October 21, 2008

I Voted for Barack Obama Today and Here’s Why

 

altimage Because our move upstate will put us out of town on election day, I got to vote today via absentee ballot. It’s not as fun as pulling the lever, but it somehow felt like a small part of an historic moment when I marked that box for Barack Obama. A long, very long time ago it might have been a stretch for me to identify myself as a Democrat, but in those days I thought small government at all costs was right. That was when I thought about politics in abstract terms instead of in terms of this-is-your-life-and-everone-around-you real life consequences. That was before I realized that conservatives only believe in small government outside of military might – a priority I don’t share. When it comes down to where I want to spend our trillions of dollars it’s certainly not invading countries on specious basis.

It’s astonishing if you think about it: for all that terrorists have tried to destroy of the United States, it is our hand that has wrought destruction upon our own citizens and so many others around the world. As I write there are nearly 100,000 dead in Iraq as a result of our widely discredited invasion of that country. As I sit here more and more people are wondering how they’re going to make their mortgage payment as the credit crisis is destroying the aggressively deregulated banking system championed by our so-called leadership even while costing hundreds of billions of dollars – a cost that we taxpayers are on the hook for. The word “Wall Street” is strictly historical as of now.

I’m a self-employed father of three. I’m wondering about how I will pay escalating insurance premiums I’ll be charged next year for my family of five on top of the thousands of dollars I may be liable for if any of my family gets sick (as they did last year). I want an intelligent and thoughtful response to the credit crisis. I wonder if when my children travel around the world one day they will have to hide their U.S. passports. I wonder if they will grow up in a climate of fear. I wonder if when they grow up they will be able to make career choices based upon what they feel is valuable in the world instead of what best makes their monthly bills. These are real life concerns and I choose intelligence and thoughtfulness over a self-described “maverick” who clearly by his choice of running mate displays little more than a willingness to pander to the right to be in office. While I don’t think that John McCain is as immoral or intellectually effete as George Bush, I do think that he sold his soul for one last chance to leave a presidential legacy and that makes me question his motivations and ability to make his own choices.

When I hear McCain say about education: “I’m not going to just throw money at the problem” – an old Republican line – I think, well why not? Why not throw money at the problem? Everyone knows that schools are better in districts where there’s more money. McCain knows that you can throw more and more and more money at a war to try to fix it, then why not put a lot of fucking money into our schools so we don’t have to fight for small class sizes, so teaching can be a valid career option, so we are not left with nothing more than standardized tests to measure our children’s success. Do we really want to raise future generations who can do little more than fill in an oval well?

McCain’s only strength is his experience in foreign policy, something that is clearly needed today as America finds itself weakened in the eyes of the world’s leaders and peoples from failed and obnoxious policies (I recall Bush talking about what he saw when he looked into the eyes of Vladimir Putin, and I’m quite certain I know what Putin saw when he looked back). But I fear that McCain sees the world through tired eyes, through the lens of past wars and failed policies of might-makes-right (and I shudder to think how destructive our cowboy image could be should Palin take his place). We live in a world where international cooperation, inclusive international bodies and a world view taking in the realities of emerging powers and the importance of economics is key. I think Barack Obama’s openness and intelligence and ability to move people, to stir their emotions, to make them believe is what we need. Desperately.

If Obama is a Mac and Hillary is a p.c., as some were saying during the primaries, then McCain is decidedly one of those punch-card machines that pre-date the modern computer. The issues that face us now and in the future require someone who can grasp technology, someone who knows how to use it and understand its power. Not only do we face issues such as net-neutrality, but technology is the arena where terrorism, among other things, will be fought. The candidates have made clear their proclivities here and while McCain’s confessions about his lack of understanding of technology (and economics, for that matter) may seem trivial to some, I believe it’s a critical distinction.

I believe our priorities in this country are wrong and we need to look hard at what got us here and take action for a positive change. The Iraq war, Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib didn’t make us look inward to see where we’d gotten off track, but maybe the credit crisis will. I think we need hope. I think we need leadership. And I think Barack Obama is the right man at the right time who will be a true leader, our first for the 21st century.

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Excellent, Bud. I couldn’t have put it better myself. (that line about what Putin saw when he looked back is hilarious!)

    – Dave (10/21 01:02 PM)



I won’t get into Iraq and America’s reputation abroad as that is a complicated discussion and an emotional one as well.

But I did want to point out that your point about money and education is simply not true.  There is no connection between per student spending and educational outcomes.  The best schools in this country don’t spend more per pupil.

It is also worth pointing out that Obama’s work in education has been marked by failure.  The infamous Annenberg project failed to improve Chicago schools despite millons of dollars spent.  On top of that the Federal Government’s roll in education has been ineffective at best - and full of wasteful spending - so I fail to see why more Federal dollars is likely to help.

As to health care, I really think this is one area where McCain has been treated very poorly.  Prior to this election cycle many people agreed that we needed to decouple health care from employment so that you were in charge of your care and it was portable, etc.

So when McCain makes just such a proposal, and one a number of unbiased observers agree will save most American’s money, Obama attacks him with deceptive ads.  McCain may have done a poor job of selling the plan, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good one.

Just my two cents.

    – Kevin Holtsberry (10/21 01:30 PM)



Kevin, I knew I could count on you for a rebuttal. Good luck out there.

    – Bud Parr (10/21 01:39 PM)



Bud - Just wanted to leave a comment about the line “Everyone knows that schools are better in districts where there’s more money.” This is certainly true, but this isn’t because the schools have money - it’s because the people do.  A school with lots of money in an inner city neighborhood will not do much (or at all) better than a school with a moderate amount, because its students have to deal with all the problems of that neighborhood (drugs, crime, single-parent households, etc.).  As a teacher myself, I wish that just giving money would help.  But studies have shown that it doesn’t help.  So we need to reevaluate just how to use the money with give to best help those students, and at least right now there don’t seem to be any great answers.

    – Michael (10/21 06:58 PM)



Actually, Michael - there are things that are working. You lost me at “studies show…” My wife is a public school teacher here in New York City who has taught at “inner-city” schools as well as other schools in the city (that we don’t assign politically-correct euphemisms to). She’s taught five year-olds who have suffered gunshot wounds, who couldn’t afford proper medical care or lived in shelters or who were being raised by their grandparents because their parents weren’t around. As a teacher, don’t you think that those schools where teaching only happens amidst security concerns and a disruptive environment could use extra help? Those teachers are overwhelmed! They would certainly benefit from smaller class sizes and basic money for supplies and books or additional para-professionals that I assure you are not generally being seen. After-school programs are critical for these kids to get extra help, books etc when the parents are working. These are simple solutions but powerful - they are not free. Whether or not that creates better performance on standardized tests, I don’t know and truthfully, I don’t care. I do know that we need to bring up the poorer schools somehow and without funding you’re merely shuffling. We don’t need shuffling.

Teachers are a special breed of person who are certainly motivated by something more than money, but wouldn’t you like to see teaching as a viable career option to the brightest students who might be necessarily lured into other fields? There’s a fair amount of tenured mediocrity in our schools, but I think teachers ought to be treated and paid like the professionals they are. I know teachers that can’t even afford to live in the neighborhoods they teach in. My wife, after more than ten years and advanced degrees was paid pretty well, but still no where near what she could have made in other fields (she made less money teaching than some secretaries at Merrill Lynch where I used to work).

I don’t believe that money is a panacea, but I’m tired of the handwringing in this country over how bad our schools are among people who only want to patch this or that problem up when I think we need give it the sort of weight we do war or our perennial financial bailouts. We’re throwing our best asset away. Of course, I’m also not under the illusion that any president would be able to do that, at least not overnight, but I do believe there’s a far greater chance of a renewed emphasis on education with Obama than with McCain and that line about not throwing money at the problem is just not enough because starving the problem of funds is not the answer either.

Now, take the case of the Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School here in New York City (I don’t know where you’re writing from). There are horribly failing schools in the South Bronx - these are large, faceless schools with thousands of students and insurmountable security problems. What one group did with the help of grant money from the Annenberg Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was to create smaller, specialized schools within the area with a professional staff who engaged student’s families (as in going to a student’s house if they don’t show up for school) and each teacher is responsible for a core group of students. Each student can only graduate by presenting and defending a body of work accumulated during their time there. 98% of these kids go on to college, something previously unheard of in the South Bronx. So don’t tell me that money won’t help.

    – Bud Parr (10/21 09:22 PM)



This, probably, is the most heartfelt personal account on American Elections in the wake of the financial crisis that I have read so far. I guess, like many others round the world, that you made the right choice.

I guess, there will be few with doubt that Bush not only failed as a President, but committed blunders, intentional or otherwise, which has changed the face of the world for the worse. If not for anything else, a non-republican victory is essential as no-one needs a President who will need to defend the decisions of Bush. McCain will, so let him out.

I am an Indian living in India and have been hoping Obama wins. As an Indian, that’s not an intelligent wish, for Obama and the Democrats in general have been against stuff like outsourcing which today provides jobs to a good number of Indians and brings in good foreign exchange home. However, I doubt if any consideration can make one chose McCain over Obama. It would defy intelligence.

    – BookCrazy (10/27 01:30 PM)



Both Republicans and Democrats know that a certain amount of taxation is necessary. The only difference is, they only think it’s fair when it pays for things they want.

People who are really into the Space Program want taxes to fund NASA. Almost everyone wants some taxes to fund the military. A lot of people want taxes to fund interstate highways, whether for vacation travel, to visit loved ones, or to move products from factories to distributors to stores. If you are the governor of a state that needs disaster relief, you want disaster relief, damn it, whether you are Democrat or Republican. Some people want tax money for schools because they believe, however corny it may sound, that children are our future. Some people want taxes to provide health care to more people because, in the long run, this makes a stronger America. That’s why we have polio and small pox vaccinations! Remember? If you are a millionaire living in a gated community, you have to go outside sometime. Do you want to catch polio because you said, “Let the peasants fend for themsleves?” If a kid is failing in school because of poor eyesight or an undetected illness, I would rather pay taxes to help the child become a productive member of society, rather than later when taxes are used to subsidize emergency care for the indigent, welfare, or even the criminal justice system and prison.

What are Republicans so afraid of?

    – Bill Ectric (10/28 09:02 AM)



The number one thing schools can do to improve student learning is to focus on parent involvement.  School leaders must start publishing not only math and reading scores but also percentage of parents attending meetings and participating in the classroom.  They should spend money on workshops for those parents who have for generations been excluded from participating in a meaningful way.  Schools are run on middle class values.  People from poverty have no way of understanding those values unless we clearly communicate them.

    – Kristin (10/29 12:18 PM)



Go Bud!  Thanks for this wonderful expression of your vote.  I think your assessment of McCain’s foreign policy is too kind - if you read through this article in The New Yorker (current issue) you’ll hear what his old buddy and fellow Republican has to say about it: http://tinyurl.com/6e7k6o

I’m off to PA tomorrow to canvass and then round up voters on 11/4. Our votes have never been so critical to the future of the world…

    – Paco (10/30 07:27 PM)


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"I Voted for Barack Obama Today and Here’s Why" was posted October 21, 2008 and written by Bud Parr. There have been 9 comments so far. Leave a Comment

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Recent Comments

Hi Bud,

This is so bittersweet to read. I wish U of Penn more than luck in tackling the collection and making an exhibit for the books. I can’t wait to see the store again. I used to work at Gotham (all too) briefly, from the summer of 2001 to the fall of 2002 when I was 19 and in school for illustration. The building, the books, and especially the people (I had amazing co-workers, plus some really lovely customers) have a special place in my heart. I’m was hoping the link would mention Andreas (Andy) Brown, the last owner of GBM, but no such luck.

I was going to venture a guess that if the old man you met at the store was a GBM employee it might have been Phillip Lyman, but my understanding was Mr. Lyman was notoriously well-read (and had substantial library himself) so I suppose he would not have been reading Dante for the first time when you met him. More likely it was one of our splendid customers. It happened more than once that one customer on the floor would ask me about an author or title and I would meet them with my perfectly hopeless stare ‘n stammer—until another customer that had overheard the plea would effortlessly proffer the desired answer or suggestion. I learned so much working there, from everyone, but was a pretty useless specimen while the learning percolated. One of the more useful employees (our resident poetry expert) recently got a shout-out over at the New Yorker’s book blog after being made famous at the splendiferous Kwik Meal #1 cart:

New Yorker Link

One more book nerdy bit before I cut off the nostalgia trip. The above-mentioned Marc was the first person to Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino in my hands; I read it up in the 2nd floor gallery on my lunch breaks (lunch from Kwik Meal #1, of course), surrounded by art books and Edward Gorey paraphernalia. That book took (and takes, I’ve re-read it many times) me so many places, but when I’m lucky it takes me back to Gotham’s gallery, by the 2nd floor window where the constant refrain of the gold and diamond sellers coming in through the window mingled with the dulcet tones of NPR from a radio bigger than a microwave and the smell of old paper—all unchanged almost more than a decade later. At least in my mind. It’s still one of my favorite books (and authors), ever. Marc also blessed me with recommendations of Wallace Stevens’ Palm At The End of the Mind, Moby Dick with the Rockwell Kent illustrations, and my first ever NYC apartment: a little studio over in Astoria, Queens. Everyone at that store was overflowing and generous with knowledge, stories and history.

Places like Gotham do more than provide fodder for sentimental blog comment drivel though; I hope the lessons learned from the ongoing troubles are shaping a new generation of booksellers and customers that can find ways to thrive. Bookstores don’t belong in museums. Wise men fish there.

– (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
on “Well That's That”


Best wishes for the holidays, Bud.

I used to work in the Pan Am/Met Life Building in Manhattan.  I would walk over to Gotham at lunch and browse, browse, browse.  Books were the only thing I ever bought on that stree.  It’s a shame it’s gone.  Thanks for the update for those of us no longer living in NYC.  Atlanta is not so much a book haven.

Best,
Jim H.

– Jim H.
on “Well That's That”


Yeah, for all of our technology - which is great - I mean you and I are talking about this from two ends of the country - but there’s nothing like being there.

– Bud Parr
on “Well That's That”