In the intersts of disclosure, and in the interest of having something interesting to say tonight, I figured I’d mention that I just made a (very small) contribution to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. So I guess I’ve hopped off the fence.
I’m a little surprised about that, to be honest. As much as I respect and admire Obama, based in no small part upon reading his books, I always kinda figured that there were other people I’d like to get the Democratic nomination even more. I had told myself I was going to wait and see if any of those people joined the race, or if any of the other candidates were able to surprise me.
So what changed? Over the last week or so, I’ve just really liked the way Obama’s rolled out this campaign. I liked the way he dealt with the Joe Biden brouhaha. I liked the way he quickly responded to Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s comments. I like the way he’s stressed his background in community organizing. I’ve found myself responding to these developments with a “Yeah, way to go” attitude, which tells me that somethign abotu the way Obama’s working right now clicks with me. I figure I should put my money where my mouth is and encourage him to continue.
This doesn’t mean that I don’t reserve the right to change my mind. It’s a long campaign, after all. I still hope Wes Clark gets into the race – I think his diplomatic and national security experience would be well-suited to the country’s needs right now. I do have seriosu reservations about Clark’s ability as a candidate at this point, especially since he seems to be waiting so long to get his campaign going, and in large part that’s why I’m not as gung-ho on his bandwagon as I thought I would be.
And part of me does hope beyond hope that Al Gore throws his hat in, and that he can make a good run of it. If he does, I’ll reevalaute where I stand. But for now, I’m ready to get off the sidelines.