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I have been sent some material about the candidates that have been disconcerting at best. After spending some difficult thought provoking weeks and watching the second presidential debate I have finally narrowed down what I believe the election is about.
We have two senators running for president. One hasn't been in the senate for very long, and the other perhaps has been there too long. While both understand politics and law crafting, neither has had much experience with holding and attracting businesses.
If my main focus is on the economy, then Senator McCain is the way I go. He is more cautious when it comes to economy and raising taxes. As a bonus, in the economic arena Governor Palin could be an asset with her experience as a mayor and governor, who’s job it was to attract businesses into her city and her state. I get nervous when I hear politicians, like Senator Obama, talk about making corporations pay their fair share. There is nothing like businesses seeking to improve their bottom line, moving out of cities or country to depress an economy. Moreover, when corporations get taxed, I believe they just pass those increases on to consumers.
Blame for the bank failures is being flung around Washington like poo from a monkey cage. To me, bank failures are not only the fault of one political party. While people love riding gravy trains, greedy excesses have a tendency to catch up with its commuters, and in this case, those of us who watched the train go by. As a nation, we will probably destroy ourselves because we don't know how to rein in maximal WIIFM (what's in it for me), human nature being what it is.
If my main focus is on foreign policy then I think I have to go for Senator Obama. He is cautious on controversial issues and he is much more likely to show restraint in the global arena. Looking at President Clinton and President George Bush, President Clinton was far more likely to fire a couple missiles at a factory of an offending nation than commit our troops to additional ongoing battlefields. And up until the last couple weeks when banks were going belly up at a record rate, our political focus was on nations we are at war with or could be at war with. I'm not convinced that Senator McCain wouldn't be "Maverick" from the movie "Top Gun", itching for a fight.
It has been reported in the last few days about how the global markets are working together during this financial meltdown to keep bankruptcies and bailouts from destroying all markets. This has demonstrated for me the necessity to be able to navigate in the global arena. It is my belief that President George Bush, while a decent man, has decimated our standing in the global community. His reckless bullying actions in the world, his black/white thinking, and his cronyism has squandered the goodwill we enjoyed from the global community after 9/11.
At this point, a month away from the election I am planning to vote for Senator Obama because I think global issues trump economic issues. If we have the resolve, we will work to climb out of this economic crisis we are in. There will be pain and inconvenience and possibly some dramatic changes in the way we live and do business. Maybe we will learn from this. Maybe we won’t. However if we make ourselves unpopular in the world we could be doing battle with a lot of other countries. It is hard to live in a global system with an ever shrinking set of allies.
I don't believe that Senator McCain and Governor Palin are not the mavericky pair that will ride in and change the way Washington works. I don't believe that Senator Obama is going to save us. I’m not sure that either will be able to continue for a second term. I don’t believe that Senator Obama is the "Manchurian candidate" or that Senator McCain is as out of touch as his detractors contend. Either has the potential to astound or disappoint us. Elections are simply about damage control.
The good news for me is that in these past weeks I have rediscovered my political equilibrium. I have long stated that if I don’t feel queasy coming out of the voting booth, I haven’t done my job.
Thank God, I now feel queasy.
