No, you’re not seeing things, that title is correct. I, Adam Pieniazek, endorse Barack Obama.
Now, that does not mean I will vote for him (tip of the hat to Stephen Colbert for this idea). Quite on the contrary, I will be voting for Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez. However, I realize that all my readers do not live in a state like Massachusetts where one of the mainstream candidates will win in a landslide. I also realize that some of my readers will steadfastly support either a Democrat or Republican only.
I fully support third parties and their battle to gain equal rights but if you live in a battleground state and are only deciding between Barack Obama and John McCain (for instance, if you live in Oklahoma where write-in candidates are not allowed and only Obama and McCain are listed on the ballot) then I highly urge you to vote for Barack Obama. There is a simple reason behind this endorsement, and it is not based on any tax system, religion, race, or any political affiliation. Rather, you should vote for Barack Obama because he is eloquent, charismatic, and well liked by the global community. This country is literally teetering on a precipice and one candidate can keep us on the cliff while the other wants to push us off it.
We can elect John McCain and in essence give a big fat middle finger to the rest of the world. Now some of you might say, “Exactly! That’s why I’m voting for John McCain.” Well, the simple truth is we are not number one right now. Every last bastion of American pride has shown huge, undeniable faults over the past eight years. From election errors to military difficulties to the recent financial fallout, America is not viewed as a super power by many individuals and countries in the global community. Electing John McCain will announce to the world that we do not care what they think, at which point they may very well ostracize us, or worse.
On the other hand, we can elect Barack Obama as our President and regain some much needed credibility and respect in the international community. Further Obama will use his charisma and eloquence to regain the international community’s trust and friendship. The truth is we live in a global society and we as a country need to be viewed in a positive and friendly manner. We simply are not strong enough to be arrogant right now.
In a truly democratic system, Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin, Cynthia McKinney, Ralph Nader and other parties would have been allowed full and equal access to the debates and ballots and given a fair shot at being elected president. Alas, our system is not such and for many people their only choice is between Obama or McCain. If you find yourself in such a situation, please put your country first and elect Barack Obama.
Before I conclude this post, I must emphatically urge my readers to vote for a third party, however if you will not or cannot then please vote for Barack Obama. I however will be proudly casting my ballot for Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez and highly encourage you to do so as well, especially if you’re in a landslide state.
“you should vote for Barack Obama because he is eloquent, charismatic, and well liked by the global community.”
Then perhaps he should enter the next Miss Universe contest.
I DENOUNCE Barack Obama and John McCain AND I’m voting for Nader-Gonzalez.
From the swing state of Florida.
“Then perhaps he should enter the next Miss Universe contest.”
V I agree with you wholeheartedly, however, for all intensive purposes Obama is already running in what amounts to a beauty pageant. Most Americans do not want to look at the cold hard truth and take the time to research a candidate’s platform and find the truth. Instead they choose to vote based on a hope, a fear, or who they’d rather have a beer with.
Personally, I spent a lot of time researching issues, solutions and attempting to find a truth beyond the marketing of any campaign. That truth led me to believe that the Nader-Gonzalez platform is clearly the best platform for this country. Unfortunately, many of our fellow citizens do not put the same thought into their vote and do view it as a simple popularity contest.
P.S. There was a fair amount of sarcasm in my post, but if I lived in Oklahoma I’d vote for Obama and start working to change the ballot access laws in that state. Obama at his core is an average politician who speaks well but after eight years of dumbass governance, many see mere competence as a virtue.
P.P.S. Just posted .
THinking back, in the last election, Nader told people that voting for him would be as good as a vote for Bush. Ralph Nader is a sham. Yet another reason McCain WILL succeed. Every vote for Nader takes away crucial votes for any other candidate. Yes it would be awesome to get a third party in the electoral process (i.e. – debates) but the chance that Nader will get a 5% vote to make his party recognized by the government and be able to take part in the process is slim to none. If you truly are an Obama supporter, I urge you to vote for him, EVERY VOTE COUNTS. Telling yourself, “It’s okay, Obama has this in the bag.”, sounds like a big ole ball of what the republicans want you to think. Wise up America, think for yourselves and stop listening to every 30-minute pundit that has some grand idea. I assure you this much, no matter the outcome of the elections, they (read: pundits) will have a job and money to afford their cost of living. . will you?
Nader is anything but a sham, he’s compiled a huge record of helping to enact positive legislation and socially progressive non-profit organizations. He’s done more for this country as a private citizen than most career politicians.
Many polls have actually shown that many Nader supporters are Republicans who have become disenchanted with McCain and Bush. Also, Nader actually has a pretty good chance of gaining 5% of the vote this time around, polls put him at 3-4% and with a big enough push he could surpass the 5% mark, but that only gives him access to federal funding. Access to the debates requires polling at 15% and is an arbitrary figure set by a private corporation owned by the Republicans and Democrats. If Nader were to poll at 15%, they’d likely up the requirement to 20%.
I am not an Obama supporter. We’re far apart on too many issues, my post is a simple statement that if only looking at the two mainstream candidates, then Obama is slightly better because he won’t be catastrophically bad for the country.
If you’re truly worried about the state of American politics, and especially our economy, voting third party is the best way to begin fixing our problems. The Democrats and Republicans propose band-aids when casts and possibly surgery is needed.
An unpopular opinion, I know but I think George W. Bush was too high a price to pay for Nader to try (and fail) to get the green party recognized. Due to the current predicament that this country is in, McCain is as well.
Aprils last blog post..I Can’t Get Back on Track. HELP!
April…Al Gore lost the election for Ralph Nader! If all Al Gore voters simply voted for Nader we’d be sitting pretty right now.
😉
In other words, you can’t blame Bush on Nader. It’s just not a solid argument. The Democrats have had eight years to fight back and impeach Bush but instead they support him. The Democrats and Al Gore are directly responsible and actively supportive of George W. Bush.
To blame Nader for Gore’s loss is like blaming the Green Bay Packers for the Pats losing the Super Bowl to the Giants! It passes the buck from the true loser to someone who wasn’t even there!
I have to disagree. That fact that he received almost 3% of the vote puts him more than the Green Bay packers routing in the Giants from the stands. It would be like Green Bay sending in a players when one of the giants got hurt. 3%, although not according to government, is in the viably in the game in my opinion.
A viable 3rd party is necessary but lets not pretend that it does not exist. Gore would not have received the entire 3%. Some people jsut don’t like him, but the truth is a vote for Nadar, at least in 2000 was a vote for the environment and a vote for Gore was also a vote for the environment. Nadar, in my opinion, was like a less moderate Gore. In an election that close… 1.5% could have helped.
I think third parties need to make MORE of a showing on the state level before taking on the presidential level. If your mayor and State Senator were Green then an average citizen might vote in a Green President. But they aren’t, they wont, and they take more liberal votes. Im not anti-3rd party, i think the price being paid is to high because of poor planning.
Aprils last blog post..I Can’t Get Back on Track. HELP!
April, over 200,000 registered Democrats in Florida voted for Bush. Meanwhile Nader got less than 100,000 votes in Florida. If you want to blame anyone for the Bush presidency clearly, you should start with the Democrats (hence if you’re not voting for Nader because he caused Bush, you should not vote for Obama either because his party is even more responsible for Bush).
Also, multiple other third parties received more than 600 votes in Florida (the margin of victory for Bush over Gore) so why not blame them? Gore himself blames himself and rightfully so. He ran a shitty campaign and thus lost, Gore is a loser, stop blaming one of the greatest American citizens of our time because one corporate candidate did not beat out another.
The poor planning of third parties (which I agree with you on 100% — actually thinking about applying to be a campaign manager for a certain third party –) is the reason the third parties lose, not the reason the major parties lose.
You can’t blame someone for someone else losing. It’s not fair to anyone. Nader lost, Gore lost, Bush stole an election. Those are the simple facts. Blaming Nader is easy but wrong.
oh you see i can and i do.
understand my blaming nadar does not mean i do not also blame the democrats more. i blame everyone. (Also greatest citizen? spin me another one)
i am an angry person.
be a campaign manager. When you start a business you don’t open a location in every town of every state – you start local, build a big base and move forward. it takes patience. who forgot to clue in the 3rd parties?
Aprils last blog post..Redskins for Obama
So, you blame Democrats but you’re voting for a Democrat?
Blame me too when I run for Mayor of Boston please!
😉
I truly believe Nader is one of the greatest citizens we’ve ever seen. Key emphasis here is on citizen, he’s enacted more positive legislation than many career politicians.
Adam Pieniazeks last blog post..Bob Barr: An Old-School Republican in Libertarian Clothing
But yes April, I agree with you that this third party movement starts local and Nader and the other third party candidates do have local movements going, and starting tomorrow they’re switching their focus back to the local movements. You must admit running for president is a good way to also bring focus on the local movements and expose the whole country to the issues so that they’ll be more willing to vote for a third party on the local level.
Adam Pieniazeks last blog post..Ralph Nader: Uber Citizen, OK President
im voting democrat because i want to make damn sure a democrat is picking out supreme court PARTICULARLY because out south dakota (FUCKING AGAON. I am considering burning south dakota to the ground. it was a pain in my ass for the last 6 years). im not sure i even like the democrats anymore.. but i want them picking my justices. fucking south dakota.
It amy bring attention but its also a massive waste of money in my view. start small build up.
also mayor huh? when.
Aprils last blog post..Calling PA
Well, Obama won, now let’s see how he does. To me there was little difference in the political stances of Obama and McCain (they both veered more to the middle than left or right) but in terms of personality, charisma, and what the two would project as a leader there is a huge, huge difference and it’s apparent that the world approves of our choice and that he’s energized many people who never cared about politics before. On pure leadership potential, we clearly made the correct choice.
As for Mayor, not sure April, maybe this election cycle…if I run I’m running on a platform of taking power away from the Mayor. I’d appoint (after meeting with each community) mini-mayors for each section of the city and basically delegate to them and allow for more citizen and community power. If Kerry takes a place in Obama’s cabinet and Lynch takes over as senator I might just run for Lynch’s spot though.
In either case, I’d pay myself a minimum wage salary and only work 3-4 days out of the week as an example that we can all work less but work better.
🙂
But, I’ve got about a million things I want to do so it’s not likely that I’ll run. Would be a great experience though.