Don't let me talk about politics

You probably know that my wife is a teacher. Normally, that doesn't have any effect on the functioning of our household or relationship; she doesn't have an overly teacher-like personality. At home, she's just Michelle.

But I must admit; this week, I've been given an assignment.

I am, I won't say instructed, but strongly encouraged to write for you about Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. This, I am more than happy to do. I'm not quite sure yet how I'm going to go about it. Read on and we'll find out together!

I'm not sure how many of my readers may benefit from this discussion. I know of a few very informed, very opinionated people who read this blog. They may choose to disagree or even refute some of the things I say, and I welcome their feedback, but they are not who I'm writing to. I know of a few devoted Republicans as well as diehard Democrats who already know who they will vote for, if they vote, on February 5th. They are not my intended audience either. I know of many Canadians who read this blog and may be quite interested in who the nominees for the Presidential election in November will end up being, but who of course cannot vote in the United States. They are not the ones I'm talking to.

What I don't know is how many people may be reading who have some interest, but aren't sure if they're going to vote in the primaries, or who they would vote for if they did. They may fully intend to vote in November, but do they really care enough to get involved in the process of picking the nominee now?

Just in case there are any of those types out there, I think this will work best if I write to them.

So the Democrats are picking between Barack Obama, a black, first-generation American who was raised by a single mother, and Hillary Clinton, a former first lady. John Edwards has just officially withdrawn from the race, which more or less stamps in concrete what was already known, that the Democratic candidate for the next President of the United States will be either a woman or a black man. No, it does not make you a reverse-racist or reverse-sexist if you find this very exciting. It is very exciting. What's more, most of the experts predict that either one of them would win the presidency over any of the Republican candidates. That is much more exciting.

So if Barack and Hillary are basically your choices for President, who do you want? I'll start by saying that the differences between them are probably small and the similarities are big. They both intend to create universal affordable health care. Are you going to get tired of me saying, "Very exciting?" I think this is huge. I don't know of another first world country where you have to be making a substantial amount of money to afford basic medical attention. Ten years ago this was a pipe dream; now we're down to the details of how it's going to be done. Very exciting.

They both want to end the war. Every soldier out of Iraq by 2010. This may make you nervous; it probably should; but if Iraq the way it is right now doesn't make you nervous, then have a good time at the Republican Caucus. Whoever becomes the next President will have the best, most qualified people helping them figure out the best way to end the war, and the war will end. Very exciting.

From there, we get into the differences. From what I've seen, which isn't everything, I could draw a few hasty generalizations. And hey, isn't that what blogs are for? Not to mention politics?

Barack seems to care a little bit more than Hillary about fixing Social Security and improving schools, though Hillary does care about Education as well. Hillary is more experienced in Washington, obviously, and may have a better understanding of how things work and how to get things done. But what makes the decision easy for me is when I watch them debate each other, and when I see each of them give speeches.

Because the thing about Barack Obama is, he just doesn't talk like a politician. In one sense, he does, of course; I'm not going to sit here and tell you that he isn't good at stirring up a crowd and sounding inspiring. What I mean by that is, he doesn't dodge questions, he doesn't gloss over details, and he doesn't stick to a monosyllabic vocabulary in order to sound like the common man. He says what he wants to say, and he says it in the best way he can, even if he needs to use big words to explain what he means. He trusts that people still understand big words. Now, I'm not going to vote for him just because he uses big words, but I find it appealing.

I also find appealing that in a debate, he answers the question he was asked. I have not seem him respond to a question by launching into a prepared statement that sort of touches on the topic but really just leads into his preferred platform. When he is asked what he thinks of something, he says what he thinks. When he is asked how he would accomplish this or that, he goes into detail after detail about exactly what his plan is until the moderator makes him stop because he's taking so long. When he is asked what his biggest weakness is (Edwards and Clinton both said they "care too much"), he admits that he loses papers and everyone gasps because an answer like that could cost him votes!

When Hillary is asked how she will fix Social Security or end the war, she immediately starts talking about why these things do or don't need to be fixed, and picking apart the plans put forth by her opponents. If she has shared any details about her own plans, I've missed it. I'm sure she has plans; I just don't know much about them. I know exactly what Barack's health plan will be like. I know exactly how much he wants to raise taxes and for whom. I know exactly how he wants to help schools get better. And I don't know for sure, but I have a pretty good feeling, that when he is President I will be able to believe what he says when he speaks, and feel good about what I hear.

Wouldn't that be weird?