Voting - My Analysis of Obama Victory

It is a somewhat disturbing to learn of the animus that remains among some people with the election Barak Obama as president. This dislike, I believe is primarily amongst those uninformed who disparaged him with the garbage misinformation of him being Muslim, the flag thing, or just plain prejudice. For those of you concerning him being Muslim, well, his selection of chief of staff, then support of Joe Lieberman in retaining his committee assignment, both persons are of Jewish background should show how uninformed you are.

We need to stop and think. Being an independent voter, I held off until about 2 weeks after McCain chose Palin as a running mate. I admired McCain, read his books but questioned his judgement after this. So in the end, I voted for Barack Obama. As I thought about this person, I thought - this is a black man who seems to have done everything that the majority of American's have wanted black people to do. Pull themselves up, get an education, end their prejudice towards whites, be a family man, good father, go to church. He did all these things and did them well.

When casting a vote for a politician, I use criteria I have never seen written about. First, I discard all the liberal/conservative junk. I discard just about all what the candidates say (these things are a part of modern day politics because we did not end up with an "enlightened electorate" as our founding fathers envisioned). In a political race, they say these things for national political purposes to appeal to a segment of people that will get them elected. They all do it and it is amplified, overstated, misrepresented by the press - whatever bias they may be (Hannity and Combs, O'Reilly, or Olberman. People listen to and believe this crap.

I give only slight consideration to specific issues. All candidates believe very much the same. They believe in the United States of America and when the election is over and preparations start for governing, they start looking very much alike. Witness the recent meeting of president elect Obama and senator McCain.

What I look for as the candidates present themselves for months on end is this: Are they intelligent. I want an intelligent president. What are their analytical, thinking skills, do they appear to be competent to handle the presidency, how well do they communicate and how good will they be in working with and persuading congress and the people. Do they have executive ability. I do consider charisma as part of the communication/pursuasion process. Can they think on their feet and what would they be like when looking a foreign leader like Putin in the eyes?