Before you read any further, keep in mind that I did, in
fact, vote for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in the primary elections.

Early in the election season I was a very skeptical Obama
supporter, mostly because voting for him represented supporting a Democratic
Party that I have lost faith in. However, as the primaries crept closer and
closer I found myself gravitating more and more to the man who passionately
spoke of change and hope. I was impressed by how Obama could motivate crowds of
people, getting them to chant his name one minute and laugh their heads off the
next. I decided to throw my original cautions to the wind, and on Feb. 5 I
contentedly filled in the little ballot circle beside Obama’s name.

Since Super Tuesday, the junior senator from Illinois
has overcome the delegate gap between himself and Sen. Hillary Clinton
(D-N.Y.), making an Obama win seem within reach. With the election victories
piling up in his favor, I have started to pay more attention to exactly what he
so eloquently says on stage after each subsequent primary win. Hearing him
speak makes me feel happy and secure, but after watching enough of these
speeches over the last two weeks I have come to realize that he says the same
things every time, and that in the end he hasn’t really said anything at all.

He boasts of bringing change and giving Americans hope to
make the country better from the bottom up, but never did I once hear him
specifically outline how, as president, he would work to eradicate our nation’s
abundant problems. It is easy enough to point out what is wrong with the United
States, but to present a plan for bringing
about change is what actually matters.

After my idealistic Obama bubble burst I took it upon myself
to find out his stance on many important issues. This search made me realize
that while his projected persona and ability to motivate Americans sets him
apart from other candidates, some of his beliefs and plans directly counter his
speeches’ flowery rhetoric.

He lambasts President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq,
yet he has openly supported continuing the War on Terror with a willingness to
attack Iran and
Pakistan. He
has called for the slow phasing out of certain troops from the Middle
East, yet has simultaneously proposed the deployment of an
additional 65,000 Army troops and 27,000 Marines. Even the mainstream,
conservative-leaning voices at ABC News have said that Obama has “a
geopolitical posture that is more aggressive than that of President Bush.”
Obama claims to stand for change, but how is threatening Iran
and Pakistan
with nuclear carnage a change from the past eight years of Bush’s foreign
policy?

Another one of Obama’s campaign slogans is “Yes We Can,” a
statement intended to show his belief in the collective action of all Americans
and their crucial role in bringing about change. What most people don’t realize
is that “Yes We Can” is not Obama’s invention, but is actually borrowed from
the age-old chant of the Latino community: ¡Si Se Puede! The irony of his
slogan’s roots mirrors his proposed treatment of la raza Latina.
Obama is willing to offer driver licenses to undocumented immigrants already
living in the states, but supports constructing a wall along the U.S.-Mexico
border to keep out unwanted Latinos. Apparently Obama is willing to plagiarize
an entire culture but does not want to grant residency to the community that
originally penned the phrase on which his campaign is based.

Obama claims to be a champion of civil rights and the only
candidate that can take America
in the right direction to bring about racial equality. Yet when the issue of
racial subjugation takes place outside of American borders, the senator doesn’t
seem to hesitate in emboldening racial divides. After the state of Israel
essentially quarantined the Gaza Strip and its Arab inhabitants, Obama openly
sympathized with the quasi-apartheid actions of Israel.
In a letter to the Palestinian ambassador regarding Israel’s
denial of food and medicine to 1.5 million people and the cutting off the
electricity to the entire Gaza Strip, Obama claimed, “We have to understand why
Israel is
forced to do this.” Purposefully starving displaced peoples and refusing to
grant one in seven Palestinians access to urgent medical treatment is not self
defense, as Obama said — it’s a crime.

So while I count myself one of the many Americans enchanted
by the language and abilities of the young, inspiring senator, I have also
realized that it is necessary to look beyond his poignant words and promises.
If Obama becomes our next president and succeeds in bringing about serious
change in America
and the world, I will tip my proverbial cap to him and rescind these critiques.
But if he arrives in the Oval Office and his once-captivating ideals fail to
fulfill their potential, Obama will have betrayed the American public in an
unparalleled fashion that will surely kill any remaining faith in our nation
and its governing body.