i supported clinton over obama in 2008. the reason was that i - correctly - calculated that clinton was to the left of obama on a couple of things, and interchangeable on the rest.
but, there was one major issue that led me to support clinton over obama, and it was healthcare. obama made it very clear that he opposed single payer (even if he flopped on a public option). at the time, hillary was suggesting that she supported single payer. with all the concern about hilllary's trustworthiness aside, obama was blatantly presenting himself as a market fundamentalist, and hillary just seemed like the better choice to abolish a market-based healthcare system (which is in the self-interest of canada).
that was the single, dominant issue - i thought she would be better on healthcare. and, despite all the flipflopping on hillary's side, obama's health care plan is exactly what i didn't support - meaning she could have only been better, on the issue.
but, i want to be clear that this was also a lesser-evil calculation. i never whole-assedly supported clinton the way i'm supporting sanders. it was always "well, they're both horrible, but she's a little better." - the typical left-liberal approach to democratic party politics.
but, i've identified some other issues in the current election that matter to me, as a canadian. what did i think in 2008?
1) foreign policy is big. it's a huge reason i'm pushing for sanders. in 2008? i decided they were both neo-con interventionists and that they would not differ in any substantial way on foreign policy. i did not fall for the hype on obama; i understood that he was not opposed to the invasion of iraq on principle (like sanders was) but simply because he thought it was a poor tactical decision. i heard him loud and clear when he stated, repeatedly, that he'd have rather blown afghanistan into a crater, if he had the chance. so, i saw them both as imperialist, interventionist, pro-war candidates. i did not see any reason to support obama on this file. and, he went and made her secretary of state, so i hardly think i analyzed this poorly.
2) trade. i saw them as interchangeable on trade, as well. and, what obama has left us with is the tpp - which is exactly what clinton would have left us with.
and, i could run through this list, and you'll see that commonality - what i saw was a two-headed monster with a slightly different health care policy.
that's very different than what i'm seeing today. sanders is a real choice for some change, even if it's not as extreme as some would like to exaggerate it. obama never was - and, if you were fully informed, you knew that the whole time.