Editorial: The Franklin endorses Sen. Barack Obama

After months of waiting and speculation, Hoosiers will soon have their say on who becomes the Democratic nominee for president this fall. After waiting to become relevant again, we hope that voice isn’t wasted. That is why The Franklin endorses Sen. Barack Obama.

The United States economy is on the brink of a recession, and while we’re not claiming Obama has a magic solution, it’s time to make a complete change in Washington. Putting another Clinton is the White House is the exact opposite of that. The change needed to fix Washington and the country transcends the two major parties and is much more than purely electing a Democrat after eight years of a second George Bush. It’s about electing the right Democrat.

Even Republicans realize it is time for a major overhaul. Otherwise they would not have rallied around Sen. John McCain.

Critics say Obama is too inexperienced to run a country. But, it was Clinton, not Obama, who initially voted for the new war in Iraq from which both candidates now pledge to withdraw.

Furthermore, her husband, former President Bill Clinton, ordered a four-day airstrike campaign against Iraq for the same reason we got into the current Iraq War in the first place, weapons of mass destruction.

Clinton does have a few ideas we support. Her call for the suspension of the gas tax certainly would certainly save college students on a commodity that eats up much of their spending money.
However, from the very beginning, we got a sense that Clinton felt she was entitled to the presidency based solely on her name.

When Gov. Bill Richardson, the Secretary of Energy under Bill Clinton, endorsed Obama, the Clinton campaign was furious.

In almost everything he promises, Obama seems a bit overzealous, but that’s exactly what we need. While we would love to hear specifics of the Obama plan sooner rather than later, The Franklin is willing to hitch onto the “change” promises because change is the only thing that can save our country from its current state.