If you were to force me to vote prior to McCain and Obama chose their running mates, I would have told you that I was voting for Obama despite his view on abortion because of his views on everything else (you know those views that the Republicans say he does not have). After choosing their running mates, my mind has changed. If I were to vote today, I would push the button for John McCain. Maybe they will convince to dislike each of them by the end of this campaign season, but I currently find comfort in that either of these guys will be good Presidents. I would have voted for either of them above Gore, Kerry, or Bush. Although each party is trying to demonize the other and they do disagree on some very serious issues, they are both proponents for change and we need that badly. We need Washington to operate differently.
The first round of attacks on Palin helped boost her in my mind. Oh, the experience card - how I am so sick of it. Experience is codeword for corruption in my book. What were the Democrats thinking in trying to portray her as having a lack of experience? Experience does not matter, especially if they want me to vote for Obama. Being able to accumulate the right information and make wise decisions off of that information is what matters. Everyone in this election seems capable of doing this. I actually like Palin's resume better than any of the candidates. If I was voting purely on resume, she would be my pick. She does not come from the elite eastern universities, she is not from a big city where corruption reigns, and she has not been tainted by Washington. A page from the Rove book of politics that will be with us for a while is to attack candidates on their strengths; I think that is what we have seen here in regards to the attacks on her based on her experience.
Then they started attacking her in what I perceived to be a fit of rage and jealousy at her newborn popularity, reminiscent of McCain's attacks on Obama for his "celebrity." The attack dogs should have just laid off a little bit. Everyone is fascinated with a new baby, then reality sinks in. The baby cries in the night and you have to start changing the diaper. The newness of Palin would have worn off without all of the attacks that might have cemented people in favor of her more than it helped persuade people to disapprove of her.
The Democrats are now arguing that a mother cannot make a good President. My, oh my. I guess the Democrats only like Feminists who act like men (and I am not saying that a woman like that would not be a capable leader). If a father can be President, so can a mother. With tongue in cheek, I say that the increased media attention on her children might prevent them from getting pregnant again. The media can be great watchdogs making sure they are not participating in any elicit activities. I really like Peggy Noonan's editorial on how people from the beltway ("Bubbleheads") do not understand evangelicals.
I do find the media bias against the Republicans tremendous. Where we are all of the fact checks on Obama and Biden after the Democratic convention as we have for Palin and McCain after the Republican convention?
Every story I wanted to reference in regards to Palin had counter-stories saying that the other story was not true. In this internet age, I do not know how we discover what is true and what is not. I really did not have the desire to dig that deep at this point. But I do like how she rejected the pork for the Bridge to Nowhere and used the money for better projects, gave birth to a baby with disabilities because of her convictions, and became popular in Alaska because of her fight against corruption in the oil commission.
After writing this piece, I think the overwhelming issues will win out and I will vote for Obama, although his dancing toward the middle on many of the issues makes him less and less appealing. I wonder if I am unusual for being undecided in that I am not a centrist. I also find voting against abortion to be a really stupid vote since we have supposedly had a pro-life President in the office twenty of the last twenty-eight years and nothing has really changed. It would actually be detrimental to the Republican party to have the issue off of the table.
You will notice that I have not mentioned Biden until this point in this post. He kind of makes Obama more of an establishment candidate, and I do not like the idea of two legislators from the Senate running the government. He was a detrimental pick for Obama. My perception is that he looks like a used-car salesman, and I do not really want a swindler as my VP. But that is just my perception.
In the end, I said that I would vote based upon who they chose for their running mates because it would show what they really believed. McCain came out strong. He chose an outsider from Washignton and a solid pro-lifer. I just don't know if I can vote against Obama's tax and health care plans. Especially the health care plan. It is time for America to move into the industrialized world in how we treat all of our citizens. I do not like how Obama is becoming more and more pro-war. If he sticks to the issues as he once held them, I will might find my way back to him. But if I vote on personality, McCain and Palin will have my vote.
