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Sep

9

Reason #57 to VOTE FOR Obama/Biden


Wow. Has it really been two years since I started my 57 Reasons campaign against Issue 3 (search on “Reason #x” in the sidebar if you want to see a specific reason), aka Ohio Learn and Earn?

Here’s a recap of how that got started: In 2006, Ohio’s ballot included Issue 3, a constitutional amendment to legalize gambling and casinos in three cities in Ohio.  It was tied directly to providing money to Ohio kids to go to college in Ohio.  I have nothing against gambling as a moral issue – I do not care what people want to do with their money, but in good conscience, with my sociologist, lawyer and social worker hats on, I could not support this particular method (constitutional amendment) of legalizing it or the way (linking it directly to an amorphous higher education scholarship idea) in which they wanted to do it.  I’m not sure if I’d ever really support legalizing gambling beyond what Ohio has now, and can imagine ways in which it might be something I’d just sigh at.  But I know many left of center folks totally support casinos and gambling, so I just wanted to get this out of the way.

For nearly two months in the fall of 2006, I blogged one post a day for 57 days about why I was voting no on Issue 3.  Many of the posts involved substantive examinations of the amendment language and some covered academic studies about gambling and social issues, and gambling and economic development.  At least a few readers claimed that the series influenced them but who knows?

Now, two years later, even though I was not a supporter of Barack Obama during the Democratic presidential candidate primary, I promised before the primary ended that regardless of who was on the ticket, I’d still write a 57 reasons to vote for them series.

Reason #57 to vote for the Obama/Biden ticket is:

Because the Obama/Biden ticket espouses beliefs and puts forth achievable policy proposals that align with my beliefs and policy preferences.

To me, this reason is the basis for all other reasons.  Why look any further at a candidate if he or she does not share your beliefs or if he or she will not be promoting policies which you believe can actually be implemented?

Let me take one of the hardest examples in order to demonstrate what I mean (which really is about how I think and evaluate):

I’ve written repeatedly about my dislike of for-profit charter schools, particularly in Ohio.  And yet today, Barack Obama is making a speech, in Ohio, that will include his hope to double the federal dollars currently invested in charter schools.

You’d think that this would anger me, and you’d be right – sort of.

I’ve also always written that charters, as originally conceived in Ohio, are a great idea: schools that fill niches unable to be or not currently filled by the public district, and that involve parental and community input.

Here’s an excerpt from an AP article about Obama’s speech, to be given today (and here’s one from on the ground as he appeared in Ohio):

“I’ll work with all our nation’s governors to hold all our charter schools accountable,” Obama said in the excerpts. “Charter schools that are successful will get the support they need to grow. And charters that aren’t will get shut down.”

While teachers unions typically oppose the idea of performance-based merit pay, Obama is embracing the idea along with demands that teachers who don’t meet standards are removed from the classroom. Obama’s campaign said teacher performance could be judged by peer review, student test results, classroom evaluations or other processes.

“We must give teachers every tool they need to be successful, but we also need to give every child the assurance that they’ll have the teacher they need to be successful,” Obama said. “That means setting a firm standard — teachers who are doing a poor job will get extra support, but if they still don’t improve, they’ll be replaced.”

As most Ohioans who follow education know, it is that accountability piece that has been almost 100% lacking until the last year or two when it comes to charters.  And given Ohio Governor Ted Strickland’s support of Obama as well as commitment to education reform, given the right incentives to turn back the clock to 1998 and fulfill the charter school vision for Ohio, alongside oversight, there’s no reason why all Ohio charters can’t be as successful as one of our most successful ones, E Prep in Cleveland.

I know, from the start of evaluating any political candidate, that I’m not going to agree with everything he or she promotes. (Here’s a list of more than 30 issue statements from Obama’s website, with no wedge issues, while John McCain’s has at least three wedge issues (2nd Amendment, Judicial Philosophy, Sanctity of Life), out of only 19 listed. Frankly, for me, that approach alone to how McCain labels what is an “issue” unsettles me.) But that’s also why I know that the result of this evaluation of how my feelings on issues match up with the candidates is one of the strongest if not the strongest reason to support Obama/Biden.

Ultimately, I ask myself how I would feel if the opposite of my vision about the way things should be was the vision embraced by a candidate?  Maybe you can think of an example in the present time.  I know I can.

If you don’t like what you see, then you know what the alternatives are.

I choose to vote, even if it bothers me that I don’t agree with a candidate on everything, because I believe that if I don’t vote, I don’t get to complain.

Luckily, this year, the only pain I’m going to feel is if Obama doesn’t get elected. But at least I’ll still have that complaining thing.

On November 4, Vote For Obama/Biden.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:35 am September 9th, 2008 in 57ReasonsObamaBiden, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Ohio, Politics, Voting, WH2008 

Comments

18 Responses to “Reason #57 to VOTE FOR Obama/Biden”

  1. 1 Ben K on September 9th, 2008 1:32 pm

    Well I certainly am not voting for Obama or Biden but I will be interested to see your reasons for voting for them. 57 is a lot. Good luck.

  2. 2 Jill Miller Zimon on September 9th, 2008 3:26 pm

    Well – like this first one, some are going to be rather personal, maybe a few will be flippant, but mostly I want to stick with issues and consequences. We’ll see – I’m sure it will evolve, like the others did. It’s also a good way for me to check myself re: why am I voting for this ticket. I think everyone should think about it before they do it.

  3. 3 Mark McNally on September 9th, 2008 4:01 pm

    57, one for each state.

    That’s what Obama said.

  4. 4 Anon on September 9th, 2008 4:26 pm

    Jill wrote: (Here’s a list of more than 30 issue statements from Obama’s website, with no wedge issues, while John McCain’s has at least three wedge issues (2nd Amendment, Judicial Philosophy, Sanctity of Life), out of only 19 listed. Frankly, for me, that approach alone to how McCain labels what is an “issue” unsettles me.)

    One voter’s “wedge issue” (which label seems to cast the issue as somehow illegitimate) is another voter’s core issue. For example, I consider the judicial philosophies of the presidential candidates very important because they indicate the kinds of judges the candidates would nominate.

    Here is a recent survey result from Rasmussen showing that the candidates’ supporters have significantly different perspectives on the judiciary:

    While 82% of voters who support McCain believe the [Supreme Court J]ustices should rule on what is in the Constitution, just 29% of Barack Obama’s supporters agree. Just 11% of McCain supporters say judges should rule based on the judge’s sense of fairness, while nearly half (49%) of Obama supporters agree.

  5. 5 Oengus on September 9th, 2008 4:27 pm

    Considering that we may be voting on gambling again and this time the developers want a lock on it, should you be letting your guard down on this? http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/thomas_suddes/index.ssf?/base/opinion/121887545276440.xml&coll=2

  6. 6 Jill Miller Zimon on September 9th, 2008 4:57 pm

    Mark, 57 was chosen in 2006 and has to do with the fact that one day, when I was surfing blogs, I saw so many ads on behalf of OLE and I was so unhappy about that, on that day when it was 57 days before the GE, I started that series.

  7. 7 Jill Miller Zimon on September 9th, 2008 4:58 pm

    Anon – I agree.

  8. 8 Jill Miller Zimon on September 9th, 2008 4:59 pm

    Oengus – those fellas have been emailing me for nearly a year now – they wanted to talk to me as well I think – I forget – they were cordial and pleasant (well, the one who wrote me – Pressman I think) but no, their initiative doesn’t have my support – wouldn’t be a version I’d support. I can’t imagine what would I just didn’t want to say never.

  9. 9 lilatovcocktail on September 9th, 2008 9:06 pm

    Jill,
    Funny, but just this morning in the shower I was brainstorming new blog post ideas, and I thought, “I wonder if Jill’s going to do her ‘57 Reasons’ series again?”

    And lo and behold, yes, you are.

    It must be harder to do these then you would think, if for no other reason than it’s harder to write about plusses than minusses. I could write “57 Reasons NOT to vote for John McCain” pretty easily, but it would take more thought to come up with 57 reasons to support any candidate, even Obama, whom I respect immensely.

    I’m looking forward to the next 56.

  10. 10 Anon on September 9th, 2008 9:50 pm

    Anon – I agree

    Well, I actually agree with the essence of your reason #57 (the “ticket espouses beliefs and puts forth achievable policy proposals that align with my beliefs and policy preferences”). Of course, the ticket that best aligns with my beliefs and policy preferences doesn’t include Sens. Obama and Biden :) .

  11. 11 Jill Miller Zimon on September 9th, 2008 9:55 pm

    And that’s okay, Anon. I can’t fault someone for that – in fact, you know what? I was interviewed today by a reporter for WaPo and I had to go off record at one point because she wanted me to make a judgement – and I said, you know – that’s a judgement call – sure, I have an opinion, but it’s a judgement and I just am not ok with doing that.

    As you’ll see (or may already know from 2006), this isn’t about me convincing anyone that what I think is the only way or the “Right” way. It’s really for me to flesh out why I feel the way I do and it’s a way to hopefully provoke others to assess their feelings and positions.

    If your beliefs and policy preferences are better represented by McCain and Palin and you think they will be able to achieve goals related to those beliefs, then that’s all there is.

    I didn’t like it when Obama supporters tried to browbeat me and I’m certainly not going to browbeat anyone else.

    I only hope people who are on the fence, in particular, will think before they vote.

  12. 12 Jill Miller Zimon on September 9th, 2008 9:57 pm

    Thanks, Lila!! :) It’s really a challenge but I like it – I have a Word doc set up with a whole bunch of links and reasons etc. But I don’t want to have to squeak by on too many, if any – so if you’ve got some, send ‘em on over!

  13. 13 Cee Jay on September 9th, 2008 10:26 pm

    Regarding the charter schools. I like the idea of giving parents and students choices, but I think they should be publicly funded, not for profit, and expected to meet all of the same standards as other schools in terms of attendance, discipline, and teaching the basics. We may find the achievement of both students and teachers enhanced by offering variety in instructional methods and curriculum emphasis.

  14. 14 Jill Miller Zimon on September 9th, 2008 10:47 pm

    CeeJay I agree with you. We know that education isn’t one size fits all, and the current way of educating is still reminiscent of the early 1900s. There are good examples out there – let’s look at those.

    AND get rid of for-profit. :) ok – I had to add that in since it’s a real pet peeve of mine.

  15. 15 Mark McNally on September 10th, 2008 4:59 pm

    Jill,

    I knew that, but it is just a delightful coincidence.

  16. 16 Reason #39 to vote for Obama/Biden | Writes Like She Talks on September 27th, 2008 9:36 am

    [...] Reason #57 to VOTE FOR Obama/Biden [...]

  17. 17 Reason #34 to vote for Obama/Biden | Writes Like She Talks on October 2nd, 2008 9:57 am

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  18. 18 Reason #32 to VOTE FOR Obama/Biden | Writes Like She Talks on October 4th, 2008 11:28 pm

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