But somehow, right now, taking a stand seems too important to miss any opportunities, so I will make one political post here (I am a political junkie, after all!!)
At the beginning of this election season, I liked neither candidate, and I grieved for months because I saw no way that I was going to be able to vote in this election; for me, it would have been the first election I have ever missed since I voted in my first presidential election in 1968 when I was 22 years old. All summer I felt that not voting WAS my way of making a statement - declaring that neither man was fit to be President of the United States.
However, in the last two months, I have changed my mind, and made my decision. This decision was based on two things:
1. Governor Sarah Palin. I liked her even before Senator McCain named her as his running mate. She is an unabashed unapologetic conservative. She is a reformer. She is unafraid to say what she believes and she is unafraid to take on wrong-doing and make changes, even if it involves going against some in her own party. She is smart and articulate and natural and to me, she is the ultimate feminist - she is a mother and a wife and a professional woman … and she seems to do it all well. I saw that a vote for the McCain-Palin ticket would be a vote for the future of our party and our country.
2. The more I watched Senator Obama, the more I learned about him and his lack of experience, the thinness of his record in government, his strange associations in the past for which he never takes responsibility and for which he has never distanced himself, his reluctance to set forth any agenda for exactly what he plans to do, his dependence on his charisma and smooth talk and his irritating way of saying things without saying much of anything, the fact that his speeches drip with socialism, his years of flip flopping, his recently growing history of intimidating anyone who disagrees with him…..well, he scares me. He scares me a lot. I don’t want a president who is a messiah or a smooth talker or a rock star or a president who believes in “spreading the wealth around” or who believes in pulling out of a war before the job is done. I don’t want a president who tells us he will bring about “change” unless he spells it out and I can agree with him; there are all kinds of change, one single candidate doesn’t have a lock on the concept of change; change comes with every new presidential administration.
The more disturbed I got with Senator Obama as a candidate, the more
I began to realize that I HAVE to vote, just as I have voted in every election year since 1968. I’m too scared of an Obama future NOT to vote this year.
So I will be voting On November 4th for Senator McCain. I still don’t like him much, I think he has run a terrible campaign, I wish he would take a stronger stand on illegal immigration and smaller government, but even so I do believe he can be strong and tough and I believe he is honest and I know he loves this country, which he has served literally all of his adult life. And he sure knows how to pick a running mate!
I know many of you who read this blog and I know some of you agree with me and some of you don’t. If you are voting for Senator Obama, then I respect your decision, just as I ask you to respect mine. Whichever man wins this election, those who voted for him may have a lot to defend in the coming four years. And all I really ask of anyone who is voting for president, is that we all think long and hard about what we are doing before we pull that lever. I believe this is the biggest election of my lifetime, and depending on who wins, our country might be changed forever.
I am very comfortable with my decision. I think it is the right one. I am at peace.
McCain-Palin 2008 ~ Country First.
9 comments:
I totally agree. And I'll add, if it's ok, that a reason I'm not voting for Obama is that I totally do not TRUST the man. I think there are too many things he is trying to cover up, and along with his flip-flopping and choice of "friends" he claims he doesn't have. I can't support a man I do not trust.
Well said, Sharon. We're on the same page in oh-so-many ways.
You, too, Jenny! ;-)
Jenny - I don't trust Obama either. Not one bit ... and it is partly because he has done nothing to earn it.
Buck - I am glad we are all on the same page. This seems to me like the biggest election of my lifetime, and I am oh so afraid of what is to come if the wrong man gets into office.
Trying to keep hope alive here.....
You should write more political posts. You do a great job of saying it like it is.
McCain/Palin is the only hope this country has of not devolving into socialism. Bravo!
I faced the same decisions.
First, I considered a vote for the Libertarian, but he's a little odd and I live in a battleground state. I didn't have the luxury of not deciding; my ultimate deciding factors were the same as yours as was the thought process that got me there.
Second was whether or not to inject politics into my ostensibly non-political blog. I did. Now that it's all done for me (absentee ballot went in two weeks ago) I've gone back and purged the political postings. I couldn't care less if the political posts were costing me readers, mind you - it's not like I get paid to blog. But I felt the need to re-focus my thoughts, and having the political stuff gone helped me with that.
Dave, I thought long and hard before I made a political post. I realize it changes the focus of my blog, even if only for one post. It just seemed SO important to make one statement about my vote and the reason for it. I will get back to my regular focus soon; I have plenty of outlets for my political views, and I just don't want this blog to be one of them.
That was my problem: I had no other outlet this year. I had a political blog in 2003/2004 (seven Instalanches!!) but gave it up when I realized that it eventually started to cause me more stress than relief from stress. Well, that and the fact that it probably made me unemployable in blue states. :-)
I'm an addict, though, so I lapsed a few times with the flying blog. I think I'll get better soon, but if not, I have already reserved http://wheresthechange.blogspot.com for political stuff. It's kind of (thankfully) 50-50 right now as to whether I'll need it or not.
I administrate a very nice little political discussion board at www.annoyedman.com
We are small in number but from all over the country, all ages, mostly conservative, but we try to welcome all views. It's a thoughtful place with good people who love to discuss politics and culture. Come for a visit and check it out if you need a place to post political views.
~Sharon
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