Tnr Primary: C.k. Williams

In the newest issue of the magazine, fourteen eggheads and eminences wrote short essays announcing whom they'd be voting for and why. We'll be unveiling these responses on The Plank throughout the next two weeks. This is what C.K. Williams, a poet, had to say:

I'm very strongly in favor of Obama, mostly because he's the first presidential candidate in longer than I can remember who clearly thinks when he's asked a question, who analyzes and synthesizes rather than traipsing through a mental file of prepared, poll-tested answers. His policies are evolving--for me, a sign of strength, not of weakness--and he seems like a thoroughly decent person. In truth, though, I'd be pretty satisfied with any of the Democratic candidates. On the other hand, I have to say that, as a spectator, I'm much more fascinated by the Republicans. Watching those shifty, devious, unscrupulous creatures clawing at each other in spasms of demagoguery and pander is like beholding the whole vile, fear-driven history of humanity.

Part one: Randall Kennedy

Part two: Judith Shulevitz

Part three: Erica Jong

Part four: John McWhorter

Part five: Paul Berman

Part six: Graydon Carter

Part seven: Allison Silverman

Part eight: Alan Wolfe

Part nine: John Anderson

Part ten: C.K. Williams

Part eleven: Todd Gitlin

Part twelve: Daniel Alarcón