Why Obama Deserves to Win

I had some thoughts tonight after doing a couple of interviews on the financial markets, one with NPR and another with 99.5 FM in NYC. Those are two of my favorite stations, and anyone who follows me should know that I am going to be with my main man Mark Thompson at Sirius Satellite (channel 146) this Wednesday at 5 pm EST and WVON-Chicago Saturday morning. There's more this week, including The Donny Simpson Show (DC), Al Jazeera International, NPR again and some other stuff I can't quite remember right now (the details are on my site, www.BoyceWatkins.com). On each show, I've chosen to address the financial markets, and I have been deliberately avoiding discussing this election, because I don't want to say anything that might keep Obama from getting elected. Critical analysis means that almost nothing is black or white for me. So, I even critique people I love, and compliment people I can't stand (I've even said nice things about Bill O'Reilly).

Someone sent me an email the other day stating that my silence on the election has been "deafening". I agree. I've been deliberately silent on the presidential election for roughly 6 weeks. I have also been considered an "Obama hater" because I have not chosen to ride the Barack Obama-mania train that everyone else is on. In spite of my sincere respect for Mr. Obama as a person, I am still not buying a ticket. However, I can set the record straight right now:

1) Obama deserves to win this election. He has clearly shown that he is a far superior candidate to John McCain. He is sharper in debates and has shown himself to have far better decision-making skills than Mr. McCain, whose "Joe the Plumber" argument to support his tax policy was just flat out stupid.

2) I vote for my politicians, I don't worship them. Barack will get my vote, as I endorsed him long before it even appeared that he had a chance to win this election. But as his supporter, I feel that it is my obligation to also provide him with incentives to do the right thing for the American people and African Americans. Therefore, I am in agreement with Rev. Jackson and others who are working to provide Senator Obama with direct incentives to create policies that open doors for African Americans.

3) Sarah Palin scares me. When you are a 72 year old man who has a very strong likelihood of not even living to make a second term, you shouldn't choose someone like Sarah Palin as your running mate. That's like riding across the country on old tires without a solid spare in the trunk. Foreign and domestic policy are too serious right now for us to have a president who has less foreign travel experience than many 15 year olds.

4) The financial crisis threw Obama over the top. This is not the time to have a president (and mediocre student) who admitted that he doesn't know much about the economy.

5) Barack reminds African Americans of what our mothers told us as children: "You have to be twice as good when you are black to get half the reward." Obama ran the strongest campaign of any candidate in the past 30 years. He was cool under pressure. He carefully pandered to the kind of racism I refuse to accept. He deserves to be President of the United States.

6) I respect Barack Obama, but I dislike nearly all politicians. I don't enjoy working with anyone who has to lie for a living. I don't think politicians are all liars by nature. Unfortunately, they are required to feed lies to voters who can't quite handle the truth. When politicians approach me about being involved in their campaigns, I typically refuse. At best, I provide an endorsement if it helps. I truly believe that politicians are not going to be the ones who save Black people. Economics and Financial Activism are going to be our paths to power in a Capitalist society. That's the truth.

I head to Cornell University tomorrow and I won't be thinking about the election. Instead, I'll be thinking about family, freedom and financial prosperity. That matters far more than political popularity contests and that is what will make us free.