What a speech...

The man is a tremendous orator. You would have to be completely against Obama to not be at least a little inspired by his delivery. His speech writers, on the other hand, either need some help or are deliberately giving him repackaged Democrat talking points from the past several decades.

I wish I could believe some of the things he discussed last night. The problem for me is he has refused to get specific enough. For example, I loved the following segment...

"Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime — by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less — because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy."

I agree with him, we need to close loopholes in our tax code which do not promote growth. However, can you give me just ONE specific loophole that needs to be closed? If there are so many, this must be an easy task.

I think we all agree, there is too much government and there is need for elimination of a number of broken or redundant departments. Can you give me just FIVE programs you have identified already which you will eliminate or improve in the first 100 days in office? With the amount of waste we all know is there, this should be easy too.

If he had answered either of those questions in his speech, I would have been giving Obama a second look today. Because specifics are what I am looking for from a man who is still largely unknown. He is overexposed and celebrated by the mainstream media, but he has submitted himself to very few interviews where he has been challenged about his policies or beliefs. You learn about people by seeing how they react in the face of adversity. Because he only does fluff interviews, we still do not know who he is.

What do I know?

I know he is an American success story. I know he has come from nowhere, against astronomical odds, to national prominence. I know he is a great family man. I know he inspires people. I know he is a tremendous orator. These are all good things.

However, I also know he was a political nobody four years ago. I know he spent 20 years listening to Rev. Wright. I know he calls himself a Christian, yet is and advocate for late term abortions of viable fetus'. I know he was, at a minimum, friendly with, and had fundraisers thrown by, Bill Ayers, an admitted domestic terrorist. I know he has used cocaine. I know by Jeri Ryan airing her husband's dirty laundry during his Senate run, he was given a free pass into the Senate. I know he has been running for President for HALF of his Senate career. I know he has voted the party line almost 100% of the time and has never taken opposition against his party on any major issue. These are all bad things.

I hope Obama gives me, and the American people a chance to get to know him. I am not fan of John McCain, but right now I have to give him my vote. I know who he is. I don't 100% like what I know, but none the less I know what makes him tick, what his track record is and what his motivation is. I know none of these things about Barak.

Will he eventually come around? I suspect if he does not, it will be because he knows his values and motivations are incongruent with most of America. If he does, I'll be interested to learn.

God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com