Quote:
Originally Posted by Professor S
And Bond, I would love to hear your reasoning for changing your vote. Considering your fiscallly conservative ways, I have a hard time understanding the switch.
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This is my basic reasoning:
1. Bush. Bush has moved the Republican party into neoconservatism and evangelicalism, neither of which I agree with in theory or practice. McCain has certainly tried to move the party back to the center and fiscal conservatism, but that is questionable when he nominated Mrs. Palin as his vice president.
I firmly believe Bush has alienated an entire generation of would-be conservatives/Republicans. It is true Bush was not even a conservative himself, but many people will view him as the example of conservatism of their era, and a horrible example at that.
2. Time has passed McCain by. McCain's time to be nominated was in 2000, against Bush in the primaries. This is not McCain's time. He is seventy-two-years-old. He is from our parent's and grandparent's generation. They have had their time. They have done some good, and some bad. It is now our time to make our mark and bear the burden of responsibility.
3. Palin is dangerous. This is an honest question: does anyone believe a word Palin says? Does anyone believe she truly knows what she is talking about? Does she understand foreign policy implications? Does she understand free-trade versus protectionism? I don't believe she does.
Palin is also an evangelical, and I'm not so sure how I feel about evangelicals being in office anymore. I am not trying to say one shouldn't vote for someone because of their religion, but when one's religion encompasses their entire being and absolves them of wrong-doings because they are being driven "by God," then I worry.
4. This is Obama's time. If you look back at our greatest presidents: George Washington, John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, John F Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan, they all share the fact that they were the right men for the right time. It's entirely possible that if they were elected at a different time they would have been miserable presidents. I believe Obama can heal the wounds that Bush has caused.
5. Obama is an intellectual. Our world is not one of black and white or absolutes. This is a shades of gray world, and I believe Obama understands that. His answers aren't always simple, or cut-and-dry, but it's obvious he has put tremendous thought into his answers, and that's what counts in my mind. He thinks. He reflects. He comes to difficult conclusions and admits they're difficult.
6. Greater focus on domestic issues. We can't afford our empire, our foreign intervention, and this living outside our means. We have to return to the principles that our country was founded upon, and that means a return to greater focus on domestic issues. Obama has spoken the most about helping
our country, and not intervening in sovereign, foreign countries.
7. No more foreign wars, return to moral superiority. I believe Obama is less likely to get us into another Iraq than McCain is... we need to return to our moral superiority that worked so well for us for decades. It is our greatest strength, not our military superiority, but our moral superiority.
8. A Clinton-esque balanced budget. I'm not convinced either candidate will balance the budget as Clinton did, but I believe Obama has the best chance.
All that being said, it is true that I agree with very little of Obama's policies, and that I agree with more of McCain's, but for our country and for our time, I believe Obama is the right choice. Is it possible Obama could be more like Carter than Clinton or Kennedy? Yes. But I'm willing to take that risk. I believe Obama is the right man for the right time.
I understand this could very well appear as a giant contradiction, but I still think it's the right thing to do.