Conservatives for Change.

So many of the arguments made by conservatives for Barack Obama — Christopher Buckley, Ken Adelman, etc — come across more as indictments of McCain and the Bush administration than endorsements for the Democratic candidate. (In so many of the newspaper endorsements, the Palin pick has figured very prominently.)

If you’re a small-government conservative, neither of these candidates is probably that attractive to you. Same goes for those traditionalists, who would probably never consider Obama anyway (although this the rare case when the Democratic candidate is more at ease talking about his faith than the Republican).

Indeed, the strongest conservative argument for an Obama presidency might be something as decidedly unsexy as his competence.

G.D.

G.D.

Gene "G.D." Demby is the founder and editor of PostBourgie. In his day job, he blogs and reports on race and ethnicity for NPR's Code Switch team.
G.D.

Latest posts by G.D. (see all)

  • His competence is his sexiest attribute!

    Remember Palin’s riff in the debate about government “getting out of the way” of Joe Sixpack? That seems like the only play they’ve made to the small government conservatives, and it wasn’t backed up by policy.

    I have a question: is there a reason beyond the obvious why all of the people in this video are white? There are large ethnic groups which trend toward conservative — particularly some Asians (including South Asians). I’m hearing rumblings about the Asian swing vote, and I’m curious about why we’re not hearing more from that perspective.

  • speedmeisterp

    I have a small business and will be voting for Barack Obama for his healthcare plan. Providing healthcare is one of the biggest challenges facing small businesses. With his healthcare plan everyone has access to purchase affordable healthcare.

  • ladyfresshh

    I’m still not satisfied with his healthcare plan but it’s better than mccain’s at this point.

    I did find this reel oddly touching.

  • ladyfresshh

    oh and shanio I would have liked to have seen some latinos i still think some segments of that group need a bit of a push.

  • quadmoniker

    LF: I find it oddly touching too. Yeah, I wonder why they’re all white, except for the obvious thought that he’s going for the white, working class, social conservative vote. Which is interesting in and of itself. Because at this point, candidates are usually just stirring up their base to make sure they turn out. If Obama is reaching for less-than-likely votes at this stage of the game, then his campaign really thinks they have it in the bag.

  • It is touching, and not because oh goody, they’re voting Obama. Rather, I think it’s because it portrays its subjects as *thoughtful* human beings. And frankly as patriotic, too, in the best sense of the word. That’s what I want to believe about people who I disagree with–that they are thoughtful and sincere. Because without that there’s nothing.