Back in May, I was sitting around the table with my older brother and sister when they asked my opinion on the primary elections, and I lost my usual caution and blurted out that Obama would beat Hillary and then would also win over McCain. Well, it is my hope and wish as well as my prediction. Now that General Powell, Chris Buckley [http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-10/the-conservative-case-for-obama/], and lots of other prominent Republicans lined up to declare support for Obama [http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/10/24/obamacans-prominent-republicans-line-up-behind-obama/], it indicates a reason why the support of more voters is tilting his way, especially since the economic crisis emerged in September.
Though my opinion has not changed much since the beginning of this race, it was more of a hunch and a faith than something carefully analyzed. However, as the campaign has progressed, the leadership and organizational qualities of Obama have become more apparent. His success in the campaign against Hillary was actually an amazing consequence of very good and disciplined planning and implementation in the face of the Clinton machine that was supposed to be unbeatable but was not as well organized or disciplined. So that campaign actually helped to prepare them for the even harder one against McCain.
Some of the Republican support for McCain seems to have left him because he did not keep to his principles of many years as an independent thinker and actor (maverick) and lately seemed to show poorer judgment and less stability in the face of the economic crisis when compared to Obama's calm and reasoned approach. At least that is what these "Obamacans" have said about their decision to jump ship.
When we were at GoshenCollege we had an interesting conversation with a friend, who is a historian and theologian. He said we can never believe all that politicians tell us or promise us, but we should decide whom we trust more to use good judgment and solve problems that will surely be plentiful. Well, aside from my hunches and intuition to support Obama, I truly believe he can be trusted to surround himself with talented people and to listen to all sides of issues before making a decision. I am afraid this has been one of the problems with Bush 43 who did not consult enough, unlike Bush 41, who did. And as for McCain, I do not have such confidence after the way he choose his Vice President with more regard for short run gains than for long run potential consequences. This too was a reason some thinking Rs have turned from McCain. It is not a way to put "country first", when he picks a person who is so poorly qualified to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, as even Eagleberger has said, though he supports McCain nonetheless.
Well, probably I went on too long. It looks like Missouri is not one of those states that will move from Red to Blue unless it is a real blowout, though it is very close at the moment. I feel like being in Iowa that used to be a swing state and you get bombarded with ads, mail and calls from both sides. Nice to be needed:) So anyway, I am not trying to persuade you but just to explore and explain my feelings. I even went out to canvass today, which I have never before done in a campaign. It was interesting and also revealed how so well organized everything is. Wow, it was impressive how perfectly inexperienced people like me could be organized in a few minutes to go out and help encourage people to vote. This was mainly targeted to get out the vote for Obama supporters or leaning to Obama and not trying to persuade people who were already known to support McCain, though I met a couple. Instructions were to just say thanks and move on if people did not support Obama.
