Well, it looks like we have our top three candidates for the next president of the United States. For the Republicans we have John McCain and for the Democrats we have Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. In my opinion all three candidates are not bad choices, but after digging around and reading up on each candidate I definitely have to say Barack Obama is my choice to run this country.

Let's face it, Bush seriously fucked up this country. Last time I checked he had a 19 percent approval rating, which means over 80 percent of people in this country think he's doing a horrible job. The next president is going to have a lot to clean up, or even more importantly, they're going to have a lot of expectations resting on their shoulders.

Lobbyists Contributions

So why Obama? For one, he has the least amount of lobbyist contributions out of all three candidates. Currently, Obama roughly has $80,000. Both McCain and Clinton has a substantial amount more. McCain has roughly $370,000 while Clinton has the most at $627,000. [source]

From this we can see that Obama has not been bought by Big Oil, Big Tobacco, or Big Telecom. Obama has not been paid for and will instead have interests in what's best for this country and its people - not big companies.

Religion

Obama does not let religion run his life and will not let it run this country. Yes, Obama is a Christian, but nowhere near as bad Bush or Huckabee for that matter. Below is a quote from Obama about his religious stance:

My faith is complicated by the fact that I didn't grow up in a particular religious tradition. And so what that means is when you come at it as an adult, your brain meditates a lot, and you ask a lot of questions.

There are aspects of the Christian tradition that I'm comfortable with and aspects that I'm not. There are passages of the Bible that make perfect sense to me and others that I go, "You know, I'm not sure about that."

I love this. As an atheist, there is nothing more heartbreaking than seeing a wonderful bill or scientific breakthrough get shot down by some religious nut because it violates their ancient belief. Meanwhile this bill or scientific breakthrough could better the lives of millions or the society in which they live. Obama has proven to me that his religion will not rule his presidency, and will take a backseat to the more important issues.

Bills on global warming, Iran, education, etc.

Obama cares about our environment and global warming. He has created/supported several bills on energy including bills to help reduce our need of foreign oil and to repeal certain tax incentives for the oil and gas industries. Speaking of bills, he also has some great ones on Iran, voting, veterans, global warming, campaign finance and lobbyists, global poverty, and education. Click here for lots more info on Obama's bills and achievements.

Bringing back Democracy

Even though Obama is trying to lead this country, he is humble in the fact that he serves us, the people of this country. Democracy is about people electing politicians to represent them, and more importantly, it's about those politicians being held responsible for their actions. We lost that with the Bush administration, but not with Obama. Without any facts or figures here, I'm just relying on gut instinct that tells me Obama will lead this country as a servent to us, and is willing to be held responsible for his actions.

Technology

Obama understands technology and the issues we face with it everyday. Most importantly he understands net neutrality and the importance for the Internet to stay open and to not be filtered by Big Telecom.

Obama also wants to open up the government to help promote more citizen participation in its inner workings. This is great as it allows us to see exactly what the people we elect are doing. This is the complete opposite from the Bush administration which has been the most secretive, closed administration in history.

A good role model

Without trying to sound too racist here, I think having a black president is another one of those changes we need. No, I'm not voting for him because he's black, and no one should place their vote on Obama solely for this fact either. But I think having a black president would help provide a great role model for black youth. It also kind of eliminates the whole "rich white man in power" struggle.

And let's not forget the fact that Obama is an extremely intelligent man, having graduated from Harvard.

These are just some of the reasons why I'm supporting Barack Obama for the next US President. For those who state Obama does not have enough experience, I advise you to take a look at this article.

It's time for a change - for the better - and Obama is the man to do it. Clinton and McCain just will not bring the changes we need. Instead they'll bring back more of the past, which is something we definitely do not want to see again.

Sources:

• Lobbyists Contributions
• Clinton vs. Obama
• Obama's Experience