Misagreeing with my kid...

... yup, despite Allie's fervent support for Hil, I've finally decided to pull the lever for Obama.

The bottom line: he's WAY more likely to beat McCain in a general election than Hillary is. As much as I love my daughter's innate wisdom, this is a political call. Here's a nicely put argument from my pal James about the electability issue:

"Obama is more electable. That's not something everyone agrees on, of course, but there are two big reasons I think so, and they both have to do with voter turn-out: 1. He's bringing in far more "new voters" than Hillary. There's no reason this wouldn't continue into a general election. 2. There is so much animosity against Hillary Clinton on the Right that her candidacy could well propel conservatives to the polls just to vote against her."

I think he's right. Young people, poor people, African-Americans, all will turn out in droves to vote for Obama and many will stay home for Hillary. And against America's favorite warm and fuzzy right-wing uncle, we're gonna need all the turnout we can get. I feel sad for Hillary, but I gotta go not with my gut (as everyone thinks we should) but with the realpolitik of electability.

In the end, I thought the "realpolitik" vote was for Hillary, the idealistic one for Obama. And I didn't trust the idealism. It was only when I saw that the realpolitik vote is for Obama that I decided to pull the lever for him. As for his lofty feel-good speeches and the "Yes We Can" video, that's just packaging, and while I love a good package as much as the next fella (no pun intended), I'm way past believing in politicians. I want the Democratic Party to win, I want the coattail effect of the presidential ticket to be as good as possible at the state and local levels, and I want the regulatory agencies and courts stocked by a Democratic administration. That administration will be headed by an evil hypocrite regardless of its name being Obama or Hillary, because ALL POLITICIANS ARE EVIL HYPOCRITES. I just want to slay the freaking Republicans. Period.