I have been an Obama critic, but now it is time for me to start hoping that he wins decisively [View All]

[Bjorn Against]

No one would mistake me for an Obama supporter. Anyone who reads my journal is sure to find a couple posts that are highly critical of Obama in fact, and I still stand by all the criticisms I made of him. Yes, there were candidates whom I think would have made much better Presidents than Obama will, but they have now dropped out of the race and the American people seem to clearly be moving into Obama's corner.

There are now only two candidates left in the race, and Obama's recent string of victories seem to have proven beyond any doubt that he is the candidate that the majority of people prefer. It is time that people realize that whether he was their candidate of choice or not it is in the best interests of our country to accept the will of the people and unite to defeat John McCain.

Yes, it may be possible that Hillary could secure enough delegates in Texas and Ohio to drag this thing out until the convention, but lets be real. Even if she could pull this thing off it could only happen through the votes of super delegates, and the American people would be furious if their votes were overruled by a bunch of party insiders. For Hillary to even consider achieving victory by getting a bunch of her friends to overrule the choice of the tens of millions of people who came out to vote in the primaries would show that she valued her own personal ambitions more than she valued our country. A nomination by super delegates would result in a fractured party and an angry electorate, and it could very likely result in the Presidency being handed to John McCain. Our country already will have a big enough challenge repairing the damage done over the eight years of Bush rule, if we had to endure another four years under Bush's good friend John McCain it is hard to know if we could ever recover.

I have been critical of Obama in the past and I will continue to be critical of him in the future, but I will also make it clear that he would be far superior to McCain. We can at least work with Obama, but there is no way we will be able to work with McCain. McCain wants to keep the massacre in Iraq going for an indefinite period of time, he wants to continue the Republican pillaging of our economy, he wants to continue Bush's illegal wiretapping programs, and he wants to keep America firmly in the hands of the rich and powerful. Obama may not be proposing as big of changes as we need to see in this country, but he has at least shown a certain level of acceptance of progressive ideals. While I am bothered by his willingness to reach out to Republicans and the so-called "ex-gay" movement, the truth is that he needs progressives more than we need him so we can work to move him in our direction. McCain on the other hand? He could care less what progressives think because no true progressive would even consider voting for him anyways.

For everyone reading this who has not cast a vote in the primaries yet, please realize the situation we are in right now. Whether Obama is your favorite candidate or not, he is currently the only candidate that has the ability to win this thing in a way that will not tear the party apart. No, I don't buy the argument that he has some super abilities to bring people together. I do however buy the argument that no candidate who is chosen by super delegates can bring us anything resembling unity. People need to know that their vote in the primaries meant something, we can not allow party insiders to overturn the will the people as doing so would damage the progressive movement for years to come. Obama needs to win a decisive victory in the primaries, we can not allow this thing to get carried out all the way to the convention unless we want to see defeat in November.

Obama may not be my favorite candidate, but my favorite candidate has already dropped out. It is possible that your favorite candidate is still in the race, but even if she is I hope you can come to the realization that she is too far behind right now to win the popular vote. We need to accept the will of the people, and we need to stop John McCain. You don't need to love Obama, but lets realize he has now become the last hope we have of stopping another four years of Republican rule.