I will admit that I am not sure how this post will turn out, but I expect that it will likely be the first in several about this topic as we approach D-Day... 4 November, 2008. "D" for decision.
I am 35 years old. I was old enough to vote for the first time in November of 1990. I can't remember details about the election... I couldn't tell you who the candiadates were or frankly if I even voted in the election as I was at college. If I remember correctly, I voted via absentee ballot, but that could just be my mind trying to make up for not doing my civic duty.
Throughout my life, I have always been quite politically minded, and was a bit of a news junkie even at the age of eighteen. I remember listening in to discussions with my Granddad and other family members about the Constitution and the general state of politics as I was growing up. (Ok, fine... that is still a work in progress.) I was raised to have a respect for the governmental system we have in the U.S.A., and to believe that the people we call our Founding Fathers were also worthy of our general respect and admiration. Clearly these men were great thinkers; some may even say they were divinely inspired, and I can easily accept that.
Somehow it is easier to esteem the leaders of the past than it is to do so for the leaders of your own time. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin laid the foundation and set the precedents for the fledgling United States, doing what hadn't been done before in creating a representative government. As we progress down through the history of this country, other leaders rose to the challenges placed before them. Individuals like Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin Roosevelt each worked through the tough times placed before them with aplomb. As we get closer to the present day, at least in my mind it gets more diffcult to be as magnanimous with the Presidential leaders of the time. You can mention John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, but you also have Richard Nixon, William Clinton and George W. Bush.
Yes, I am using broad strokes here, each of the last three presidents listed can have red marks attributed to their administrations, but you will find people who may argue that 'the other side' has overstated their particular fault in the matters at hand. Nixon had Watergate, but he also did some good with China. Clinton had the stained blue dress, but he presided over a time of relative economic success. "W" currently has the situation in Iraq, but he helped unite the country, if for a limited time, in the days after 9/11.
As we look to the upcoming Presidential election, I find myself in a quandry. I have voted for a Republican in every presidential election I could vote in. I have voted for a Republican in nearly every state-level election as well. (The only exception was when I voted for Glen Poshard for Illinois State Governor over George Ryan in 1998.)
Here's the meat of this post. I am not in lock-step with the GOP. I consider myself a fiscal conservative. By that, I mean I believe the government should generally cut taxes and cut spending. (A bit of an aside on that here: In order for it to 'work,' both of those steps need to go together.) I believe the government has legitimate reasons for taxing, and also believe that responsible spending is acceptable as well.
When it comes to many of the 'socially conservative' issues, I disagree with the concepts on the grounds that the government needs to keep its collective noses out of people's business. I have my own beliefs on most of the issues at hand, but do not believe it is government's place to legislate them.
So John McCain is the apparent Republican nominee for President. John McCain seems to be a good match for my political views. I can vote for him in November without any major strain to my standards.
Hillary Clinton.... if I may use the vernacular of my teenage years for a moment... PUH-LEEEZE! (insert eye roll here)
But then there is Barack Obama.
He was ranked the most liberal senator last year by The National Journal (http://nj.nationaljournal.com/voteratings/) . There was the American Flag on his lapel controversy, the sermons by his former pastor, and in the last couple of days, he made a comment that many Pennsylvania voters were 'bitter.'
And yet, I may end up voting for him.
I believe Mr. Obama will require at least one full post, so stay tuned...
