I've Decided....

I've decided.

My conclusion comes after reading the candidates' memoirs and campaign platforms, attending both party conventions, interviewing both men multiple times, and watching all primary and general-election debates.

John McCain is an honorable man who has served his country well. But he will not get my vote. For the first time since registering as a Republican 28 years ago, I'm voting for a Democrat for president. I may have been an appointee in the George H.W. Bush administration, and master of ceremonies for George W. Bush in 2004, but last Saturday I stood amid the crowd at an Obama event in North Philadelphia.

Five considerations have moved me:

Terrorism. The candidates disagree as to where to prosecute the war against Islamic fundamentalists. Barack Obama is correct in saying the front line in that battle is not Iraq, it's the Afghan-Pakistan border. Osama bin Laden crossed that border from Tora Bora in December 2001, and we stopped pursuit. The Bush administration outsourced the hunt for bin Laden and instead invaded Iraq.

No one in Iraq caused the death of 3,000 Americans on 9/11. Our invasion was based on a false predicate, so we have no business being there, regardless of whether the surge is working. Our focus must be the tribal-ruled FATA region in Pakistan. Only recently has our military engaged al-Qaeda there in operations that mirror those Obama was ridiculed for recommending in August 2007.

Last spring, Obama told me: "It's not that I was opposed to war [in Iraq]. It's that I felt we had a war that we had not finished." Even Sen. Joe Lieberman conceded to me last Friday that "the headquarters of our opposition, our enemies today" is the FATA.

Economy. We face economic problems that are incomprehensible to most Americans, certainly they are to me. This is a time to covet intellect, and that begins at the top. Jack Bogle, the legendary founder of the Vanguard Group, told me recently that McCain's assertion that the fundamentals of the economy were "strong" was the "stupidest statement of 2008." In light of the unprecedented volatility in the market, who can dispute Bogle's characterization and the lack of understanding that McCain's assessment portends?

VP. I opined here that Sarah Palin demonstrated the capacity to be president in her speech to the Republican convention. Sadly, there has been no further exhibition of her abilities, and she remains an unknown quantity. We are left questioning the judgment of a candidate who bypassed his reported preferred choices, Lieberman and former Gov. Tom Ridge, and instead yielded to the whims of the periphery of his party. With two wars and a crumbling economy, Palin is too big of a risk to be a heartbeat away from a presidency held by a 72-year-old man who has battled melanoma. Advantage Joe Biden.

Opportunity. In a speech delivered on Father's Day, Obama lamented that too many fathers are missing from the lives of too many children and mothers. Look no further than Philadelphia for proof that the nation has a fatherhood problem at the root of its firearms crisis. And no demographic is affected by this confluence of factors like the black community. Among the many elements needed to address this crisis are role models, individuals whom urban youth can aspire to emulate. Little more than a year ago, Charles Barkley told me: "I want young black kids to see Barack on television every day. . . . We need to see more blacks who are intelligent, articulate, and who carry themselves with great dignity." Obama can be that man.

Hope. Wednesday morning will come and an Obama presidency holds the greatest chance for unifying us here at home and restoring our prestige around the globe. The campaigns have foretold the kind of presidency we can expect from each candidate. Last Friday in Lakeville, Minn., McCain himself had to explain to a supporter who was "scared" of an Obama presidency that those fears were unfounded. Another told McCain that Obama was untrustworthy because he is an "Arab." Those exchanges were a predictable byproduct of ads against Obama featuring tag lines such as "Too Risky for America" and "Dangerous," and a failure to rein in individuals at McCain events who highlighted Obama's middle name, all against a background of Internet lore.

Last Saturday at Progress Plaza, I heard Obama say: "The American people aren't looking for somebody to divide this country; the American people are looking for someone to lead this country."

This originally appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer

Comments

[FaceYourFears]

Thank you Michael!!!!!!!!!!!

[marc1antony]

All I can say is, like Colin Powell, you have obviously put your country ahead of your party, and you are to be commended.

[FebM]

I salute you, for explaining the issue of AA supporting Obama through your own experience. I remember you mentioned (during the primary) your mom sending money to Dennis Kucinich, not because she shared his ethnicity but he was a beacon of hope for a people who had suffered discrimination but still able to raise and take their place in the larger society with pride. Obama is the biggest challenge to the AA and other groups that have suffered discrimination his raise is far greater than any registration there has been or affirmative action. His story embodies how as a people we have transcended all those barriers and can finally judge people through the content of their character. It is humbling to witness the acceptance of the same by the American people to finally use that as the paramount measure of the qualifications of their leader. This would still be the case if it was Hilary, God Bless All

[Pacojam]

How does someone reading an attack speech make you think, even for a moment, that they are qualified to be President of the USA?

[drkazmd65]

Mr. Smerconish,

Welcome to the 'party',... It is good to see a man that can realize that change in himself needs to occur.

I am not the strongtest Obama supporter myself at this stage, but he is orders of magnitude closer to what this country needs now in a President when compared to John McCain.

I am going through a bit of an party-shift myself at the moment. I am about to vote for my first Republican member of Congress ever - this coming from a registered Democrat that votes and has done so in every election since 1984. My Congressman (an incumbant) is one of those principled few tha actually voted against the Banking bailout bill, both times. He's a conservative, but in the good old fashioned sense of the word,... and I can work with that.

Go Obama / Biden!,.... but at the same time,... Go Roscoe Bartlett!

[LisaLisa1234]

You're to be commended for voting for the candidate, and not just the party!

I think there are a number of down-ticket GOP candidates hoping there are more like you.

[drkazmd65]

I've always tried not to be a straight party kind of guy. I have voted for a number of local Government candidates that were Republicans, voted one time for Perot, and one time for Nader (I was in KS at the time,... Bush winning the electoral votes there was a foregone conclusion).

I have just never had a Republican Senate or House candidate that I liked better than their Democrat opponent until this time out. So,.. I'll break my 24-year streak here this election.

Straight party people always worry me,... to much ideology,... not enough thought.

[BCubedReg]

Mr. Smerconish, I'm not going to give you as much credit as the rest the people here have. It took you this long to figure out what the rest of us knew for quite awhile. At least you made the leap though.

[Pupadup4oBama]

I understand your frustration, but please- give the man some credit.
He is going against what he has believed for 28 years.
This is not something that one can easily overcome and we should all understand that.
As Americans we owe it to each other to WELCOME each other with open arms. Forget the past and look forward to the future. That's what Obama would want.

[Candyx]

I agree. Don't bash him for coming out against what he has believed for 28 years.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

"but please- give the man some credit"

He did give him some credit. He said so in his first sentence.

[KRYSTY]

Mike, you are a true MAVERICK and you really do PUT COUNTRY FIRST. Thank you.

[RobinSeattle]

Michael, I hope you will join me in calling for a toning down of the campaign rhetoric because there are children watching. Children need the confidence that adults are going to set a good example by ensuring that their future will be secured with calm and reasoned debate rather than the current lesson the campaign are inculcating that if you want to get ahead you engage in fifth grade level name calling and bald faced lying.

Again, THERE ARE CHILDREN WATCHING!

[rich misty]

I am teaching my children never to vote GOP in their lives. Actually, the GOP provides the lesson plan, and I just explain it to them.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/19/financial-times-us-faces_n_136009.html

[cminri]

And the WORLD is watching....

[unity08]

As always, a well thought out position by Smerc!

At least you wont be charged with a racially motivated endorsement. Hopefully this will be another signal for the republican party that divisive politics is not what we need right now (as if it ever was). Thank you for putting your country first.

[editrix66]

On another blog (ABC?), I read a post of a man who said that he was surprised that Obama, despite his age, was the most steady of the two candidates. He said that he and the guys at work were very excited at the idea of an Obama presidency. Then he said something I had never heard before or even really thought of. He said he and his friends had expected to elect a president but had not expected to elect a father figure. He didn't say how old he was, perhaps in his twenties, but I thought of all of those boys without fathers who grew up to be young men who look to Obama not just as an example on how to be a good father but who look also on him as a father figure to them. Perhaps they identify with him because he did not have a father, either.

[Pupadup4oBama]

Well he has seemed mature beyond his years in comparison to McCane. So I am not surprised by that at all. Plus the fact that he has such a wonderful relationship with his own daughters I think we can all see ourselves as having that kind of father - whether we had one like that growing up or not.

[poeticsinger]

Thank you Sir. Welcome to the family!

[vs3]

Thank You

[Pupster]

I appreciate your choice and your reasoning, Mr. Smerconish. I watch you on various MSNBC shows and you have generally shown yourself to be a right leaning moderate, emphasis on moderate. As an Independent myself, I appreciate people who occupy the reasonable middle. I dislike Code Pink as much as I despise the religious right.

I truly believe that Obama is the only choice in this election. Even for people who like McCain personally and admire this heroic past, we see that he has surrounded himself with professional lobbyists, Rove-trained operatives, and the same neo-cons who infected the Bush administration. I am in the middle of reading Barton Gellman's Angler, and I'm realizing that Bush may have entered office with some benign intentions, but that Cheney and the neo-cons co-opted the Presidency for more sinister aims. I am more frightened of the people around the candidate than the candidate himself. I have taken closer looks at both campaigns and I am disturbed by McCain's company. That he jettisoned more reasonable advisors as Mike Murphy and John Weaver, for Steve Schmidt and Rick Davis scares the turnips out of me.

Obama is the ONLY choice in this election. But I am not a part of his cult of personality. I will hold him to account once he's elected. I still haven't forgotten his vote on FISA and will remain vocal about it. As I will any and all policies he reneges on or changes adversely.

[serecovery]

My question is are you now being inundated with hate-filled calls and emails? If you are, this speaks volumes about the current state of the Republican Party as a whole. Are you now considered un-American by your audience. Are people coming out of the woodwork questioning your patriotism? I don't know if you are, but if you are, then you need to stand up and say so and be heard.

[GrkAm]

Mr. Smerconish, thank you for endorsing Barack Obama, AND your post. We're the melting pot of ideas and philosophies that worked together for many years to make our country great. We're ONE America. It's the promise of our constitution, and it's our history.

This GOP campaign is one generated by hate and fear. When any of us are exposed to both of those emotions, all reality goes out the window because people can't THINK. It makes people maleable to follow those individuals dispensing irresponsible rhetoric. History has seen of it before, and we're now in the middle of it again. It has the APPEARANCE of sophisticated mob psychology.

With FOX NEWS, and programs like Greta Van Susteren had on today with photo of Bill Ayers and Barack Obama astounded me--pictures of each of these men were shown at the same age, (their 20's), making it look like their association went back years. INAPPROPRIATE!!


All five of your points are well written. The one line that spoke to me, "This is the time to covet intellect, and it begins at the top." Where is our leadership, TODAY? The greatest financial disaster since the crash of 1929, and we ARE left with fear, and the promise of more of the same from the GOP.

I admire you for stepping out and endorsing Obama. You have exhibited yourself to be of strong character, and it took guts to do so. Thank you!!

OBAMA/BIDEN '08