Finding a candidate: time's up

Well, it seems I have run out of time. Not just for finding a candidate, but for alot of things in my life. I sat down today and felt that it was really time to organize my travel schedule for the next few months (scheduling another interview inspired this, for those of you tracking my career progress and not at all interested in my political leanings). Turns out, I will travel to 10 states and another country by the June 30th. That averages out to traveling every other week. My schedule doesn't work out that nicely. I'm a little stressed.

Anyways, I did not finish The Audacity of Hope as I had hoped (ironic I know). I did get through a fairly big chunk of it, somewhere around 60%, and hubby says that that is enough to give me the right idea, so I'm not going to feel too delinquent about the whole thing. So what are my thoughts. I agree with the comment from last time. It is not as inspiring as I was expecting. Actually I was pretty disappointed for the first 160 pages or so. After all the hype I've heard of this guy's rapid rise to fame to be what some are calling the second coming of Kennedy, I was ready to be INSPIRED. But mostly, it was common sense, a little bit pretenious in the language, and I didn't find the writing all that eloquent. No inspiration. In fact, Obama almost seemed to be making my point for me. My major concern is his lack of experience, and he spends a whole page talking about an older senator who he respects, and the one piece advice this guy gave him was not to rush into running for president, that the senate is really where the government heart and soul is....I'd get out the actual quote and all of that, but I have a headache, and did I mention I'm really out of time with everything...

But, around page 160, something happened, the book turned a corner for me and there where his thoughts on education. Now, I'm not going to say they were inspiring. They were the thoughts on education that anyone who believes in education has already had. Growing up in a house filled with teacher union reps and schoolteachers, (not to mention my own 11 years of higher educational pursuits) I not only believe in education, I live and breathe it. They were the thoughts on education I had before I even knew what thinking was. They weren't new and novel. But they were right. They were so damn right. It was like he had been in my head. And it was the first time I had seen a politician address the issue so well. So close to the way I thought it should be addressed, maybe not inspiring, but exciting. So I was in a little bit of a quandary.

In the end, I don't think it's changed my mind. Paul makes a compelling argument. But, my optimism in many areas of life doesn't extend to politics. I don't think Obama has the experience. I think he has the right ideas, I think he has the right beliefs, I think he brings people together, and in general I don't have a compelling reason to vote against him. But optimism and the White House don't mix (Hillary has already learned that the hard way). Good morals, good ideas, and pretty well defined plans of action, are what we should want in a leader, what we should respect in a leader. But they don't make a successful presidency. Compromises and tough decisions need to be made. I think many of Obama's plans, (health care reform, education, and taxes) underestimate the strength of the opposition he will face, and that means nothing will get done. As much as I want to see real, core value kind of change. It ain't gonna happen this time around. Too many people are still too mad about too many things. I have to vote for reality, not idealism.

In the end, I guess it doesn't matter. The decision being hard for me means I won't have a hard time getting behind whoever gets the nomination, and in general I'll be happy either way.