I really don't have anything invested in the Democratic primary - I don't even remember which state I'm registered in, having flipped back and forth between Maryland and New Jersey and been out of the country for so many elections. I think I'm registered as Independent, too. I couldn't be bothered to sort out where I'm registered and what I'm registered as and whether I need to change my registration to vote in the primary by now (though I will figure it out by November, to be sure). Especially when from the beginning, I've felt that nearly any Democrat, and most Republicans, would at least be less disastrous than Bush. So the preliminaries just aren't all that interesting to me, personally.

Votes are mostly amusing to me as opportunities to play the spoiler. No mainstream candidate (especially not at the national level) is ever going to espouse policies that will win over my heart and soul, so I cast my vote with the aim of messing with things and encouraging underdogs.  For instance, I briefly entertained the thought of registering Republican to vote for Guliani in the primaries to do my bit to drive the Moral Majority from the Republican fold. And unless something changes dramatically between now and November, I will probably be casting my vote for the Green party, because the Democrats need shaking up, in my opinion.

All that said, I still felt prompted to share this endorsement of Obama, because it's the most convincing I've yet encountered, in no small part because it comes from someone who seems to think very much like I do:

I wish I had a slew of good policy reasons to support Obama over Clinton. I don’t. Both are articulating economic and environmental policies I can live with. Both endorse civil unions, but neither has been brave enough to support gay marriage. Frustrated as I am with Clinton’s vote to allow Bush’s endless war in Iraq, I can’t find huge distinctions between her plan to end the war and Obama’s. Frankly, I believe either would be a solid, competent leader, and would be a damned sight better than the last seven years we’ve suffered through.

But my friends from overseas have a point, and it’s a point I agree with. America’s image abroad has suffered incalculably under the Bush 43 presidency. It’s going to require a huge overhaul for America to be viewed as a desirable partner in international affairs and as a force for positive change. I’m not sure Hillary Clinton has the power to change America’s image that profoundly; I think that Barack Obama does.

Obama is a born globalist. He’s the child of a first-generation immigrant; he’s lived and studied abroad; his family tree helps reflect the diversity and complexity that characterizes our nation.  read the rest