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and I've woken up and glanced under the sheets at the hag I brought home, and I want to vomit.
Voting for McCain would run contrary to my conscience in numerous respects, but until this evening I've planned on voting for him as "the lesser of two evils," so to speak. But I've just determined I will not vote for McCain, and unless an interesting candidate joins the race, I'll leave the "President" boxes unchecked.
If anybody's interested, here's why:
1. McCain picking Palin as V.P. I believe the conventional wisdom of Palin not being vetted is factually wrong, and I believe the media has unfairly targeted her (and proven conservatives' media paranoia is justified), but the pick is wrong for two reasons.
First, because she's simply not ready to be President, or even to be a useful Vice President. I think she's smart, but it truly seems that she has been absolutely uninterested in national and world politics until a few weeks ago. Her problem in interviews isn't stage fright--it's that she's trying to force foreign and tax and military policy 101 into her head in just a few weeks. I suspect most people interested in politics enough to visit this board know as much as she did about such things until very recently. And it's not enough to be a quick study--somebody making decisions for the rest of us should at least have the intellectual curiosity to know what the current debates are about, let alone take reasonable positions.
Second, McCain should be held accountable for this decision. Being a maverick is fine in some circumstances, but not when picking a running mate, before realizing that she doesn't know what goes on in the world, and therefore cannot know how to manage it. This has been such an obviously God-awful decision, I can't see anything he can do to make up for it (as far as I'm concerned).
2. Economic policy. In other circumstances, this might be enough to tip the scales. Though he denies it, I'm inclined to think (as many others are) that Obama's commitment to lower taxes for those making up to $250k is a false promise. But McCain is not reliable on this issue, either. He was a vocal opponent of W's tax policy, so why should his tax reduction promises be considered any more reliable than Obama's?
And because we're in a bizarre and possibly horrific business cycle, maybe conventional conservative tax policy wouldn't play as it should. At least, it's bizarre enough to make me think voting for a candidate largely because of what my tax rate might become shouldn't be as important as it usually is.
3. Conservativism. The President establishes the political philosophy of his party. That's why conservatism has morphed into what W believes, and he drove conservatism out of the party platform in several respects, to where it's become not tax-and-spend liberalism, but don't-tax-but-continue-to-spend; and why the evangelical community grew to have the GOP by the throat when it came to a pro-life vice president.
McCain as President would nix some of those positions, but would also intensify numerous anti-conservative positions, such as illegal immigration. Four or eight years of McCain could mean meaningful immigration reform will never happen, and it's (in my mind) perhaps the most fundamentally important issue today.
A McCain defeat would mean national executive policy is Democratic, which means congressional conservative Republicans could re-establish real conservative ideals in the party platform.
4. There's something to be said for making others happy. I think it's asinine for a President to announce he's a "citizen of the world," and President Obama unfettered by the practical considerations of winning a national election could cause us significant problems. And although Obama has droves of devotees elsewhere, I suspect the first time President Obama has to deal with Hamas blowing up a pizza parlor in Tel Aviv, if he blasts Islamic radicalism and gives the IDF the tacit approval to re-occupy Gaza, the vast majority of the Euro-weenies who now adore him will turn away. But who knows, maybe he can have some influence when it comes to the rest of the world assuming Americans are idiotic pricks, until proven otherwise.
As I see it, what I know Obama will do that will really bother me is appoint liberal judges in the federal judiciary. But the only Supreme Court retirees at this point will be liberals, and as constituted, the Court's ok I suppose. Replacing Justice Stevens or Ginsberg with another equally liberal Justice probably won't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, and not enough to counter what I've already mentioned. And practicing where I do, I'll probably never escape the liberal insanity of the 9th Circuit.
And I have some thoughts about healthcare policy as well (and I'm sure I'll have other considerations as time goes on), but you get the idea. There's just not enough of a difference between the two for me to give McCain a pass on picking Palin, and on taking numerous patently un-conservative positions over the years, and during this campaign.
Proviso--If McCain dumps Palin and brings aboard somebody else, I may change my mind. But as it is now, I'll be taking a pass on voting for President.
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Palin is single handedly destroying the McCain run. I am beginning to wonder if this run will due irrepairable harm to her long term political aspirations. If they had just carted her out to fire up the base like the dems did with Obama, she could be a lead candidate in 4 years. Now she is the butt of every comedian's joke.
I think part of Palin's problem is they are trying to "McCainize" her. This is bad. McCain is a flip flopping dude who has no real stance. She was given a book of all McCain's 2008 campaign speeches to study. What wild contradictions did she find in there, and have to form a coherent thought around? They'd be much more better off letting her sink or swim on her own merits, than trying to shape her into a mccain jack in the box. I think she is bright, and would be decent on her own merits, but trying to square peg her into the mccain round hole, she is coming off like a buffoon. Practically every answer from her on anything is "as senator Mccain says, or does, or wishes, or poops in the morning" and it is frustrating.
Not to mention, she is being prepped by Bushie types. I read some rumors that Todd Palin is quite upset at how she's being prepped.
The chick made her bones HER way, but they now want her to go about things the McCain way. I dislike McCain greatly. He's a major do-nothing senator, who only gets involved on whims. 26 years in the senate and not a whole lot of anything under his belt.
Let the lady ride or die on her own self. she doesn't need to be a mcclone.
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I'm the anti-TNT. I don't do drama.
May I just suggest you at least consider not tossing your vote away, but holding your nose and voting for Obama, because:
1) You will tell your party how badly they are screwing up with their base.
2) Obama will (can't help but) improve our relations with moderate foreign leaders among our allies -- the rank and file euro-weenies and the growing neo-fascist euros don't matter, but major heads of state that welcome talking with our president at least starts the desperately needed repairs.
3) He does get the terrorist threat -- I think more accurately than McCain. The three areas of greatest terror threat (other than Europe, believe it or not) where we can potentially have impact are Afghan-Paki border, Africa, and Latin America.
He also gets that by our exclusive ME focus, China has moved into developing areas where we no longer have any positive influence, and we need to reverse that.
4) His social policies are quite moderate. In that vein, I think the judiciary and esp the Supreme Court serves us best when it is balanced; if the current mod-liberal justices are all replaced by conservative ideologues, we're screwed. We cannot trust McCain at this point to recommend qualified people for critical positions like this any more than Bush did.
5) Many of his economic policies are based on reinvestment in America -- not anti-globalization, but recognizing that selling off our country for scrap is just plain wrong. Putting our capital into overhauling our decaying infrastructure, into alternative energy tech/manufacture, into education, into regaining the edge we are losing rapidly in Science-Technology R and D, and putting tax policy to work to help retain American jobs and strengthen US-based companies should appeal to most moderates.
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oderint dum metuant (Latin for 'let them hate, so long as they fear').
Well, in truth I'm actually not a total hawk, but I'm not a dove either -- I'm more like an angry pigeon flying over the political arena after a really big meal. -Abba Gav
Palin is single handedly destroying the McCain run. I am beginning to wonder if this run will due irrepairable harm to her long term political aspirations. If they had just carted her out to fire up the base like the dems did with Obama, she could be a lead candidate in 4 years. Now she is the butt of every comedian's joke.
In a sense, McCain was in a very difficult spot, in part due to the GOP nominating somebody the base would be wary of. He had to cozy up to the Christian right at the convention, so those who would have been great in the administration (especially Tom Ridge) weren't viable alternatives. He took a shot, and missed badly. And maybe LIAC's right, dumping Palin means losing the Presidency regardless. But that's the only way I'll consider voting for him, and I suspect a lot of conservatives like me who weren't fond of McCain to begin with will start peeling away.
Fareed Zakaria writes pretty well how I feel
Quote:
NEW YORK (CNN) -- In a column appearing in Newsweek, world affairs expert and author Fareed Zakaria said he thinks it would be best for Republican presidential hopeful John McCain if Gov. Sarah Palin bowed out as his vice presidential running mate.
"For him to choose Sarah Palin to be his running mate is fundamentally irresponsible," says Zakaria.
Zakaria says McCain did not put the country first in making his V.P. choice, and he says Palin is not qualified to lead the United States.
CNN spoke to him about his commentary titled, "Palin is ready? Please."
CNN: What did you initially think when Sarah Palin was announced as the Republican vice presidential nominee?
Zakaria: I was a bit surprised -- as I think most people were. But I was willing to give her a chance. And I thought her speech at the convention was clever and funny. But once she began answering questions about economics and foreign policy, it became clear that she has simply never thought about these subjects before and is dangerously ignorant and unprepared for the job of vice president, let alone president.
CNN: You don't think she is qualified?
Zakaria: No. Gov. Palin has been given a set of talking points by campaign advisers, simple ideological mantras that she repeats and repeats as long as she can. But if forced off those rehearsed lines, what she has to say is often, quite frankly -- nonsense. Just listen to her response to Katie Couric's question about the bailout. It's gibberish -- an emptying out of catchphrases about economics that have nothing to do with the question or the topic. It's scary to think that this person could be running the country.
Katie Couric: Why isn't it better, Gov. Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries; allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?
Gov. Sarah Palin: That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, we're ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the -- it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.
CNN: But Dan Quayle wasn't very qualified and that didn't seem to matter, did it?
Zakaria: This is way beyond Dan Quayle. Quayle was a lightweight who was prone to scramble his words, or say things that sounded weird, but you almost always knew what he meant. One of his most famous miscues was to the United Negro College Fund when he said, "What a terrible thing to have lost one's mind. Or not to have a mind at all." Now he was trying to play off a famous ad that the group used to run, "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste." And he screwed it up in a funny way. But read Gov. Palin's answers and it does appear that she doesn't have any understanding about the topic under discussion.
CNN: But she has a lot of supporters.
Zakaria: Look, I'm not saying that she is not a feisty, charismatic politician who has done some good things in Alaska. It is just we are talking about a person who should be ready to lead the United States at a moment's notice. She has never spent a day thinking about any important national or international issue, and this is a hell of a time to start.
CNN: Does it make you concerned about Sen. McCain as a president?
Zakaria: Yes, and I say this with sadness because I greatly admire John McCain, a man of intelligence, honor and enormous personal and political courage. However, for him to choose Sara Palin to be his running mate is fundamentally irresponsible. He did not put the country first with this decision. Whether it is appropriate or not, considering Sen. McCain's age most people expected to have a vice presidential candidate who would be ready to step in at a moment's notice. The actuarial odds of that happening are significant, something like a one-in-five chance.
If he dumps her, this race will be over. This will severely put into question his leadership and judgement.
I am sure they would blame it on the big bad media, but only the ultra right wing will think that...
I don't think that anyone is dumping any VP. It's too late in the majority of the states to get the ballots changed (heck, in TX, they had to pass a special extension because the conventions were held so late). That mean's that it's Obama/Biden v. McCain/Palin. Someone could drop out, and promises made that they would resign AFTER taking the office, but there's no way to enforce that.
As for Palin, I STILL don't know what to make of her. It's all screwy. Who's running the McCain campaign? Heck, even McCain doesn't speak for the McCain campaign (or so said his campaign chief once - classic).
Yet, the race is this close when Obama should be leading by 10+ points and the only topic should be if Obama will get over 375 EV.
Then, throw on top of all that this financial mess, Ron Paul, a resurgent Russia, and a host of other things.
Instead of leaving it blank, why not do what many others here are going to do and write in who you'd prefer to be president? It may not get them in office but you'll at least be voting with your conscience and perhaps helping to change the system.
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People of Mars, you say we are brutes and savages. But let me tell you one thing: if I could get loose from this cage you have me in, I would tear you guys a new Martian ***hole. You say we are violent and barbaric, but has any one of you come up to my cage and extended his hand? Because, if he did, I would jerk it off and eat it right in front of him. “Mmm, that’s good Martian,” I would say. - Jack Handey
The measure of one's individual liberty is proportionate to their acceptance of personal responsibility. Without the latter the former will cease to exist.
1) You will tell your party how badly they are screwing up with their base.
Described me to a tee only using one point... Not that I even consider them "my party" any more... Evangelicals (still known as the BAC's to me)stole it from us.
Instead of leaving it blank, why not do what many others here are going to do and write in who you'd prefer to be president? It may not get them in office but you'll at least be voting with your conscience and perhaps helping to change the system.
Newt Gingrich, it is (and in case anybody wonders, I am serious).
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