‘Cause When The Feeling’s Right I’m Gonna Run All Night, I’m Gonna Run To You

Regular readers know I’ve been all over the map about the POTUS thing. From Richardson, to Huckabee to Ron Paul—and everybody in between.

As I mentioned previously, last Tuesday I did the early voting thing.

For POTUS, I voted for Obama and his delegates, most of whom I loathe because they are Politburo insiders.

My decision to vote for Obama was in no way intellectually driven; it was entirely visceral.

I began to form my pro-Obama opinion some time in December. I still have no coherent narrative as to why I chose him, but here are some links to articles which reflect my thinking/feeling:

1. A Bush news conference in December where Bush was asked what he would look for in the next POTUS.  He said he would want to know what principles the candidate would stand on, in good times and bad, and who they would rely on for unvarnished advice.

2. This blog post by Callimachus about choosing a POTUS by his/her ability to grow in office. Sez Cal: “Obama, however, impresses me as having enormous will and capability to learn on the job, to soak it up and use experience to make himself better at it.”

3. A Lawrence Lindsey op-ed about the three things we should consider when choosing a POTUS:

a) Has the candidate faced a crises or overcome a major setback in his or her life?

b) Has the candidate had a variety of life experiences—not just politics?

c) Can the candidate tell the difference between a foreign enemy and a political opponent?

4. Many conservatives believe they can work with Obama even though his politics are liberal.

5. With the presidency, character and self-knowledge matter more than experience.

6. The Reagan Diaries. This book gave me insight into the day-to-day life of a POTUS, and from this book I learned that all sorts of problems will be thrown at a POTUS, not all with a three-point white paper solution. A POTUS needs a core belief system in order to be effective.

Finally, the Clintons are the masters of the politics of personal destruction, and if Obama can survive the Clinton Smear Machine, he can survive anything!