My brand of democrat is not your brand of democrat.

Last Tuesday’s Democratic Primaries held across the United States have turned out to be quite controversial, since they proved that my brand of democrat is not your brand of democrat. Yes, you heard me… us tree-loving-corporation-hating fags are not the same. Yes, our candidates’ platforms are the same, but we are not. What I hate about Obama’s platform is similar to what I hate about Hillary Clinton’s.

Strangely enough, everyone is talking about these Primaries as if they were choosing the President of the United States already, and as if Obama and Clinton were offering different things to the American public. This is something that will harm Democrats in the end, because with so much passion now, will the “losing team” really be able to accept our next “democratic” leader? Or will it turn out to be like the Al Gore/Bush fiasco, in which some of us are still fantasizing about Al Gore being at the White House.

But regardless of platform, Clinton and Obama are different, because they are walking symbols to different identities. Same perfume, different package smells different, doesn’t it?

Identity: Am I black first, and then a woman?

This election is all about identity. Which Presidential “character” I identify with. 82% of blacks voted for Obama, while 17% of blacks voted for Clinton. This percentage includes both men and women. Which turned out to be a surprise, since I honestly thought females would see themselves more as female, than black; similar to how men consider themselves men, before they think of themselves as white men. Confused yet? Well, I am too.

What are Obama’s and Clinton’s flaws?

They both talk about Israel as if it would be one of the best countries in the planet. This alliance with Israel, regardless of what they do, turns out to be quite dangerous in the long run, because it continues justifying Israel’s bad politics in the Middle East. Don’t get me wrong, I disagree with most Arab countries profoundly, but same thing goes with Israel. I find it to be more healthy if the United States would encourage peace between Israelis and Palestinians, instead of approaching the war with this “all-palestinians-are-terrorists” attitude.

Talking about bad moves, both Obama and Clinton voted at some point in favor of a driver’s license to immigrants. What’s next? Illegal aliens driving airplanes? Well, they’ve done it… and we all disagree with this practice.

Feeling up for an afternoon of flag burning? Well, thanks to Obama’s and Clinton’s right-wing attitudes, it cannot be. Flag burning is a classic form of protest, such as bra burning, CD burning, and other important forms of burning. This is one of the most dangerous restrictions for freedom of speech. Again, I do not have any intentions of burning the American flag, nor aborting… but I do not think neither of them should be illegal. Right, in this country it is legal to kill fetuses, but illegal to burn flags. Someone needs a reality check. Again, I’m not asking for abortion to criminalized, but if something as big as abortion is legal, then how can something that’s just symbolic be illegal?

Times a’changing

Throughout Hillary’s political career, health care has been a large priority. Anyone remembers “Hillarycare”? Her plans for a universal health care were quite controversial in the 1990s, and what many thought would cost the Democrats the 1994 midterm elections. After the health care fiasco, Republicans won the majority in all of the House and Senate seats, even while Bill Clinton was president. Strangely enough, it is with the health issue at hand, that Hillary today is able to make it so far in these elections.

I must say, movies like Michael Moore’s SICKO must be main contributors to the public’s minds changing. Also, the large amount of people in the US that has gone bankrupt because of medical expenses is catching up, so in less than 10 years we see such a shift towards the “socialist democratic” trend. Scary how, what seems logical today, might not be seen as logical tomorrow.

What counts?

With such similar platforms, in what should we base who we root for? It is a very personal decision. For me, there are three things that have always appealed to me about Hillary. One is the fact that Hillary is a woman, and that I understand her political path as a very rough one because she is a woman, and I respect that. Two, is the fact that she’s an old candidate who has gone through enough to deserve to be crowned queen of the Americas. I mean, sorry… President of the US. Presidency should be the ultimate end for someone who is old and grey. Kinda like being Pope. This world is so youth oriented, and it overlooks how important age is in matters of law and politics. Obama is someone who’s career path has been laid for him… a little bit too early in my opinion (Who is giving him all the millions needed overnight?). If we start by having young presidents, how are we going to end up? With Austrian governors?? Now wait a second…

The third thing I love about Hillary, is that she is an ex-hippy. And by ex-hippy… I mean a true-communist, molotov-bursting, black-panther, Martin-Luther-King-Jr. follower, free-love type of gal. This lets me know, that at some point, she truly cared. She was so radical back in the day, that some of her writings are considered “dark materials” by the White House today, and are prohibited to be published or read by anyone. I understand her mentality, and I understand this passion. Oh, yes… and she was the young prodigy who exposed Nixon in the WaterGate scandal. Bet you didn’t know that, did you?

And me being a minority, I feel I can totally get away with what I’m saying. Hillary is the most “American” candidate. Yes, we are the melting pot, and yada yada yada. But everyone that has grown up in Hawaii or Puerto Rico knows islanders main identity does NOT lay with the main land. Also, Obama spent most of his childhood in Indonesia. I’m sorry, but I don’t understand how someone grows up outside of the United States, with non-American fathers and stepfathers, and no one makes an issue about this. Want me to hit this issue with another low blow? Everyone thinks Obama is black, but sadly, he is not. He is raised by his white Mother… and again, the same way that I’ve met many adopted people who assume the identity of their adoptive parents, Obama is a white man that looks mulato. Wait, he used to play basketball, I guess he gets a couple of brownie points for blackness levels. Let him play the black card.

The Democrats who count vs. The ones who don’t

Obama is winning all over the Red states. This means that, if the Red states make the Blue states end up with their choice of candidate, we are going to be very upset. These democrats cannot gather 51% of the voters in their own states, and they expect us Blue-state democrats to carry on with their candidate through the general elections! Which brings me to the next point… why should Obama step down when he only makes 47% of the necessary votes.

Why Obama should withdraw if numbers are too close?

If Hillary doesn’t reach 60% of the votes, we are going to have the typical TYRANNICAL behavior justified by the United States government of having delegates meet, and battle it out in a pool filled with chocolate and mud. Al Gore vs. Bush anyone? This is so disgusting, because it is normal for elections to be won by a 3% margin. Here, however, even though this is a “so-called” democratic country, people’s decisions only count when the margin is wide enough to fit TPTB’s totalitarian standards?

If they do end up deciding who the candidate will be through a discussion, rather than by what’s in the ballots, people are going to get upset, and the Democrat machinery will lose steam when the real election takes place. Romney, from the Republicans, did the right thing by retiring from the race. Now, will Obama’s machinery allow him to leave? If he walks away, he’ll be back in 4 or 8 years with more knowledge and better prepared for Presidency… but if Hillary walks away, this is it. She is that age, her career cannot go anywhere else. Well, I lied… she can turn into an award-winning documentary director.

What do I hate about all of this? Including writing this article?

Look at us! We are supposed to be together… yet we are all steamed up because of this issue. There is something wrong here. I love all my Democrats… but we are villainizing our candidates as if they were George W. Bush. To fight about Obama and Hillary is like saying “which one is sweeter? A cupcake or a muffin?” They are all good in the end. Actually, aren’t cupcakes and muffins pretty much the same?

-Alex