I'm sure many have noticed (ha, how I flatter myself) how I have been ducking the issue of who to endorse for US President in this blog. That's because I had thought I was having a hard time with this upcoming election.

A little background: I turned 18, registered as a Democrat, and began voting around the Persian Gulf War. I re-registered under the Green Party years ago for many reasons -- mainly because I support their platform around social and environmental justice, but almost equally because I think the Democrats have lost their progressive way.

Don't get me wrong, though. If we begin with the establishment bleh of Al Gore and John Kerry, I can say I am regularly in awe of how far the United States has come Democratic candidate-wise during the cold and dark grip of 8 years of Bush/Cheney. I've been reading voraciously about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- a black man and a woman! Both of whom have credible chances of effectively leading the most powerful country in the world (for now). But funny that therein was part of my so-called difficulty.

As much as I would like a woman or black president for the US, it seems unconscionable to me to vote for a candidate based solely on gender or race. But then, here's this article from the Economist last month about how the rest of the world would see the election of a black man or a woman to the American presidency as an act of atonement.

It is striking that many Europeans skate over the political views of Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama and instead treat their fight as a simple Rorschach test of the health of the American dream.

So, yes, unconscionable or not, it's the truth of our human struggle and the reality of global relations. I suppose it's a good thing it's these two running and not catch-all Condi!

But who are they beyond color, gender, liberal soundbites? Obama is young, and -- relative to Clinton -- politically green, but also educated and motivated, and a long-time progressive activist. He's also a born-again who seems to take Thomas Jefferson's separation of church and state to heart. Clinton is more establishment, but she's also a social liberal, and has got the political know-how and experience in Washington as well as internationally.

As someone with a distrust of the old boy network, and with a perpetual optimism that grassroots can always kiss it and make it better, I definitely leaned toward Obama from the beginning. But nagging me was the stark reality that no matter how much political idealism one has, one must remember that cronyism is the way the political game works. Detested as she is by the far right, Hillary has connections in spades, and she's a hell of a lot better than the Republican alternatives. But something still just wasn't right for me with Hillary.

Yesterday, I read a simple and short article by Christopher Hayes in the current issue of The Nation about the fundamental difference between Obama and Clinton. My answer was there all along, but I needed a look at it laid out plain for me to realize it: it really comes down to Clinton's foolish, rash, and cowardly initial 2002 vote authorizing the use of preemptive force against Iraq vs. the unpopular vocalization against it by Obama (joining the brave and consistent anti-war stance of my own US Representative, the admirable Barbara Lee). Another truth: After the catastrophe of the last 8 years, America -- and the rest of the world, for that matter -- needs an American president who will lead us with a voting history of consistent integrity around the health and well-being of our global community. Therein lies the promise of real progressive change that can conceivably translate into reality. So the answer is Barack Obama. And it seems I'm not the only one who thinks so.

It is true that I will support Hillary if she is the candidate who is chosen to lead the Democratic charge -- it is imperative to oust the greater of the two evils if we're to salvage any shred of dignity we have as a nation and contribute to global affairs in any constructive way. But a Democratic ticket with Barack Obama as president, now that would make me proud to vote Democrat again.