Candidate meandering...

Spent the afternoon reading up on the 3 democratic candidates' positions. I don't have a clear sense of which to vote for so far. Here is how my thoughts have run... feel free to try and sway me ;-)

I resonate best with Mike Gravel's positions; he's more left-leaning than the other two. Compared to them, Gravel is pro-legalization of marijuana; more supportive of immigrants; more strongly opposed to the death penalty; and supports a 25% salary bonus for teachers working in hardship areas.

I also doubt that Gravel has any chance of winning. So the next step is to figure out whether I care deeply whether the primary goes to Obama or Clinton. If not, Gravel gets my primary vote, 'cause like, it's good to vote for the candidate whose policies you actually prefer.

Obama and Clinton seem more alike than different to me, and I don't have deeply strong feelings for or against either of them, though I find myself leaning towards Clinton.

Clinton seems stronger on healthcare than Obama. Well, it's one of her core foci.

Clinton also seems stronger on environmental issues.

Clinton appears to be more opposed to military buildup than Obama is, although Obama seemed more opposed to the Iraq war - is that correct?

brian1789 also notes that Obama wants to gut NASA.

It would appear that Clinton's pro-Palestine, whereas Obama seems somewhere in the middle between supporting Israel vs Palestine - is that correct? I'm middle-ground myself with respect to Israel and Palestine, but am wary of any rising anti-Jewish sentiment, given history.

As an aside, it's refreshing not to have to focus so much on gay rights and pro-choice, as all 3 candidates seem reasonable on those fronts.

As another aside, it feels deeply weird to be leaning towards voting for the white male candidate when we have our first real shot at getting either a woman or a man of color into the White House... but in the end equality means focusing on issues, not gender or skin color, in both directions. And, I'll still get to vote for either a black man or a white woman come November.

I'd be interested in hearing more information about what distinguishes Clinton from Obama, as well as opinions on which of the two of them is likelier to beat out the Republican candidate.

I'd also like to know more about Gravel's reputation - I have a sense of his positions, but not of his character (trustworthiness, wisdom, etc).