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Politics : THE WHITE HOUSE -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: longnshort who wrote (17847)	2/29/2008 6:37:49 PM
From: pompsander	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25737

Shocking Shorty..I am sure when all the Republican presidential candidates...all nine middle aged white guys...get together, they can say: "shame, shame" .Oh, and here is another Texas Republican for Obama. (I could have written this...hey, I did Yesterday!). _________________________________________- Christine Allison: Why this Republican is voting for Obama 08:57 AM CST on Saturday, February 23, 2008 I admit I'm a rebel. In 1976, as a young voter, I supported the insurgency campaign of Ronald Reagan, when the entire Texas Republican establishment was backing President Gerald Ford. In 1988, I supported Jack Kemp's attempt to derail Vice President George H. W. Bush. In 2000, I rooted for maverick John McCain against Texas' favorite son, George W. I may be a rebel, but I stayed loyal to my party. It took the Bush presidency, a Republican Congress and the irrelevant content of this year's Republican primary debates to push me over the edge. I am now officially a swing voter. I'm not going to argue the merits of the prescription drug law introduced by a Republican president and passed by a Republican Congress, except to note that it was the largest expansion of a federal entitlement program in history. Republicans introduced a needed tax cut but then kept it when the nation entered an expensive war. Under Mr. Bush, the federal deficit has climbed $2 trillion. Federal spending has gone out of control. (Meanwhile, the Republican candidates for president showed no sign of fiscal responsibility, falling all over themselves to pander to the anti-tax crowd, with not one mention of the looming fiscal crisis in Medicare and Social Security.) I began to wonder, if Republicans are going to behave like Democrats, why not take a look at the real thing? That's when I encountered Barack Obama. In effect, sometime last year I switched channels. The Republican primary debates were like the rerun of a show I didn't like to begin with. Mr. Obama was fresh. I began by thinking he was inspirational. I now believe that he is necessary. I'm tired of "wedge issues" that seek to divide one small portion of the electorate from another. I'm tired of exploiting ignorance and fear to raise money from little old ladies or to turn out the base. I'm even tired of hearing candidates endlessly invoke the name of Ronald Reagan, a man whose presidency ended a generation ago. I want someone who speaks to the yearning and ideals of this generation. I want to look forward, not backward. Barack Obama embodies a new worldview. He speaks with candor and elegance against the kind of politics that have become so dispiriting – and for the kind of America I would like to see. As a man, I find Mr. Obama to be prudent, thoughtful, and courageous. His life story embodies the conservative values that go to the core of my beliefs. If you, too, are a disappointed Republican, I urge you to give Barack Obama a good, hard look before the March 4 primary. I might wince when the primary official stamps "Democrat" on my voting card. But if that's what it takes to make a fundamental change, I'm ready for it. Christine Allison is president of D Magazine Partners in Dallas