50 Days, 50 Reasons to Vote Obama: An Introduction

For me, like many progressives, President Obama's election four years ago was a moment to breathe a sigh of relief: the eight long, desctructive, and incredibly, unbelievebly fiscally irresponsible years of George Bush's presidency were finally over. By the end of Bush's second term in office, there were few who would still beleive Ralph Nader's spurious claim that there was no difference between Bush and Al Gore. The reality of those differences had played themselves out in ways that still scar our country: a distastrous, unwarrented war in Iraq, the tarnishing of America's ideals by the abuses in Abu Ghraib, tax cuts that still hobble our ability to pay for our basic needs and grow the economy, failure to regulate a corrupt banking system, among many misguided and often immoral policy decisions. Obama's election was a chance to turn the country back from the wayward course of the Bush years.

This fall we have another choice, not dissimilar from the choice in 2000 between Al Gore and George Bush. However, instead of Ralph Nader telling us that the candidate who is best positioned to move the country forward isn't progressive enough, we have a host of voices telling us that President Obama hasn't adequately followed through on all of the many things people hoped for him. Our choice this fall isn't between the President and a spoiler — our choice is between supporting the President and inaction. The prospect of a Romney presidency and all that it would bring — including the further isolation of America in the world, the rollback of environmental regulations, failure to solve the healthcare crisis, failure to make the richest 1% pay their fair share, and on and on — will only come to pass if progressives fail to rally around President Obama in November.

While each of us likely has their own issues that we wish we the Obama admistration had made more progress on, we too regularly make the mistake of thinking that these missed opportunites mean that President Obama hasn't made real and substantive advances toward making our country a place where people all have an equal opportunity to live, in the words of Bill & Melinda Gates, "healthy, producitve lives." Over the next 50 days, leading up to the election, I'm going to be sharing my reasons for supporting President Obama. There are lots of lists like this out there — standing out in particular is "90 Days, 90 Reasons", curated by Dave Eggers – but my list is focused on the reasons I'm voting *for* the President's reelection, not on the (many, many) reasons to vote against Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

If you're firmly in Obama's camp, this list should give you some reasons to vote for Obama to share with your progressive friends whose enthusasim may waning, or with cynical friends who think all politicians are ineffectual or dishonest. And if you're a conservitive, this list should help you understand what the invisible man in the Clint Eastwood's chair has accomoplished and stands for in reality.