Okay, but...

Table of Contents

Introduction

You've seen how close Barack Obama's platform is to Hillary Clinton's, but maybe you're still not quite ready to support Senator Obama in the general election. Some voters have lingering concerns about Senator Obama based on things they've heard about him from a variety of sources, some trustworthy, some not. We've put together this page to deal with a few of the concerns that we've heard people express about Senator Obama's candidacy.

If you or someone you know has a concern that's not included below, send us an email at contact@beyondhillary.com to let us know. We'll research any popular questions that we haven't addressed and add them to this page.

We hope that after reading this page you'll see that, if you agree with Senator Obama on the issues, there is nothing to keep you from voting for him in November.

"Barack Obama doesn't have the experience it takes to be President."

This is a matter of opinion, but we strongly disagree that Senator Obama lacks the experience needed to be President. It is true that Senator Obama has not been in politics as long as John McCain (but given that Senator McCain is 25 years older than Senator Obama, this is not surprising). However, Senator Obama has substantial political experience to prepare him to take over as president:

The bottom line: Senator Obama has more than ten years of experience in elected office, including time in national office and emphasis on foreign affairs. This, in addition to his professional and academic background, makes him well prepared to be president. Additionally, while it is important for a presidential candidate to have the experience and knowledge to understand the needs of the presidency, the candidate must also bring intelligence, judgment, and the ability to find and work with other highly-qualified people. Senator Obama has displayed all these traits throughout the campaign.

"I heard that Barack Obama is a Muslim/won't say the Pledge of Allegiance/has made inappropriate racially charged comments."

These rumors are all completely false and were made up by dishonest opponents of the Obama campaign. The campaign has made an excellent website to deal with these and other malicious rumors. It's posted at www.fightthesmears.com. All information on that site is accurate and can be independently verified.

We encourage you to check with fightthesmears.com or the rumor checking website www.snopes.com anytime you hear a startling rumor about Senator Obama, especially if you hear the rumor through an unreliable channel such as email or a blog post by a writer you don't know. If you have a question about a new rumor, you can also send it to the BeyondHillary.com team. We'll do our best to research the rumor and let you know what we find out.

The bottom line: Check the facts before you let a rumor affect your vote.

"Barack Obama won't take a stance on the issues. He's just an empty suit."

This is untrue. Senator Obama has a detailed and comprehensive platform available online at http://www.barackobama.com/issues. His priorities include ending the war in Iraq, providing affordable healthcare and education to all Americans, protecting social security, and pursuing a foreign policy based on diplomacy whenever feasible.

Senator Obama's platform centers on improving life for working Americans while revamping our foreign policy and military efforts to keep us safe rather than pouring resources into continuing the war in Iraq. If you haven't already, you can check out our Platform Comparison chart for a quick summary of his views, or visit his website at the link above for more details.

The bottom line: The people who call Senator Obama an "empty suit" may not know where he stands on the issues, but he knows, and so should voters.

"Barack Obama was unfair and sexist towards Hillary Clinton during the primary."

Barack Obama is not sexist. While there have been a few people who claimed he is, we've scoured the web and the worst that we can come up with is that he once called a female reporter "sweetie" while dodging her question during a press conference. This isn't the pinnacle of tact, but it's not misogyny either. Aside from that, we haven't found any compelling evidence of sexism whatsoever. In a high-visibility campaign any overtly sexist actions would come to light quickly, so we don't think there's any substance to this rumor.

Keep in mind that during the 2008 Democratic primary, as in any election, unpleasant words got tossed around, and not just by the candidates. There were some unacceptable things said during the primary--we saw remarks that were sexist, racist, and generally false and offensive directed at both candidates. However, the offensive remarks generally came from misguided supporters outside the campaigns, and none of them came from Senator Obama himself.

Not only has Senator Obama treated women with respect on the campaign trail, he lives this out in his personal life in an equal and loving partnership with his accomplished, intelligent wife, Michelle. Michelle Obama is a truly impressive woman, and we're looking into adding a profile of her to this site, but in the meantime, if you don't know much about her, we encourage you to check out this excellent article about her in the New York Times.

Finally, Barack Obama's campaign shows a strong understanding of the issues women face. His women's issues page covers everything from women's health to domestic violence to equal pay to the right to a safe and legal abortion. For comparison, Senator McCain's issues site doesn't include a women's issues page.

The bottom line: Barack Obama has not made sexist comments, and his actions and his platform shows an understanding of and respect for women and the challenges they face which John McCain clearly lacks.

"I just want to see a woman elected to the White House."

We want to see this, too, but it's a matter of priorities. If your first and only goal is to see a woman in the Executive branch this election cycle, vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin. However, keep in mind that if Senator McCain and Governor Palin are elected, the historic first for women will be accompanied by the following:

The bottom line: A McCain/Palin administration would slow progress on guaranteeing women a fair wage, and would likely reduce women's abilities to make safe, informed decisions about their own bodies. It isn't worth making these sacrifices to get a woman in the White House this election cycle. We believe that it won't be too long until we see a female nominee who is truly the right person for the job, and we're willing to wait.