Obama makes it official

One of the worst kept secrets in politics is out in the open: Barack Obama is running for President of the United States.  It is somewhat funny to see all of the news outlets labeling his preplanned announcement as breaking news.”

I’ll be honest, I like Obama.  Of all the people gunning for the White House I think he may be the most presidential.  He strikes me as someone I would like to see in the Oval Office representing our country.  I would be embarrassed to see Hillary, Tancredo, Gore, or Huckabee in the White House, but not Obama.  Furthermore, he is easily the best orator among the announced candidates.  After eight years of listening to Bush stumble through speeches I think we’re all ready for someone who can articulate a coherent thought.

I caught the last few minutes of his speech from Springfield.  It seemed to be highly ambitious.  He speaks boldly about political unity – an admirable, but unrealistic goal.  Everyone wants political unity, as long as that unity is based on your own beliefs.  That is the ultimate and unavoidable cause of political discord.

I do have some substantive problems with his platform.  He announced that he wants to end poverty, which I think just about every presidential candidate since FDR has tried to tackle.  It is an impossible goal because of (among other things) human nature.  There will always be people who don’t have innate or learned talents that make them viable workers.  There will always be people who make bad personal and financial decisions that force them into poverty.  Government can’t legislate out stupidity or ineptitude.

There are ways to minimize habitual poverty, primarily through opportunity.  The wrong way to attack the problem of poverty is through further government programs that confiscate money from talented, hard working people and transferring it to people who are poor through their own choices, limitations, or inability to overcome government established barriers to improvement.  I’m interested to hear Obama flesh out the policies behind his stated objective to “end poverty,” but I fear they will involve more government, rather than less.

Obama – and just about every Dem - is touting “universal” health care coverage.  I’m always interested in listening to plans to expand health care coverage.  Unfortunately most are wrongheaded, either tending towards government run health care or masking the true cost to the American people by emphasizing fees and taxes on businesses, which are ultimately paid by real people.

Obama is wise to tout the Lincoln parallels to overcome the attacks on his nascent political experience, but I thought he overplayed that card today.  He talked about how Lincoln was a unifier, bringing together the races.  Lincoln didn’t seek to end slavery out of the notion of equality.  It was the best option to salvage our union.  Using Lincoln as a measuring stick on racial issues is fraught with peril, considering he was “in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.”

If I were asked to grade the field of Democrats vying for President I would place Obama at the head of the pack right now.  While I see eye to eye with the Dems on a number of social issues, I can’t stomach their penchant for more government.  I prefer more freedom.  As such, Obama is simply the “least bad” choice.