Election 2008: The Final Countdown

Hello blog! No I haven't forgotten you. I've just been a combination of busy/lazy/frustrated with the current state of political affairs. A lot has happened in the presidential race since I last blogged about it. A lot of my opinions have changed and since we're in the home stretch this may be the last time I get to talk about it.

In 2004 a man with a funny name gave an incredible speech at the Democratic National Convention and I stated that Barack Obama would be our next Democratic president.

And in 2008, yes, I still support Barack Obama 100%, now maybe even more than ever. Republicans have fought tooth and nail to crush Obama in the last few months and he's somehow stayed ahead in the polls, giving me some hope that most of America is either getting over or getting sick of dirty politics. Obama is the only one offering me the things I need such as good healthcare without worry of being rejected for my pre-existing condition and much needed tax hikes for the wealthy so that we can start balancing the budget and maybe paying off a bit of this ridiculous $10 trillion debt we've racked up. I'm also looking forward to the Democrats restoring some of the regulations that we've been busy repealing since the Reagan years and what's gotten us into this sorry mess of a economy that's spiraling into oblivion and bringing the rest of the world down with it.

As you know if you've read my blog in the past, I wrote that out of all of the Republican candidates running for election that I liked John McCain the most. He was the most liberal candidate, he wasn't afraid to ruffle feathers within his party, and because of all that he seemed like the most likely Republican to run in a post Bush world. He used to be harshly critical of Bush despite his voting record and he seemed to embody the bi-partisan spirit that the United States needs right now.

Well all that's changed. McCain who never really pandered to the evangelicals before was now pandering to the religious right. Absolutely ridiculous attack ads started to pop up such as Barack Obama's association with William Ayers, a former domestic terrorist member of the Weather Underground. Let's just ignore the fact that today he's a successful English professor and a valued member of the Chicago community, even at one time winning a person of the year award. That's okay though, just say that Obama is working with terrorists and don't explain it to make it look like he's done something wrong. So let me get this straight, if I took a class with Ayers would I be a terrorist?

Anyway, a big bomb dropped when McCain announced his candidate for vice president, Alaska governer Sarah Palin. Oh dear God. McCain who said he'd chose someone he was close to and could work with choses a woman he only met twice in his entire life. Now why would he do that I wonder? That's right, to go after angry Hillary Clinton fans or people who will vote for anything involving a vagina because they think they'll be voting for gender equality or some bull. Well I've got news for you, neither McCain or Palin supports equal pay for equal work for women so I wouldn't believe Palin's statements about breaking the glass ceiling. Not only was this obvious and insulting to women voters, but Palin is also an Evangelical and pro-life to get the religious right crowd in line since McCain has never been particularly popular with them. Way to alienate all of the feminist voters in the process. I have a hard time believing John McCain really wanted this woman as his running mate. He's gone from the "maverick" centrist he claimed to be to a simple tool of the Republican party ever since getting their nomination. I guess that was the stipulation.

She delivered a cute lil' ol' country gal speech at the Republican National Convention and for a moment McCain pulled into the lead. She re-invigorated the Republican base and attracted media attention away from Obama, something the McCain campaign was seriously struggling with in the early months. Unfortuntely for McCain in terms of intelligence when Palin isn't performing a practiced speech she's the second coming of Mr. Potatoe himeself, Dan Quayle. She was crushed in interviews with Charlie Gibson and especially Katie Couric who were just trying to learn more about the Governer and her beliefs and ideologies. She proved herself completely unworthy to take the place of McCain if he were to die in office and the campaign railed against the media claiming they were trying to smear Palin when all they were doing is what they were supposed to do, ask questions and recieve answers. Well McCain, you wanted more media attention, you got it, deal with it. Claims like sexism and "gotcha" questions are absurd, the media is not as biased as people tend to believe it is. Making the media an enemy instead of a friend is never a good idea since they're your bridge to the public. It's hilarious to hear Republicans call journalists "elitists" in any case. The best thing to come out of Sarah Palin is the Saturday Night Live skits with Tina Fey who is a dead ringer for Palin.

With the economy dropping like a rock and Obama trying to discuss the issues, McCain has resorted to throwing everything he has left at Obama like a handful of spaghetti and hoping something will stick. The Ayers thing has come back with a vengeance and McCain has attempted to sew seeds of distrust among the American people. This has been good and bad for him. The Republican base is eating out of his hand but the general public seems to be getting frustrated. The country is in a time of crisis, Obama is offering hope and answers, McCain is offering the school-yard bullying tactics of the Republicans when they're down in the polls and people really don't want to hear it. Do we hear Obama cry about Sarah Palin abusing her power in Alaska? No, because that's not what's important right now. Another unforseen consequence of McCain's negative campaigning is he's gone a bit too far in brainwashing is supporters. People going to his rallies and making threats on Obama's life or calling him an arab or saying they're scared for their children's safety in an Obama presidency is making McCain's supporters look like the party of lunacy and it's not helping him one bit, in fact it's forcing him to reign back some of the negativity he's unleashed. It's a bit too late in the game to close Pandora's box however.

So yeah, I'm a little biased, and I'm furiously dissapointed in what John McCain has become during this election and I really see he's not the man I thought he was initially. I usually say that people should vote for what they truly believe is right, to ignore my ramblings or take from them what they like and toss out what they disagree with. In this election however, the country is in dire need of a serious change of direction, and John McCain is not it. I urge anybody out there who might stumble upon this rant who is of voting age in he united states to help elect Barack Obama our next president. If I'm wrong, and the country is worse off in four years then you can say you told me so. I've said it to Bush supporters 2004. I predicted the worst economic disaster since the great depression if Bush were re-elected, and now in 2008, here we are. Put aside any social disagreements you might have with the Democrats and think economy, think national debt, think jobs, think energy, think environment, and think blue state.