I'm a huge fan of Marc Andreessen and I have no doubt that his thoughtful endorsement of Barack Obama [blog.pmarca.com: An hour and a half with Barack Obama] will have great influence. However, I suspect that many who follow Marc were already persuaded by more emotional "anything but Republican" feelings and had made up their minds anyway. I can relate to that, that's how I felt after eight years of Clinton.
What I like about Obama is that, with McCain, for a change after nearly sixteen years he gives us two decent candidates that we might actually be proud of. In my mind, both could be acceptable leaders. I sincerely hope that they have a thoughtful and civil debate which helps us all sort out the right way forward for America.
Marc's characterization of Obama made me think about why it is that I support McCain and I'm grateful to Marc for that. Of course I was not fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to meet McCain personally as Marc did with Obama. All I have to go on is the thirty years or so that I've observed Senator McCain's political and social behavior. What I've found is that I see a remarkably similar set of characteristics in John McCain as those Marc sees in Obama; smart, honest, straightforward, principled but pragmatic, willing to compromise and non-dogmatic . So in the end they are not that much different and, in my opinion, the choice hinges on experience vs charisma. Obama's charisma is uplifting and inspiring at times, and John can sometimes be a little dry. But as we saw with Clinton and even with Kennedy charisma can be short lived. The soaring rhetoric tends to evaporate into policy jibberish as the realities of a complex world must be faced and hard decisions made. I don't really know how or if Obama's rhetoric will turn into meaningful action. I do have thirty years of experience with John McCain's steadfast character and with my perception of his ability to take action and make the right decisions. That is the reason why I support John McCain.
What I like about Obama is that, with McCain, for a change after nearly sixteen years he gives us two decent candidates that we might actually be proud of. In my mind, both could be acceptable leaders. I sincerely hope that they have a thoughtful and civil debate which helps us all sort out the right way forward for America.
Marc's characterization of Obama made me think about why it is that I support McCain and I'm grateful to Marc for that. Of course I was not fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to meet McCain personally as Marc did with Obama. All I have to go on is the thirty years or so that I've observed Senator McCain's political and social behavior. What I've found is that I see a remarkably similar set of characteristics in John McCain as those Marc sees in Obama; smart, honest, straightforward, principled but pragmatic, willing to compromise and non-dogmatic . So in the end they are not that much different and, in my opinion, the choice hinges on experience vs charisma. Obama's charisma is uplifting and inspiring at times, and John can sometimes be a little dry. But as we saw with Clinton and even with Kennedy charisma can be short lived. The soaring rhetoric tends to evaporate into policy jibberish as the realities of a complex world must be faced and hard decisions made. I don't really know how or if Obama's rhetoric will turn into meaningful action. I do have thirty years of experience with John McCain's steadfast character and with my perception of his ability to take action and make the right decisions. That is the reason why I support John McCain.
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