It's like my mom says, "The weak are always trying to sabatoge the strong."

Via Americablog I came across this snippet of a "fact-check" on comments Obama made during the debate yesterday delineating the difference between himself and Clinton. (Before you watch this let me state right out of the gate that Dan Abrams is a douchebag and Rachel Maddow is a goddess.)



Put aside that body language at the State of the Union nonsense at the end of the piece and I do think that the other four issues Obama brings up are actually key issues to most Democrats and progressives. How he and Clinton come down on those topics should be enormously important to progressives.

Here's a little chart I threw together listing out Obama's four points while comparing his record with Clinton's---


THIS is a big part of the reason so many of us are down on these two candidates. On the key issues important to us surrounding the war Clinton and Obama have either voted the wrong way or run away from a vote on those items. Obama's speech against the war is terrific reading but it still leaves us in the position of having to take him at his word that he would've voted against the AUMF had he been in the Senate. If you'll recall during the actual debate on that bill LOTS of Senators made remarks very similiar to Obama's then turned around and voted FOR the stupid bill.

I will say that when it comes down to brass tacks Obama's record is marginally better than Clinton's. Personally I find the vote for the AUMF unforgivable, although I understand a lot of progressives are willing to put it behind them. It was clear to me at the time that we were being railroaded into war and I'm just a simple guy living a middle class lifestyle, not a U.S. Senator. The fact that she voted for Kyl-Lieberman proves that she's learned absolutely nothing.

Neither of the candidates stood up against the Mukasey nomination even though their votes were important, especially if Democrats had been allowed to manuever a fillibuster by leadership. I guess making sure we have an AG that understands that the methods employed during the Inquisition might not fit well into the framework of our own constitution just wasn't a priority for them.

I know that as the campaign progresses and I'm forced to wrap my head around the idea of a "President McCain" I'm going probably going to have to force myself to hold my nose and vote for one of these candidates. In doing so I just want to make it clear that these are not the best candidates the Democratic party, or the country for that matter, have to offer.

Not by a long shot.