I’ve been inundated with messages from friends and family about the coming election.
Some support Obama, some support McCain.
The reality is: these guys are saying the same things…it is merely their methods that differ. Both adamantly oppose the ideals of the Bush administration in terms of economic policy, energy concerns, health care, and foreign policy. And who wouldn’t looking at his colossal failures over the last 6-7 years.
Both of them are heroes (I’m stealing this line from Brad Meltzer) One of them actually fought against tyranny with his bare hands, the other; a symbol of hope for half of the country, and the rest of the world. On a recent podcast an Australian fellow said that just by nominating Obama America has demonstrated its willingness to rise above its mistakes.
So, most people I know who are in favor of McCain have sent me information about one of three anti-Obama messages:
1) Scare tactics…Obama is ‘in league with terrorism’…that is nuts, and those of you who are propagating this myth should seriously re-evaluate yourselves and your motivations.
2) Economics…if you elect Obama the economy will get worse…that’s also nuts. The fact of the matter is that current Republican economic policy is what got us into this mess to begin with. The idea that we can live on credit is a Republican ideal that has directly or indirectly caused every recession we’ve seen in the last 20 years (maybe more, those are just the ones I’ve lived through).
3) Obama supports big government…the government is bigger than ever thanks to the Republican led executive and legislative branches, specifically, Bush has initiated more government programs than any Democratic president...EVER…and he cut taxes to do it (wait…something seems wrong there, I’m going to slash my budget, then pay more money…I don’t know, can’t quite put my finger on it…)…the democratic house hasn’t been in office long enough to fix this even if they could or would….(one more thought: several die-hard Republicans are quick to say “cutting taxes doesn’t mean cutting revenue…we cut taxes to bolster the economy…when the economy does well, we make more money in taxes”… trouble is, this doesn’t work. That’s why the Republicans have ALWAYS run the country on a deficit…when the democrats are in office we have a surplus…and I personally have paid more in taxes under Bush than I did under Clinton with the same total income)
The Obama fans are just as guilty. They have all sent me one of three anti-McCain messages:
1) Scare tactics…I actually received an e-mail claiming Al Queda is supporting McCain for president. According to this crap misinformation Al Queda’s plan all along has been to force the US into a global war on terror thus straining the economy….what!? If only the terrorists were that smart or forward thinking…then they might reason through what they are doing and realize that there are other, more powerful ways to initiate change than strapping bombs to themselves and hoping for 72 virgins in the afterlife.
2) Energy/environment…McCain wants to destroy the world by drilling oil, he has no intention of supporting alternative fuels based on these bills he voted for a million years ago….blah, blah, blah. Again, this is stupid. While I wish Bush had been more aggressive about alternative fuel research (as he promised to do in 2000) I believe the current energy situation may have finally proven to the conservatives (here I use the REAL meaning of the word ‘conservative’ as opposed to the bastardized meaning the political thinkers have placed on it…the word ‘conservative’ means ‘cautious about change or innovation’) that we need to change our attitude about alternative fuels.
3) Economics…If McCain gets into office he’ll continue to support the Bush agenda of giving tax breaks to large corporations and giving corporations incentives to move their production plants to foreign soil. This one is tricky…full of half truths. I believe McCain would give tax breaks to large corporations (he has said as much), but hopefully he would undo the mess Bush has gotten us into by generating incentives to promote foreign labor for American products thus bringing jobs back to the US.
So, who am I voting for? I believe that the republicans do some things really well (military, tax relief, etc.). I also think the Democrats do some things really well (Foreign relations, balanced budget, etc.).
I believe that we need to rotate which party is in office to get the benefits of both (though I wish there was a party that actually did everything well). Right now I think we’ve had too much Republican influence in our Government for too long…which is a shame, because McCain may be the best Republican candidate to come along in…well, EVER. Obama may not be the more experienced of the two, but he is forward thinking, and I believe we need to develop a new model for how to govern ourselves in this rapidly changing world. (side note: several McCain supporters are quick to point out McCain’s experience, but these are the same guys who turned a blind eye to W’s lack of experience eight years ago. That guy said more naive crap during the debates with Al Gore than Palan could ever dream of)
I think the heart of our problems in Iraq stem from our military fighting a 20th century war in the wrong millennia. I think our economic problems stem from too many people being concerned about their own money instead of realizing that if the world is in good shape financially it’s better for everyone in the long haul. I think that this country was founded by people who wanted the freedom to live and worship as they wanted (If not, that’s still a beautiful idea, isn’t it?), and I cannot support a party that would tell people how to live…I also cannot support a party that would knowingly redistribute the hard earned wealth of another….conversely, if that wealth was stolen by misrepresentation and deceit, I hope those thieves are stripped of everything they have.
As a result, I will vote for Obama. But not because I believe in him, but rather because our government is broken (4 more years of republican economics, energy policy, and social tyranny will kill us), and I believe that for right now, he is the lesser of two evils. In 8 years I will probably be saying ‘4 more years of democratic economics, military ineptitude, and social anarchy will kill us’…but we’ll see).
What is the solution? The founding fathers created the constitution so the government could change when necessary…is it time?