So what exactly are you saying we should be wary of? If it's his unsureness, I disagree that it's even a bad thing. Bush was very sure of himself... I like the idea of a president who would seek outside advice on key descisions.
zero | 05.08.08 - 9:58 am | #

I don't buy the Hope and Change routine at all because I don't know what those things really mean. But his recent stance against the nonsense that is the gas tax holiday is one of many small things that are slowly starting to pull me towards thinking that Obama is not all bad.

Perhaps, where the pros and cons of Obama are concerned, I am just remembering the hits and forgetting the misses. All I can do is try to maintain a healthy skepticism while giving the man credit for those things he does get right.
mk | 05.08.08 - 2:31 pm | #

zero,

Well, I might not have put it exactly how I should have...it is a blog post after all. But my major concern is that Obama is no different from any other leftist politician, the only difference being that people have bought into him more...You know, more willing to go along with whatever he throws out there.

I worry about his tax policy -- ie increases in the capital gains tax. I worry about his "solutions" to social security, health care, "affordable college"..all the things libertarians should be concerned with.
Rob | Homepage | 05.08.08 - 9:13 pm | #

I don't know how much I buy into the "Hope and Change" bit, but I do think Obama represents something different. To me, that something different isn't so much "Hope and Change" as it is the fact that he actually does appear unsure about things. The long primary has forced him more to the left, and so I'm less willing to support him than I was, but his uncertainty inherently makes him more libertarian-friendly than about 90% of the politicians out there. Sure, policy-wise he is largely undistinguishable from most of the Left, but that's not necessarily a bad thing if you're like me and think that the greatest threat to liberty right now is the expansion of executive power; everything I have observed about Obama has led me to believe that he's the only one of the three major candidates who would possibly roll back the "unitary executive" of the Bush years and the ludicrous claims of executive privilege of the Clinton years.
Awhile back, one the crew at reason (I think it was Jesse Walker) mentioned that the most libertarians can ask from a major party candidate is that they be good where their party is supposed to be good and no worse where their party is supposed to be bad. That pretty well sums up where I am on Obama- he's better than all but a few Democrats on social freedoms, is a clear improvement over Bush in foreign policy, and sucks just as bad as other Dems on economic freedoms.
One other, big reason I find Obama more palatable than most politicians: electing him President would be a big boost to foreigners' image of Americans; it really sucks going to places in Europe and having to explain that you had absolutely nothing to do with Bush getting elected and that, no, you don't think invading every country who winks at you wrong is a good idea.
Mark | Homepage | 05.09.08 - 1:16 am | #

I like Obama because he'll kiss us before he fucks us. And he's pretty, so it makes us look more attractive by proxy.
Area Man | 05.09.08 - 1:14 pm | #

I like Area Man's summary.
Rob | Homepage | 05.09.08 - 10:00 pm | #