Regular readers know that I have been torn for some time over who to support for the presidency. My initial candidate was Dennis Kucinich, because our views are very similar. After Kucinich left, I think my favorite choice would then have been John Edwards, given his populist approach. Since Edwards withdrew, most people know that I have been torn between Barack Obama and Ralph Nader. Hillary hasn’t factored in for some time, given her horrible conduct during the campaign and my belief that she is, quite frankly, not that much different than John McCain.

So whom to vote for between Nader and Obama? I agree with Nader on almost every issue and find Obama too corporate… too willing to cater to special interests. I agree with him on most of his views, but he doesn’t go far enough for me, at least not as a candidate.

And that is what I must remember. How he campaigns and how he governs may well be very disparate. Obama has the right background… he wasn’t brought up in a wealthy environment. Obama has the right instincts… when he could have worked anywhere in the nation as a Harvard Law grad, he chose to return to Chicago’s South Side to advocate for the poor. And Obama has the intellect… listening to him on the campaign, his remarks are thoughtful but real, nearly blunt. John McCain may pride himself on “straight talk” while delivering double talk, but with Obama what you see is what you get.

While I am a supporter of a complete revolution to fix our government, the truth is that in this day and age change has to come from within and must be steady and incremental. And while I very much support third parties and consider myself an Independent rather than a Democrat, it is my view that the election of an Independent would not bring the change that we so desperately need in this nation.

I admire Ralph Nader. I agree with Ralph Nader on almost all of what he says. And I strongly support the emergence of third parties in the American political landscape. I see these parties as vital to insuring that, after we fix our government, that it won’t get broken again anytime soon.

But we have to fix it first, and Ralph Nader cannot accomplish this as President. He is far more effective as an external advocate, rather than from the Oval Office. Think about it… if Nader were inaugurated on January 15th, he would become a lame duck the very next day. The changes he offers threaten the status quo of both major political parties, and such change won’t be accepted from outside the party structures. It must come from within.

And if there is anyone in the current landscape that can bring this change, it is Obama. McCain pretends to be a reformist but is simply an extension of the failed politics of George W. Bush. Clinton is completely owned by special interests and has shown her husband’s knack for convenient political maneuvering. Obama, on the other hand, has talked about positions with consistency. He has tried to distance himself from special interests publicly, but it is clear that his campaign would not be succeeding without corporate support. My take? He has the right instincts to push through reform but won’t campaign on it, and won’t start Day One of his presidency with sweeping reforms. But four or eight years of Barack Obama, in my view, would net significant gains that could begin to take some of the corporate lobbyist dollars out of politics. And that is to me, the greatest single threat we face as a nation. So in a nutshell, change under Obama won’t be as sweeping as it would be under Nader, but stands a far greater likelihood of actually happening.

I don’t begrudge Nader in his effort to be president, and won’t blame him if Obama should lose to McCain. As Nader rightly pointed out in an interview with Tim Russert, if the Democrats can’t win this year, of all years, then they should just fold up tent and call it a day as a party. Similarly, I wish Libertarian nominee Bob Barr great success as well. If he can siphon off votes from McCain, perhaps Nader’s impact on Obama will be dampened.

In my view, the top issues in this nation right now (in order of immediacy) are:

1. Corporate influence in American politics and ending corporate welfare
2. Restoring civil liberties to American citizens that have been lost during the Bush administration
3. Leaving Iraq, completing the task in Afghanistan, and restoring American prestige
4. Turning the American economy back in the right direction
5. Establishing nationalized health care for all U.S. citizens
6. Taking immediate and decisive action to improve the global environment
7. Investing substantially in alternative and renewable energy sources
8. Taking care of the veterans who have fought at the order of the current administration
9. Reforming public education in a way that does not penalize minorities
10. Healing the racial divide in this nation
11. Creating a rational immigration policy as it applies to illegal immigrants

Please note the complete absence of social wedge issues. For too long has the Republican Party utilized these issues (gun control, abortion, stem cell research, gay marriage, etc.) to divide our people and to convince many hardworking Americans to vote against their own economic interests. This must come to an end if we are to make real progress on the real issues facing us.

With these issues as my determiners, it is clear to me that in a race between Obama and McCain, Obama is the only choice for making substantive progress that would be in the interest of the people rather than the corporations. While I believe that Obama has the right instincts, he still has to demonstrate that he has the will, the savvy, and the ability to get the job done.

This is the most significant presidential election that I have seen in my lifetime. It will almost certainly be a pivotal time in American history, so we need to choose well. Voting for Barack Obama requires a leap of faith, but the opportunities presented in an Obama administration can have a tremendous and positive impact on American society. And we can not afford to elect John McCain to be our President. In many ways, McCain’s views will offer us more of the same, truly a third term of the Bush administration. And where he differs with Bush some of his views are worse. A John McCain presidency would likely be a disaster for our nation… one that we simply can’t afford.

Thus, I have to select the most likely person to defeat McCain, and one that I can believe has the character and ability to disrupt the status quo of American politics while pursuing a progressive agenda. Obama’s agenda may not be as progressive as I would like, but it stands a fighting chance of being turned into rational policy, something we need desperately. And that’s why I will cast my ballot for Senator Obama this November. The motto of his campaign is “change we can believe in”. This is change I have to believe in, because the alternative is simply unacceptable.