everyone proud to be an American without having to blow up a foreign country was awesome to watch. Bill Clinton was also ill prepared for the cut throat nature of big time politics as well. The Republican machine ate Clinton up and spewed him out for the whole world to see. The Republican party felt it was more important to embarrass the country and disgrace the Democratic president in some way rather than try and maintain the honor of the United States. Bill Clinton is not the first president to have an affair in the White House and he won’t be the last but I certainly hope he is the only president that will ever have to endure that embarrassing circus that the Republicans whipped up to try and get him out of office.

In the end Bill Clinton finished his presidency and remained a very popular president. His wife Hillary did the only thing she could really do and that was to stand by her husband and deal with their issues privately. Bill Clinton had an affair while in office and then he was put on a grand jury stand and asked to admit to the world what he had yet to admit to his wife in private. It was the Clinton impeachment that turned me off to politics permanently and I don’t think I am alone.

Hillary Clinton is no Bill Clinton. Her views on the issues change with the public opinion polls and she backs ideas and people that seem to suggest that she is not as knowledgeable as we all assumed she was. The final nail in the Hillary for president coffin for me was when she backed the gas tax holiday idea a month ago. That is the single worst idea I have ever heard and will do nothing but cause gas prices to skyrocket out of control even further. Hillary Clinton has continually looked like a stereotypical politician through this entire campaign and it is her refusal to concede the Democratic nomination that could cause John McCain to win in November. Another really bad idea.

Who refused to back the gas tax holiday? Who acts and speaks unlike any other politician I have ever seen? Barack Obama. He is smart, he is a great public speaker, he knows how to address the issues without throwing a bucket of mud out there first, and he seems genuinely interested in solving the problems we face. He also shows great disdain for stupid questions from the media, he speaks like a human being and not some political robot, and he directly accepts responsibility for the issues that surround his campaign. He is accountable, he has great ideas, he has the ability to express those ideas to anyone that listens, and he is more than a one trick pony.

He isn’t a war hero and he doesn’t have the experience of living in the White House for eight years but all those two things wind up being are crutches that John McCain and Hillary Clinton use repeatedly. When Obama is asked a question in a debate he answers the question. Clinton and McCain use political doublespeak and never really get to an answer.

Barack Obama makes me feel confident that he could be a great president and he makes me feel comfortable that he can make the tough decisions. He also makes me feel like he will make decisions based on what is right versus what is popular. John McCain is another George Bush Republican and I honestly do not think that this country can survive another four years of that. Hillary Clinton has no original ideas and any ideas she does have change with the public opinion polls. To me there is only one choice for our country’s future and there is only one person that can reign in the chaos the last eight years have caused. We need a president with good ideas and the devotion to see those ideas through. We desperately need a president that cares and a president that is as sick of negative politics as everyone else is. Barack Obama for president.

George N. Root III is a Lockport resident. His column runs every Wednesday. Send comments to georgeroot@verizon.net.

        

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