JohnA lifeBlog

June 25, 2008

Sen. Barak Obama
c/o Obama for America
PO Box 8102
Chicago, IL 60680

Dear Sen. Obama:

We’ve not met, but I’ve been a fan for a while. In fact, as a life-long Republican, my second-ever donation to a Democrat was to your campaign after you delivered a truly amazing speech about your relationship with Rev. Wright. It was the speech that one would expect from a true straight shooter.

My first every donation to a Democrat was to Chris Dodd, actually, when he announced that he would filibuster any attempts to pass retroactive immunity for the telecom companies who spied on innocent American citizens without a warrant.

Back when Sen. Dodd made that pledge, you supported him, and agreed to follow suit. Thanks to that kind of leadership, the measure was defeated.

I gave you $100, Mr. Obama. And I was looking forward to giving you $2,200 more by November. But your recent comments and actions are not those of a leader looking to defend the Constitution. Instead, your words and actions are actually quite difficult to discern from the same messages being offered by the McCain team. Actually, your recent comments about the “Protect AT&T Act” are so similar to McCain’s comments that there is no way to tell you two apart.

As the now de-facto leader of the Democratic Party, you have failed, sir. You have abandoned our precious Bill of Rights in a vain attempt to curry favor from a sliver of voters who are already pre-disposed to avoid you.

Obviously, I cannot vote for McCain this November. I am trying to decide if I should vote for you, or simply leave my selection blank. At this point, I have become jaded, and see you as simply another in a long line of candidates who abandon their core values once the polls start to roll in.

In any circumstance, you have lost a supporter who loved to talk about your honesty and integrity. You lost $2,200. And you made me cynical, seeing that this election is politics as usual.

Sen. Obama, you can still correct this. Refuse to support any bill that includes Telecom immunity. Sadly, though, I’m sure your council of advisors has already made up your mind for you.

Respectfully,
John Anderson