From Amy lawyer in NY:

Subject: Voting Obama!

Friends, Family -

Pardon the political intrusion, but almost all of you vote in a Democratic primary somewhere next Tuesday. Below are just a few of my reasons, very briefly, to support Barack Obama (I’m sure you and he have been waiting for my endorsement, but coordinating with the Kennedys this week was complicated). Wherever you are in your own thinking, please think about voting Obama and/or get your friends and family to do so! Your views and your vote really count!

1. To my mind, the question now isn’t whom you agree with more (he and Hillary are extremely close on most key issues – see http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ ). Rather, it’s this: who will frame the public debate so that our national politics move permanently (not tactically) in a progressive, tolerant, strong direction? Hillary may be a superior tactical politician. But Barack Obama has the talent, popular support and vision to affect our politics strategically. This is huge. Ronald Reagan still inhabits our politics and the way we think of government (unfortunately), especially its limitations. Obama could do the same for progressive thinking, making a long-term impact that I just don’t see Hillary making (and that, with all his small-bore policy initiatives, Bill didn’t, either). Do you? And now is the moment for a strategic shift. Think of the impact Obama has already made and imagine how he could use his talent as president. No other candidate comes close.



2. Obama’s judgment is superior. Obama’s opposition to the Iraq war is neither irrelevant nor a fairy tale. It shows exactly the kind of judgment we need in a president. With nearly 4000 American lives lost and thousands more badly damaged, and American credibility pretty shredded, these judgments matter (as does her support for the war resolution). Moreover, he continues to show judgment on foreign policy issues from Iran to Pakistan and elsewhere. He knows America has power, and he’s willing to use it – as he said some time ago, if Pakistan were unwilling to go after al Qaeda, we might have to do it for them. But he also knows that our power can be a blunt instrument, and he isn’t promising toughness for its own sake.



3. Relatedly, Obama brings a depth to understanding America’s role in the world that no other candidate can match. The Bush Administration turned its back on America’s long (if bumpy!) tradition of respecting and advancing human rights and international law in times of peace and war. Everything about Obama – what he’s done, how he’s voted, what he says, and who he is – demonstrates that he understands deeply the importance of reorienting our policies related to issues such as Guantanamo and alleged terror detainees, int’l justice, Darfur and humanitarian intervention, etc. You want to get a feel for him? Compare his and Hillary’s presentations on Darfur (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEd583-fA8M&feature=related versus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyEYtHIOGhI&feature=related ). Simply put, I trust him to do the right thing on these kinds of issues. You should, too.



4. Obama is experienced. This is merely a point in his defense, but perhaps the most concise thing I’ve seen written on the topic is from Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary and major FOB (welcome back, lingo of the 90s!). Here’s Reich:



“...it strikes me as unfair to claim that Obama lacks relevant experience for the presidency. When he ran in 1992, Bill Clinton had been the governor of a small, rural southern state; as such, he had only limited experience with national issues and no foreign policy experience to speak of. Incidentally, at this point in the 2008 presidential election, Hillary Clinton has served as an elected official in the U.S. Senate for not quite eight years, and before that a First Lady in the White House. Obama has so far held elective office for almost twelve years, at both levels of government – first as an Illinois state senator and then as a U.S. Senator. Before that he was a community organizer among Chicago’s poor, and then a civil rights lawyer – two experiences that in my view are critically relevant to anyone seeking to become president of all Americans. Obama’s international experience comes first hand – his father was a goat-herder in Kenya, and Obama spent a portion of his childhood in Indonesia. And as an African-American, with all the personal experience that implies, Obama seems particularly well qualified to understand the issues that need to be addressed in order to unify America and renew the nation’s moral authority around the world.” http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2007/09/qualifications-setting-record-straight.html



I could easily go on, but I just wanted to give you a sense of my support in the hope that it tips you in his favor. Below are some links to a few of the many great pieces others have written in his support. I’m happy to talk him up, too, just let me know!



Best,

David



· On Obama’s qualities as a possible president, see David Brooks, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/18/opinion/18brooks.html

· On Israel and the Jewish community, see Mel Levine, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1201523778582&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

· On a constitutional principle related to the Clintons, see Garry Wills, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/opinion/26wills.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

· On Obama and gay rights, see Andrew Sullivan, http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/01/obama-and-the-g.html

· On electability, see this recent poll, http://www.gallup.com/poll/104044/Gallup-Daily-Tracking-Election-2008.aspx

· On why a Kennedy supports him, see Caroline Kennedy, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/27kennedy.html

· On why Hillary is Tracy Flick, http://slatev.com/player.html?id=1377935786