Why?

Ok, here we go.

I support Obama for President (I know, shocker). This is why.
(And equally important - why I do not support Clinton.)

First some stats:
Obama has over 10 years of elected political servitude between his years in the IL Senate and US Senate.
Clinton has 7.

Committees currently serving on:
Obama (4)- Homeland Security & Government Affairs; Health, Education, Labor & Pensions; Veterans' Affairs and Foreign Relations (serving as chairman of the Subcommitte on European Affairs).
Clinton (4) - Armed Services; Environment & Public Works; Health, Education, Labor & Pensions and Aging.

Money taken from lobbyists:
Obama - $76,859 ($6,755 form PAC's - 74% from ideological/single issues)
Clinton - $567,950 ($748,052 from PAC's - 56% from business)
**Opensecrets.org

Now, opinion.

I have been on both candidates websites. While similar in structure and spin, Obama's focuses on getting his message out in a positive way and does not include digs at the other candidates. Hillary's site has an entire section - The Fact Hub - dedicated to defensive counter attacks. The very mud-slinging she is complaining about.
(www.barackobama.com; www.hillaryclinton.com)
Added: **Oops, my bad. Barack has added a similar defense page to his website: http://factcheck.barackobama.com

Hillary keeps talking about how much more experience she has and touting against electing someone that will need "on-the-job training". Obama actually has more experience in elected office than she does. Her years as First Lady don't count. If she is claiming they do, she needs to provide documentation to support that fact. Why should we just believe her? I don't think it's fair if she's running on her husband's merits.

I see Obama's lack of experience as an asset. He is still new, fresh and relatively uncompromised. He hasn't been corrupt by the current politcal system that she proudly claims to have been a part of for 35 years.

I see Obama as a face to unify not only our country, but the world. He sits on the Foreign Relations Committee, co-wrote the Lugar-Obama initiative to prevent wmd smuggling, supports the Non-proliferation Treaty to eradicate nuclear weapons throughout the world and has written legislation to aid the conflicts in Darfur and the Congo. He has family living in Kenya and lived as a child in SE Asia. He understands what it is like to live (even if he was 10) in a culture other than the corporate corrupt America that the rest of the world sees. He can change the way we are seen by the world.

What I fear most about Clinton is the money she is taking from numerous lobbies (defense, insurance, Chinese and Indian companies, etc.). What has she promised in return for these donations? If she really has all of these years of experience in negotiating, how many favors does she owe - and to whom?

She is also the only major Democratic candidate to not support free presidential debates (maplight.org). Why? Without the money she doesn't think she can win?

She has been called a corporate democrat and linked to numerous troublesome people or companies (ie. discrimination at WalMart, outsourcing at Westin Hotels, Mark Penn on her payroll...), but in her defense, her voting record (aside from the Iraq War) has been pretty progressive.

I'm not saying she's the evil queen some are making her out to be, I just think Obama has a clearer vision of where the country could and should be. "A vision that draws from the lessons of the past, but is not bound by outdated thinking." (04/23/07 speech)

Obama was quoted on the campaign trail: "I will wake up every day in that White House thinking about 'How I can make your lives better.'" I believe him. I'm not so sure the same is true for Hillary. If I'm wrong, then shame on me for daring to hope for the America I dream of and know we can be.