I did get to watch Biden’s speech tonight. A solid 20 minutes worth of Bush bashing is always a good thing. Probably no secret to anyone here, that I absolutely loath the current occupant of the White House. Worst President since Jimmy Carter-bar none. Right up there with Warren G. Harding. And Biden is right, McCain is wrong on a lot of things. The McCain we see now is not the McCain of 2000. He’s a Bush clone from what I can see.
However, contrary to what that previous statement said, I am not sure who I will vote for in this election. I am, the undecided voter.
And I am not sure how I will make up my mind before election day. Why am I not true blue behind John McCain? Because I want him to prove to me, that he wants to take back the Republican party from the wackos who have led it astray. And I am not sure he is up to the challenge.
However, I’m not so sure about the Democrats either. To start with,their ticket is backwards to me-Biden is the guy who should be at the top of the ticket. Secondly, as a victim of some Democratic “do gooder” legislation, I worry about an expanded government agenda.
Now that said-I also do not believe that the “market” is the solution to everything. And I think there arethings the government should be involved in. And tax cuts are not the answer to everything. A balanced budget makes more sense than the Bush view of trickle down economics. ( Which makes rich people richer, but does not do a damn thing for me). I want a balanced budget and I want my tax dollars spent more efficiently. I’m not sure either party can do that-such is the hole the “decider” has created in the last eight years.
And speaking of government agendas-I remain astounded at those who defend the inroads that the current adminstration has made in all areas of private life. Obama voted for the FISA act-which was a mistake. And even now, Bush is seeking to ensure he leaves even greater government intrusion into peoples’ private lives as a legacy. But you do not hear an thing about it from Obama. Doesn’t he see?
Then there are the traditional Democratic “fringe issues”. Feminist things are not my cup of tea. I don’t believe in abortion, but I also don’t think it should be illegal and I don’t want to see Roe v Wade overturned. That said, a lot of issues that are near and dear to Democrats are not my issues.
I want a larger military. I’m not sure either party will do that. The fiscal pressures are going to be too great and a budgetary train wreck is coming no matter who wins the election. The Republicans say they will-but then they have said a lot of things. Their track record on resourcing the armed forces, quite frankly, sucks. So too does their approach to veterans issues, which is near and dear to my heart, they say one thing-then screw you at the drive through. But Democrats don’t have such a good track record themselves.
I do wonder about Obama’s experience and I think he is a bit of an elitist-why can’t he just be called Barry? I worry about the debt he may owe to “African American (another term I don’t like-there is nothing African about the demographic Obama is) activists.” Then again I worry about the debt McCain may owe to evangelicals and others who seek to legislate how I live my life.
Oh, and please stop using the terms “values voters”. I have values and I vote too!
But John McCain is an elitist too. He’s too used to being around money. And yes he was a POW and he did a lot of brave things. However that was 30 years ago and he has stood for stupid things since then. Anybody remember the Keating Five?
Getting out of Iraq is very important to me. The war was a mistake, I hate the Iraqis because they cannot stand on their own, and I know they are not a beacon of light to anyone. Given a chance they will become just another bunch of Arabs paying Filipinos and Indonesians and Bangla -deshis to do all of their really hard jobs. They also are paying Americans to that. Either way, it is their country to screw up-and every day there is a day wasted for the US.
I’m also not as enthusiastic as the Democrats seem to be about Afghanistan. There too, I think we are underestimating the ability of the indigenous people to screw up a good thing that has been given to them. Afghanistan is about more than just Al Quaeda.
Because they both are still tied to Islam-which is a cancer that drives them down. Islam is at the root of all the troubles in the middle east today. We cannot kill all the Muslims no matter how hard we try-so we have to make Islam irrelevant. The key to that is economics and weaning them off of oil revenues.
Which neither candidate understands well IMHO.
The economy is important and I think there are serious structural issues that are being overlooked by both parties. The pollyanna’s who say that things are great, don’t live in the world of real people. Prices are higher for everything, and just because revenues are up now-ignores the twin dangers of inflation and the debt.
I do not know who can solve health care. But 47 million uninsured is an abomination. Giving companies a pass to walk away from their obligation to provide it for their employees is also an abomination too. Unlike some I do not fear a national health care system-becasue I think it can be a mix of private and public.
But I don’t think the Democrats can deliver on their promises.
So I’ll wait and I will decide in about a month or so. Personally, I think McCain will win by a narrow electoral margin. People forget it is all about the electoral college-which I still believe was a wise gift from the founding fathers. I also agree with those who say McCain will wear Obama down with the death of a 1000 cuts. He’s already begun to nick and scrape him this summer. Negative ads are bad-but the reason they never go away is because they work. Until America gets a better educated electorate that is. That is not going to happen any time soon. The question is-will McCain be his own man-or just another 4 years of the Shrub? Then again, can Obama avoid being cast as Jimmy Carter-the man who gave away the Panama Canal because he was so stupid?
Yes, I am an elitist myself. I’m a pretty smart guy. Just ask me.
Ought to be a hell of ride though for the next two months.