As election gets nearer and nearer I can’t shake the feeling that we have been here before. It sure seems like Dole vs. Clinton all over again. A young energetic voice with little national political history, who actually is black this time, vs. the aging war veteran who’s turn finally came up. And, once again, the elder statesman McCain cannot seem to close the deal with the voters.
Even with a major national/world crisis ongoing, too many of us are afraid to let someone who has a some things in common with the administration of the last eight years come in and try to fix what his peers allowed to happen. Apparently the feeling is that we really need a fresh leader in there to shake things up. Even though McCain has some distinct differences from the W. gang, the resemblance is still close enough to frighten many into trying someone with no real leadership or executive experience.
MY strongest feeling on this race is serious disappointment that these two are the best this huge nation can come up with. This is a nation that has many fine examples of leadership in many realms from many different viewpoints. It is very sad that the requirements for massive amounts of money and the media-frenzy of micro-analysis of what key someone belches in keep out so many highly qualified leaders.
One good thing that will probably come from this is that the Republican party will have to reasses itself. There are just not enough hardcore Christian conservatives and millionaire business people to give them enough votes to win any more. They are going to have to do the same sort of internal analysis that led the Democrats to through open the tent flaps and silence their own extremists in order to bring in the working people who just want to make a decent living for themselves and their family. The Democrats have finally learned to keep their rabid anti-gun crowd and transgender spotted owl supporters in a back room somewhere until after the election.
Likewise, a lot of us that have voted Republican in the past, the ones David Brooks calls “Patio Man” have had to take a long hard look at our own situation and try to decide if this Republican candidate really offers us anything. The last one told us he did, and then turned everything inside out chasing a white whale into Iraq before deciding to have his minions rewrite or reinterpret much of the Bill of Rights. Meanwhile others on his pick-up team watched idly as Katrina roared through and the greed hounds destroyed our financial system.
Can you really blame a lot of us for wondering how a President Obama could be worse? Sure, taxes will likely go up and there will be some wealth transfer for social programs that have questionable results, but we may actually get some progress in the healthcare morass. If you think the healthcare system is only broken for those at the bottom end that do not have any medical insurance, ask anyone who is self-employed or owns a small business. There is a lot wrong with our healthcare system or more precisely how it it paid for. If there is a chance that the next administration will push the insurance giants aside and actually shame Congress into making some real changes, then I’m for it.
Quite simply, the Republican party no longer represents those of us who are just trying to go to work, do our job and take care of our family . . . unless we are millionaires or evangelical Christians or both. I’m a Marine vet, and an NRA Life Member, but I may have to hold my nose and vote for Obama. Although respect McCain and his service a great deal, I’m just afraid that more of the same protection of the millionaires is going to force me to sell my guns for food, house payments and medical care before Obama, Schumer, et. al. get around to confiscating them.
We really need better choices next time.
