As some of you may know, I’m not allowed to vote. When asked, I like to pretend it’s due to a felony conviction incurred after viciously assailing an annoying pollster, but the truth is that I’m still a Brit, not a US Citizen.
[I’ve floated “No taxation without representation” to the IRS a couple of times, but apparently the time when that argument lead somewhere has long since passed.]
One of the perks of not voting is that I get to wash my hands of the whole election process and claim plausible deniability for the often absurd actions of the US Government. (Just to be clear, the UK Government is often equally as absurd, but due to the way voting works over there I can’t vote in the UK now either).
Anyway. The point being that my opinion on politics has no bearing whatsoever on reality… which is why I don’t usually talk about it much. But the forthcoming general election promises to be a doozy, so why keep quiet!
In that spirit, here is my one and only post (probably ever) on the subject of politics. Let’s pretend I’m a responsible Super Delegate — who would/should I vote for?
Early on, I saw an interview with Obama and I wasn’t too impressed. But the more I heard Hillary talk, the more I realized she would say just about anything to get elected. War’s popular, vote for it. Blue collar’s the way to go — hide my Yale/Wellesley/$100M+ lifestyle and do Bud with a chaser. 9/11 might still scare people, so throw it into your speeches Rudy-style… Yikes.
In short, six months ago I wasn’t crazy about either candidate.
But if there’s one thing I’ve learned again and again, it’s that actions speak louder than words. I think there is a lot to be learned from how each candidate has run their campaign, and there are two simple tests:
1. Finances
If there’s one thing I hope to see different in the next Presidential term, it would be enough of a grasp of basic math that we can dig ourselves out of the ridiculous mountain of debt we’re in.
So let’s compare and contrast…
Clinton, we are told, is the epitome of experience. Yet her campaign is $10 Million in the hole. The UK’s Guardian had this to say:
“According to Clinton’s latest campaign finance report, at the end of March the campaign owed $10.3m in unpaid bills but had only $9.3m available to spend on the primary election.
Her campaign has also been criticised for its lavish spending, for instance the more than $25,000 spent at the Bellagio luxury hotel in Las Vegas in the days before the Nevada caucuses.
Her campaign apparently has also left a trail of unpaid bills behind it, failing to pay the very people she claims to understand and support..
In contrast, with “no experience”, Obama has $625,000 in debts and $31 MILLION in cash.
I think he wins that round by some margin.
2. Planning
Another thing that would be “neat” in our next President would be the ability to plan. And not only plan, but respond to changing circumstances and modify a plan as necessary. So again, let’s compare.
Hillary has repeatedly talked about how much Obama is spending. I also heard some folks on NPR today whining that Hillary’s team had no idea that the contest would go on so long and that’s why they were so cash strapped. I doubt Obama & team thought it would go on this long either.
But here’s the thing: Obama & team made a plan B (and probably a C & D) so that if things did drag on, they would be okay. Sure, he’s spending a lot of money, but he PLANNED to do that and he HAS THE MONEY. Clinton kept barreling along without regard to the changing circumstances which is a classic sign of poor planning.
So if I could vote, and if my political opinion mattered, I’d go with Obama. His campaign has apparently been run very well, it has coped with positive and negative changes in fortune and he’s kept it pretty clean. Above all, the financial numbers make sense and there’s clearly always been a well crafted and evolving plan.
And that is a refreshing change I can believe in…
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