I’m hereby retracting my vote for Mr Obama. I was never what you might call an idealistic supporter – I’ve been pretty cynical about US politics for far too long. And actually, I was impressed, at first, by his apparent pragmatism, his calm demeanor, his capacity for compromise.
But when I decided to abandon my pointless third-partyism for Mr Obama in 2008, I was motivated by certain promises more than others. Not just the promise, in general terms, of a more intellectual, even cerebral, president, but also… I fully expected and counted on seeing him work hard to reverse Bush’s attacks on civil liberties and the never-ending jingoism.
Obama’s utter failure to even begin to reverse the civil liberties issues, his constant re-assertion of the Cheneyian imperial presidency, the continuation of Guantanamo despite explicit promises to close it even once arrived in office… these were deeply disappointing. But the interests-driven, ill-considered dive into yet another oil-state war has felt like a “last straw” – I can no longer support this man.
Can I unvote? Not that McCain would have been better – god, no. He’d have been much worse, I have zero doubt. But I’m going to go back into my third-party closet, now. And I remain content to be an expat.
