My Personal Opinion of Barack Obama “…as you all know, we can affirm the importance of poverty in the Bible; and we can raise up and pass out this Covenant for a New America. We can talk to the press, and we can discuss the religious call to address poverty and environmental stewardship all we want, but it won't have an impact unless we tackle head-on the mutual suspicion that sometimes exists between religious America and secular America.” (Obama) The quote above was in a June 2006 speech by Barack Obama. The speech that quote came from, is considered by many to be the most influential speech on faith and politics since the Kennedy speech in the 1960’s. I think we all like to talk like we are informed on what is going on with the candidates of the 2008 presidential election and that we know the big issues and where all the candidates stand, but do you know where they stand on the major issues facing our country the issues that affect our daily lives? Barack Obama has some of the most controversial stances on the key issues, maybe that’s because he is a front runner amongst the candidates. Most of his views, values, and beliefs I agree with and I think he is a really strong candidate, but there are some that make me question him and what kind of president he would make. I feel that the job of our generation is to question our leaders. I think that too many generations have gone by where they just ‘trusted’ the people in Washington and look where that has led us. Our job as a generation begins before the election, we should research and find out where each candidate stands and which one we feel best represents our beliefs. If you consistently that a candidate believes a certain thing on an issue that’s important to you, then you need to make sure his actions prove so. We should no longer take the candidates word for things we should do the research to make responsible and educated decisions of our own. A great example of why this isn’t working is the first President Bush’s promise of no new taxes. Our job then continues after the election regardless of which candidate wins. If our candidate wins then we should continue to question the ways he or she leads and their stance on issues. If another candidate wins, then the same is true. The more we question our leaders, the more we keep a true democracy. A big part of our country is the right to question our leaders and I feel that by sitting idly by we are not fulfilling our duties as citizens. Now moving on to the issues of this election and Obama’s stance on them; one of the most important issues facing presidential contenders is the war in Iraq. Obama has been against the war even before it started. He stated from the begging that Saddam Hussein posed no threat to America, and that an invasion would lead to an occupation of undetermined time, cost, and consequences. Since our invasion, he has introduced a plan for troop withdraw that includes removing one or two brigades a month to be completed by the end of next year. While the troop withdraw is happening the United Nations would work with the Iraqi government to build a new constitution, and to make a powerful and effective Iraqi army. Obama’s plan has become highly accepted by the Iraq study group and several members of congress. I agree with Obama’s stance on the war, and I think that his plan could work as long as we put the resources needed to make it work. I believe he will be true on his word since he has been so against the war since it began. I think he really would provide what was needed to make withdraw a success for both America and Iraq. Another really important issue facing presidential contenders is healthcare. With unemployment rates rising, the amount of uninsured Americans is soaring. Obama’s plan to fix this problem would be to bring both parties and health care companies together to come to a solution. He would allow the major health care companies the option to sit on the solution panel, but he would not allow them to control it. This would achieve two things; the medical companies would not do what benefits them, they would be made to do what is best for the American people. This then deconstructs health care monopolies and lowers health care prices. In the perfect world this would be the best solution, but I am not sure that in these times how well this will work, but we’ll discuss that later. The third major issue facing candidates is immigration. Obama has a unique view on this and I am not sure I agree. Obama thinks that our nation’s government has used this as an issue to drive our country apart rather than find a solution to this problem. I don’t think that’s entirely true. The other half of his thoughts is that while they have stalled to find a solution this country has grown addicted to the labor of millions of workers that live and work in the shadows. I think this is true. Obama’s thoughts on how to fix this issue are to provide more security at the boarders and help the people who have come here illegally get legal lives in America. I think that Obama has great solutions for this problem, but I don’t think that the previous governments used this as a tool to drive America apart. Obama wants to provide more security at the boarders, then he would become much stricter on who is allowed to enter our country. I think this a good viable solution that should be explored Another critical issue I feel is facing presidential candidates is how to improve the schools in America. Obama has a good idea for this and I agree with it. Education has always been the way Americans succeed over other countries, and if we don’t maintain it or let it get any worse, we will be in huge trouble. Obama would take a portion of the billions that we are spending on the war and put it towards education. This would then provide the under privileged school districts the resources that they need to improve education. He would also increase the incentives for scoring properly on state achievements tests, and he would improve teacher salaries. I think that this would be a decent solution to an issue that is detrimental to the country. The school issue is one that currently is not a huge pressing issue, but as I said before its one that needs to be address before it becomes a huge problem. This is part of Obama’s proactive approach to strengthening America both on the home front and abroad. There are many other issues that are facing 2008 presidential candidates. These issues include energy, the environment, poverty and unemployment, caring for our seniors, homeland security, veteran affairs, strengthening families and communities to keep America strong, cleaning up Washington’s corrupt culture, and perhaps what will be the biggest decider in determining which candidate is best for the job, religion. Barack Obama has a very opinionated view of all these issues. But when it comes down to finding solutions to the issues I think he is a little indecisive on what should be done. He has come up with some great solutions for some very important issues but they are ones that would work great in the perfect situation, and may not work so well in our current situation. He has an idealistic approach to some issues that may not be the greatest. He is a big fan of bringing everybody together to find a solution. This is good, but along with that I would like to see some of his specific ideas. There are many more candidates in the 2008 elections and my ‘homework’ is far from done, but I think I have a decent start and Obama is possibly a great candidate. I think it will be interesting to see what I find out about other candidates and to see how Obama will change over the next year. Also in this next year I would like to see my other fellow Americans doing their homework as well. I think that in order for America to stay the way it is then the young generation needs to start becoming involved citizens and not sideline watchers. | 
