Here are the Issues

The current presidential election will definitely go down in history as the greatest presidential battle ever. We have three remarkable senators running: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain. All three candidates would make a remarkable president because I believe that all three have America’s best interest at heart. However, I do believe that among all of them, there is one that will be able to outperform all three. Barack Obama is the best qualified presidential candidate who is fired up and ready to lead our country on day one of inauguration.

For the record, I would like to state that I am an American of Haitian descent; thus, that would put me in the African-American category. Nevertheless, Barack Obama, being the first viable African-American running for president didn’t have anything to do with my decision. Instead of demonizing the other candidates by poking out why I don’t think they’re best qualified, I will rather present the great qualities that Senator Barack Obama possesses that leads me to believe that he is better qualified than the others because I take this election extremely seriously and hope that other young adults also begin to make their political decisions a priority.

The arguments against Obama are always irrelevant in nature. For example, many say they wouldn’t vote for him because they believe that he is a Muslim. Not only is this argument prejudicial in nature because it implies that Muslims shouldn’t be president, but it is also a blatant misrepresentation of the truth. Senator Barack Obama is a Christian and has been the member of Trinity United Church of Christ for about twenty years now (huffingpost). In his books the Audacity of Hope and Dreams from My Father, he speaks in detail about his Christian faith. He spoke at length about his Christian beliefs in a 2004 Chicago Sun Times interview with Cathleen Falsani. Must we take his word for all of it? Not necessarily, but in the absence of contrary evidence we have no reason to seriously doubt Obama’s own candid account of his life story. The people claiming that he is a “secret Muslim” never are able to provide evidence that he is: no sightings of Barack Obama attending a mosque, no pictures of him reading the Qur’an, praying to Mecca, or observing Islamic holidays with his family. Basically, it’s a smear campaign coordinated by people who wants to politically take advantage of Amercians’ natural fear of Muslims created after the 9/11 attacks.

The only semi-legitimate reason people are concerned about is Obama’s lack of experience in Washington. Since when was Washington experience a requirement for the presidency? If having Washington Experience meant that one would be a great president, then we would’ve had the greatest president in office right now. George W. Bush’s father, George H. W. Bush, was the 41st President of the United States; thus, one might argue that our current president had a lot of Washington experience. He was in and out his father’s office and he was undoubtedly able to learn much about the presidency directly from his father. Yet, in an informal survey of 109 professional historians conducted over a three-week period through the History News Network, 98.2 percent assessed the presidency of Mr. Bush to be a failure while 1.8 percent classified it as a success. Not only that, more than 61 percent of the historians say the current presidency is the worst in American history(historynews report). Most Americans don’t really need the opinion of a couple of historians to come up with their own opinion of the George W. Bush’s presidency. For the week ending April 11, 2008, according to a poll conducted by Rasmussen reports, only 35% of Americans approve of the job that our current president is doing (Rasmussen Reports). Thus, it is pretty clear that Washington experience is not a credible indicator of what type of President a candidate is going to be. General Colin Powell, who was secretary of state in the Bush administration from 2000-2004, decided to weigh in on the lack of Washington Experience of Senator Obama. When ABC news’ Diane Sawyer asked Colin Powell about Sen. Barack Obama’s “relative lack of experience”. The Four Star General, Colin Powell, replied “He doesn’t have experience at the senior levels of national government. But I’ve seen other individuals come along who didn’t have that breadth of experience and what they do is surround t hemselves with people who do bring that experience. With Sen! . Obama, he didn’t have a lot of experience running a presidential campaign, did he? But he seems to know how to organize a task and he seems to know how to apply resources to a problem at hand. So that gives me some indication that (with) his inexperience in foreign affairs or domestic affairs, he may be someone who can learn quickly.”(LA Times). Thus, his lack of Washington Experience argument isn’t a strong one.

He lacks Washington Experience, but does he have any experience at all that proves he’s able to help the United States of America as its leader? Yes, he does. Barack Obama, after graduating from Harvard Law School magma cum laude in 1991, decided to become a community organizer. Although he was offered lucrative positions in reputable law firms, he preferred to go back to Chicago to become very active in his community. From 1996 to 2004, he served in the Illinois Senate. There, he worked on issues such as health care for low-income families and increased funds for AIDS programs, among other vital issues. Barack was known for his ability to reach across the aisle and unite Republicans and Democrats to work effectively on all issues important to the people. In 2004, he was propelled into the spotlight when he ran for U.S. Senate in 2004, eventually beating out more well funded and popular Democrats for the right to run in the general election, where he then beat all the odds to win with 70 percent of the votes (opensecrets.org).

As only the fifth black senator in America’s history, Obama has proven that he has staying power in his community and in Illinois. His platform for his presidential campaign reflects his history of grassroots activism and community work. The biggest concerns for Americans today are definitely the war in Iraq, education, health care and climate control. Obama makes realistic promises to mediate some of these issues.

Obama is passionate about providing universal healthcare for the 46 million Americans who are uninsured and points out American taxpayers are already paying annually for that population. He is also an opponent of the current policies concerning the war in Iraq. He was the only presidential candidate who was against the war from the beginning and now is a frontrunner in the race to get the troops home with a phased withdrawal. While I am personally in favor of a more immediate withdrawal, it seems like he has the best plan to bring our troops home.

He also advocates real change in the fight over global warming and criticizes President George W. Bush for merely noting that there is a problem. He is an advocate of actually working toward reducing emissions. Obama has co-sponsored multiple bills in order to improve education. For example, he co-sponsored the legislation that created Future Teacher Corps Scholarships to provide money for students aiming to become teachers and has also sponsored several bills to increase Pell Grants to help students pay for college. It is clear that Obama is not only making a difference in his position in the Senate but he is now the frontrunner in the democratic presidential nomination.

He leads the entire race in fundraising efforts and he gains more supporters over the internet by the second. He is attracting voters from all ages and all backgrounds and, according to the Federal Election Commission, he has more than 1.3 million donors contributing to his campaign. He is the only presidential candidate in history to have ever attracted so many donors. Therefore, with Obama, we’ll finally have a government “from the people, by the people, and for the people.” There will be no more special interest and lobbyist influence.

I decided to point out why you should consider Obama rather than pointing out why the other candidates should not win. The 2008 election is different than 2004 in that most voters will not be choosing the lesser of two evils. The candidates are strong, impressive and ready to win. However, Barack Obama, instead of being the lesser of the evils, is the best of the best.

It is time for a new America, one that can endure the trials and tribulations of tomorrow with the grace and intelligence that is needed today. We have major problems facing this country ranging from health care, immigration, terrorism, education reform, social security, etc. We are literally facing a turning point in the history of America and truly, the world. Our generation will bear the main burden of these issues if we do not elect a leader who can understand us, our pains, our problems, and our needs to survive.

It takes a deep understanding of the average American and the issues we face in our daily lives-and how we can come together, no matter our race, creed, or income-to make this nation what it should be, which is a new and shining hope for our generation and future generations. Senator Barack Obama embodies that understanding. Thus I challenge you: take a stand, fight for your rights and beliefs, because if you do not, no one else will!

Wensley Edmond
Miami, FL