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[Oct. 31st, 2008|11:34 pm] |
If you're reading this, it's probably because you've asked about whom I am voting for.
The reason I'm writing this is so that, instead of just being told the candidate I'm voting for without any justification or any idea of my reasoning behind my decision, you know my thought process behind making my decision.
Also, I want you to know that when it comes to the issues themselves, I am close to the middle. There are issues I am conservative on (illegal immigration, gun control), there are issues I am liberal on (abortion, gay rights), and there are issues I believe shouldn't be partisan choices at all, or where I am close to being moderate: for example, I believe having a sensible, smart, gradual solution to the Iraq war (and you can ask me for my detail on this if you like) is preferable both to the "get out now" of the far-left and the "stay 100 years" of the far-right. I believe taking care of our environment should be a principle concern of government and citizenry alike, regardless of political preference.
Also, consider that, for the sake of not being TOO wonky, boring, or long, I am fairly general. If you want to challenge specific items, feel free to do so.
And all of the facts I state can be proven. I did not take time to annotate them, as I really do not have THAT much time on my hands (or just didn't feel like it), but if you doubt it, research it. Or challenge me, and I'll research it for you.
With that being said, I have decided to cast my vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Obviously, there are two dimensions to this decision which I will explain: why I am NOT voting for Senator McCain, and why I AM voting for Barack Obama. I'll cover the former first.
The Republicans have won 7 out of the last 10 presidential elections, dating back to 1968 (a year considered to be a realigning election by most observers). All but 12 of the last 40 years have seen the United States with a Republican president.
For nearly 2/3 of the last 28 years, the United States senate has been controlled by the Republicans--12 of which (1981-1987, 2001-2007) have seen a Republican president. The House of Representatives was controlled by the Republicans from 1995-2007; from 2001-2007, both legislative houses and the executive branch were controlled by Republicans.
I think this is important to consider. On balance, since 1968, we've tilted Republican on the presidential level, and since 1980, we've titled Republican on the legislative level. And from 2001-2007, the Republicans were in total control of both. SO when we look at the problems facing our nation today, I think it's vital that we consider who's been running the show.
In my estimation, the Republican party has not been pursuing the types of policies that are most beneficial to Americans.
Instead, they have put a premium on getting elected and staying in power. No one is innocent in the game of partisan mudslinging, but the hateful invective of the right has been incredibly troubling to me.
Visit some right-wing forums. Read Human Events or some of the right-wing pundits out there. Consistently, I am seeing all Muslims being demonized as terrorists, and Islam described as a "violent" religion. I am seeing homosexuality referred to as "degenerate" and gay marriage being fought against (despite "All men are created equal"). Anyone who attempts to make any criticism of our foreign policy or our president is denounced as "unpatriotic." Anyone with a differing philosophy, no matter how that philosophy is reasoned, is considered to be a "liberal" or a "socialist." Rather than making legitimate criticisms of John Kerry's record--and there were plenty that could be made--we saw them attack his military service and character.
Well you know what? I'm tired of being told who is "patriotic" and who isn't. I am TIRED of being told whose service counts and whose doesn't, that being a community organizer helping the poor is a joke at a convention but being a mayor of 9,000 is "experience." I am tired of Christianity being shoved down our throats. I am tired of being told that Muslims and Gays are second-class citizens, I am TIRED of any opposing philosophy being trampled as "wrong," when in reality liberalism and conservatism SHOULD be balancing each other like night and day.
Teddy Roosevelt--one of our greatest Republican presidents--wrote that "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
When our country is right, let's support it. But when it's wrong, I can think of nothing MORE patriotic than to rise and change it.
The left had their extremist turn in the 60s, calling soldiers "baby-killers" and disrespecting the military. But it's pretty clear that right now we've just lived through the worst of the right's excesses. And while the left certainly has their share of hateful rhetoric, this is confined to a pretty small, fringe group of people.
But the right's "fringe" is more a flank; consider that Rush Limbaugh has over 20 million listeners, and Sean Hannity not so far behind. Look at how many right-wing pundits there are compared to the total of liberal ones. Compare the ratings and booksales of right-wingers to left-wingers. Compare the viewership of conservative Fox News to liberal MSNBC. The radical right has grown much larger than the radical left.
And I'm tired of "big-government conservatism"; the backward philosophy that leads to Republican politicians
-leading government to shirking the really big problems
-pulling back the scope of government where it really matters
-extends the scope of government where it benefits them.
It's this philosophy that has Republican politicians favoring deregulation in the financial markets while saying that government should dictate what a woman can do with a days-old organism in her uterus. It's this philosophy that has Republicans undermining and underfunding the FDA (for the big pharmaceutical companies) and rolling back environmental regulations and standards dating back to Nixon, but also says government needs to step in and prevent those pesky gays from getting married.
And I'm tired of the outright contempt for common-sense.
Consider that our national debt was at an already-ridiculously high $5 trillion dollars in 2001.
Today, that figure is nearly $10 trillion.
That means within the span of seven years, the United States managed to borrow as much money as it had managed to spend in the 211 years since Washington became president. And most of these spending proposals were put forward by Republicans, and accepted whole-heartedly by President Bush (who has issued less vetoes than any president since Warren G. Harding, dating back 88 years)
And yet we also saw two enormous tax cuts--in 2001 and 2003--that largely benefited the rich (look at the Congressional Budget Office's study, among MANY many others, that corroborate this).
To cut taxes and increase spending is sheer folly. Who spends more than they earn? This may be acceptable on a very short-term basis, but it is unsustainable, as we are now finding out.
The Democrats aren't innocent either. But the Democrats haven't been running the show in Washington for most of the last 28 years, or have propsed the majority of the new spending bills.
On to Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin. John McCain has broken with his party on some key issues, and I think it's clear he won't be a George W. Bush type. I respect his military service hugely. However, I don't think he's fit to be president.
Consider his responses to the Russia-Georgia crisis and the economic crisis. In the former, he responded with boundless bellicosity, suggesting that we may need to become militarily involved ourselves. He has saber-rattled and threatened nations like Iran, as opposed to promoting a more diplomatic route (one taken by previous Republican presidents like Eisenhower and Reagan). With the economic crisis, he has proved to be all over the map, saying "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" in the morning, and then in the afternoon saying we are facing a major crisis. He has called for the head of the SEC, and bizarrely offered to buy every mortgage in America. And after a long career of championing deregulation, all of a sudden he is championing government oversight of the economy with a vigor similar to that displayed by Teddy Roosevelt or FDR. He calls for MORE tax cuts, but yet--other than opposing earmarks (which only account for $20 billion) makes no attempt to explain where or how he'll cut spending.
His focus during the campaign has been bizarre, too. He has focused a great deal of money, speech, and effort toward Obama's tertiary association with radical William Ayers. Why does this matter? Why is he not talking more about Obama's policies? Why the desperation?
Gov. Palin...really? Do I need to explain? Watch her first interview with Katie Couric http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxAO7cH-xrE or her second interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbQwAFobQxQ and watch her baffling display of ignorance with regards to foreign policy and the economy. In fact, it can only be described as sheer cluelessness.
Gov. Palin's views are also very extreme and troubling to me. She has said she would oppose abortion in cases of rape and incest. She attempted to ban books as mayor of Wasilla (unsuccessfully). She has denied that any problem exists with the environment, or that humans are to blame for environmental degradation. She fired the Wasilla chief of police because he would not fire an officer who happened to be divorcing Palin's sister (this is more outright corruption and abuse of power than a political view). The list goes on and on.
As for Barack Obama...I am not one of the faithful. I do not believe Obama is the savior, I do not worship him or belong to his cult of personality. He has views I disagree with, and has made decisions I don't agree with. You will not see me wearing a shirt emblazoned with his face, and the word "HOPE" across the bottom.
But I believe that Senator Obama has shown the POTENTIAL to be a good leader. Watch any number of interviews with him. Watch the debates. You will see someone who is thoughtful, intelligent, and balanced, who examines an issue from all sides regardless of where his personal stance lies.
Consider his April speech on race; YouTube it. It is the most thoughtful and most BALANCED dialogue on racial relations in the United States that I have ever read, seen, or heard in my life.
You see someone who is pragmatic and results-oriented, not just in his rhetoric, but his deeds as well. Consider his run in the Illinois state senate, where he brought together prosecutors, the police force and death penalty reformers together to pass a bill to videotape interrogations in potential death penalty cases. The end saw an increase in convictions and a decrease in death penalties. He sponsored a law increasing tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and promoted increased subsidies for childcare--issues that saw him working with both Democrats and Republicans in search of RESULTS.
On the world stage, his election would send a powerful message, hurting the extremist argument of the U.S. being a racist, ignorant nation unwilling to accept diversity. His willingness to use diplomacy and negotiations returns us to the foreign policies of FDR, Eisenhower, JFK and Reagan, and moves us away from the unilateral cowboy justice of recent years. We don't need to agree with our enemies, but think of the information we can glean (and the sense we can get of their mindset) if we talk to them.
His plan on alternative energy is the clearest and strongest of the two candidates.
Sen. Obama has also run a clean campaign. All his criticisms of Sen. McCain have focused on his record and his judgment, and not his character. His campaign has been open and tolerant, one that has not demonized conservatives or opposing philosophies, only pointed out the very real failures of Republican politicians.
He is not the flip-flopper that Kerry was, the self-serving attack dog Hillary was, or the condescending elitist Gore was in 2000. He is not the ineffectual egghead Dukakis was in 1988. He is a clean break from the party's most recent nominees, and has resisted the calls from the left to "take off the gloves" and attack Sen. McCain.
It is for these reasons I am voting FOR Sen. Obama. The problems facing our nation will not all be solved in the next four years. Obama is not Superman. Hell, I don't even know whether he WILL be a good president. But he has demonstrated the potential to be one. He is intelligent, thoughtful, and balanced, and a pragmatist focused on results and EFFECTIVE government.
And when you consider the Republican party's recent irresponsibility, politicization of institutions like the justice department (consider the firings of employees considered to be Democrats, or entrance questions like "Why do you like President Bush?"), runaway spending, and penchant for expanding government for their benefit (yet diverting government from its real responsibilities), I think the price of having a president who could likely attempt to continue that philosophy is too great a risk. |
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