From the Bottom of the Political Barrel

I like President Obama, and it disheartens me to hear people speak disparagingly of him. On the other hand, I spoke disparagingly of his immediate predecessor without thought that I was adding to the general negativity of this country. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Bush’s politics (what were his politics, anyway?), I just didn’t care for him as a person.

People at my level (pretty much at the bottom of the political barrel) generally vote for people we like. So, when I compare the two presidents, here is what I come up with:

§  Obama is highly intelligent; Bush is not. I like intelligence. It makes me think, and I like to think. I can listen to President Obama speak for about ten minutes. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t last two minutes listening to Bush before searching for the remote.

§  Obama is enormously energetic; I didn’t feel the energy from Bush. I am drawn to people who are tireless; who can move rapidly from one task to another; who obviously love what they do. I am attracted to them because I am not energetic, but I yearn for it. With a president like Obama, I get to experience that tremendous energy vicariously.

§  Obama believes in what he is doing; Bush didn’t seem to know what he was doing (maybe he did, and I missed it). I don’t have to agree with what you do or what you believe to want to listen to you. I want to look into your eyes and see who YOU are, not see a reflection of myself.

§  Obama has a great voice; Bush, well, do fingernails on a chalkboard ring a bell?