Posted on September 2, 2008

We Need Obama, Not 4 More Years of George Bush

Fatimah Ali, Philadelphia Daily News, September 2, 2008

America is on the brink of a long, harsh and bitterly cold winter, with a looming recession that the GOP won’t even admit to.

The policies of the current White House have brutalized our economy, yet the wealthiest think that everything is fine.

Rich Republicans just don’t understand that millions are suffering. But many of their working class do, and they’re beginning to abandon their own party.

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Obama tugged on the nation’s heartstrings when he challenged McCain’s tough talk and told the truth about the current policies.

Critics of the GOP believe that a four-year extension of the Bush administration will be disastrous. People are struggling, and the privileged are so out of touch they pretend it’s OK that children go hungry.

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Meanwhile, our economy continues to crumble, while crime, homelessness and poverty continue to soar.

Despite the fact that thousands of immigrants risk their safety to come here because this country may offer them better opportunities, the truth is that poverty lives right here in our own backyard.

Suffering is widespread as the gap between rich and poor widens. The Bush administration doesn’t get it and neither does McCain. He is so out of touch that he hasn’t a clue how many homes he owns, while the working class struggles to hold on to one.

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[Obama] promises to cut taxes for 95 percent of American workers and ease the burden for millions of families. And I believe him, although his critics say he’s out of touch with the working class and blast him for not having a lineage that includes slavery.

But just because his ancestors never wore shackles, and he has paid off the student loans from his elite education doesn’t mean he doesn’t have compassion. Or that he doesn’t understand the pain of those who live in dire poverty, who’ve lost their homes, who want yet can’t afford college, and who lack health insurance.

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If McCain wins, look for a full-fledged race and class war, fueled by a deflated and depressed country, soaring crime, homelessness—and hopelessness!

Plenty of Americans would rather stay in their dream state than to recognize the poverty sweeping across the country, right here, right now.

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