

Photo by Joe Crimmings.

[digg-reddit-me]A few weeks ago, I wrote a post listing the reasons Senator Hillary Clinton should bow out of the race for the presidency for the good of liberalism, the Democratic party, and the nation. Predictably, she did not do so. But the list also happens to double as a catalog of some of the top reasons not to vote for her. (Here is a more subtle argument against her candidacy and in favor of Mr. Obama’s.)

But now, today, the day before the crucial February 5th primaries, I make the positive case for why you should vote for Senator Barack Obama tomorrow – if you happen to be lucky enough to be in one of the Super Tuesday states.

At the moment, Barack has the momentum: the money; the rising polls; and a string of major endorsements (from MoveOn.org to Ted Kennedy to Maria Shriver to Susan Eisenhower to La Opinion.) It will still be difficult to overcome the substantial lead Ms. Clinton has – based on her name recognition, her long history in the public eye, and the generally competent campaign she has run. Some have taken to describing this coming Super Tuesday as a battle between an immovable object and an unstoppable force – with Ms. Clinton’s base – some 15% of the general electorate and 30 – 40% of the Democratic primary electorate – as the immovable object and coalition of the growing youth vote, the independents, the crossover voters, the black voters, and a majority voters under the age of 45 as the unstoppable force. I can’t say who is going to win tomorrow – and some sort of tie seems most likely. This, however, is my attempt to influence the decision, to fire up those already backing Barack, and help, in whatever way I can, the next President of the United States of America:

The case for Barack Obama in 12 parts (with a bonus).

Bonus reason: He inspires me, and many others as well, to believe in America again – to believe in the promise of a great nation fallen, to give of our time and our energy to make a better tomorrow; Barack Obama inspires me:

(N.B. The speech is still moving, even if you don’t play Hans Zimmer’s Gladiator soundtrack behind it. But Hans Zimmer gives it an extra kick.)

In trying to understand Mr. Obama’s thought, it is also worth checking out his Call to Renewal keynote address, his video internet sensation the Ebenezer Sermon, his complete speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention that launched him into the public spotlight, his prescient speech against the war in Iraq, his Iowa caucus victory speech beginning with the weighty: “They said this day would never come,” his South Carolina victory speech that best captured his response to Clintonism, and finally, the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner speech that catapulted Obama to the forefront of the Iowa polls and gave him, in the words of the influential Iowa columnist, “The Big Mo’ “. All of these speeches were excellent – far above the level of any other politician today. More important, they speak to the moment we are in as a country in a way that no other politician tries to. At the same time, they give insight into how Obama’s politics works – and what drives him. (It’s also worth noting that Mr. Obama’s head campaign speechwriter is an acquaintance of mine from college, Jon Favreau.)

Concluding thoughts

Tomorrow, liberals and Democrats get to decide who can best fight for a progressive agenda in Washington; independents and Republicans (in some states) get to choose which man or woman they want to lead our nation in troubled times; the younger generation can demonstrate in emphatic fashion that they are not a political force to be ignored – that we are taking responsibility for our politics and our country. We realize that America is in a state of moral, political, legal, and economic decline, and that our choice is between Ms. Clinton who will competently manage our country’s decline and Mr. Obama who has a chance to restore and renew our civic life.

So when you stand in the voting booth tomorrow – alone, with only your judgment as a guide – think about who can lead our country, who can call forth the better angels of our nature, who will be prudent in his use of the powers of the presidency. Dare to hope:

But in the unlikely story that is America , there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told that we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people. Yes. We. Can.

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