Like many who saw Barack Obama speak at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, I remember what a powerful breath of fresh air that was. And I remember thinking “he’s going to be President one day.”

Honestly, I didn’t expect that day would come quite so soon, but over the past couple months, as I began following the campaign more closely and learning more about him, I have become convinced that not only is Obama the best and most qualified candidate running for President, but that his message of change is substantively unique and is a potentially transformative opportunity for our political system and our country as a whole. That in short is why I’ll be voting for Barack Obama tomorrow, and hopefully, on November 2nd.

Inspiration & Participation – Let there be no doubt, Obama can speechify. But I’d also suggest that those that dismiss his speeches as just “pretty words” aren’t paying close enough attention to what he’s saying. His message after all, is one that calls for participation and service in the names of the larger civic and communal ideals that has been at the heart of America’s historical traditions (or at least aspirations). His call for change is primarily about changing ourselves, and it resonates. It appeals to the best in us instead of the worst.

Obama offers an alternative dialogue to the politics of fear and divisiveness that has dominated for far too long. He points out that the challenges we face as a nation are enormous, but the problem isn’t lack of policies, resources, or potential solutions, but rather the lack of political will. That will be the largest task for our next President, and I believe that Obama’s abilities and approach will have the best chance of success.

Policies – Last week I attended Lawrence Lessig’s last lecture on Free Culture and his first thoughts on tackling government corruption. While on most issues, Obama and Clinton are fairly similar, on this point (and on many other issues related to technology, innovation, and openness) Obama is far ahead of the curve – the only one that has made open governance a central plank of his technology platform. His commitment to (and understanding of the importance of!) network neutrality, open data, and patent reform are reassuring. Having a constitutional law scholar as President might not be a bad deal either. (see for example Obama’s answers for The Boston Globe’s candidate Q&A on executive power)

• Obama’s policies are detailed in full on his website
• Watching his talk at Google was the first that opened my eyes about him as a seriously capable candidate. (here’s just the Q&A, which is by far the most interesting part)
• Obama meets the SF Chronicle editorial board – this is also a good video to see how he thinks and responds to a wide variety of questions
• Okay, maybe some other policy differences, most tellingly, philosophical differences, not so much in the issues but in the causes and best strategy to solve them

Well, this is starting to get seriously long, so I’ll cut this off and list some interesting things I’ve come across. To summarize though, the more I’ve learned, the more I like him…

• Wikipedia: Barack Obama – as you expect, it’s rather comprehensive, including the coverage of his early years as a community organizer and civil rights lawyer, and his time in the state legislature
• Chicago Reader: What Makes Obama Run? – this in-depth writeup from 1995 speaks a lot about the things he’s done. When he talks about civic duty, he knows form first-hand experience.
• CBS News: Obama Has Varied Experience
  

  “Nobody else running for president has jumped off the career track for three or four years to help people,” said Jerry Kellman, who first hired Obama as a community organizer.

• New Yorker: The Choice – This even-handed feature gives a lot of insight into the differences in philosophy between Obama and Clinton
• The Atlantic: Goodbye to All That: Why Obama Matters – Andrew Sullivan’s feature argues convincingly on why Obama would represent a strong, potentially transformational, generational change in our political dialogue
• I know that not everyone has the time, but especially over the past few weeks as I’ve really immersed myself, I’ve found surprisingly engaging and insightful nuggets (among the vast amount of gravel) on in the comments/discussion of sites like Metafilter, Washington Monthly, and others. At some point, it might be interesting to gather some of the more compelling/informative points…

Lastly, some endorsements I’ve found to be interesting:

• Lawrence Lessig called it back in November. What’s especially interesting is the comments and how negative they were (no one thought Barack could win, but Larry knew differently). He posted also post a 20 minute video presentation today (where he argues very convincingly on why Obama is the best choice for our future, see also the transcript).
• danah actually says a lot of the things I originally wanted to, but you know, I guess I managed to type a lot either way.
• Randall Munroe, the guy behind xkcd talks a lot about why open governance matters.
• Scott Rosenberg talks about the foreign policy implications as well as how he’s bringing in young voters and changing things up.
• Katha Pollitt: Why I’m Supporting Barack Obama – a feminist perspective. I particularly like how she talks about moving past the 50+/-1% politics that we’ve been trapped in for the past decade and a half.
• It’s a funny thing when both MoveOn and arch-conservatives are endorsing Obama.

Hey, did you really make it to the end of the page?