seriously? am i supposed to be impressed by a woman who brings so little to the table, and what she does bring is just so very troubling? was i supposed to be wowed by the white faces of the
rnc behaving like "ugly
americans" and attempting to drum up fear?
i watched the whole convention; i like to hear both sides of the equation and to be well-informed. i am definitely not what you would call a "low information voter".
first, we vote for the top of the ticket.
mccain's choice of
palin only serves to elucidate how the man makes decisions. what he reveals is that he is rash and reckless and will do anything to win the election, even when it is not in the best interest of this country. he has chosen someone he met only one time, who is involved in numerous scandals at home, who lies freely about her record and desires to bring her fundamentalist religious beliefs into the public square.
Next, mccain's willingness to conduct himself in a dishonorable fashion sickens me. he has been fully taken over by the extreme right wing, with karl rove leading the way.
also, it is not just a campaign slogan- mccain really does want to continue with bush's policies. on every issue, he has voted with the president and in his stated policies, there really is no light between the two men.
for me, the reckless behavior, the dishonor and policies are absolutely enough to keep me from voting for mccain and to inspire me to work for obama. however, it is not limited to the above...
mccain would like to dismantle public education in this country. for obvious reasons, this is completely offensive. he states that parents and students should be in charge of the system. unfortunately, what happens when public schools are privatized, the low performing students are pushed out. what you are left with is something we see often in CA- a two tier system: one largely white and middle class and the other minority and poor. In the poorer schools, you will see more emphasis on testing, no art, music, field trips, social studies or science. I absolutely agree that the
NEA is going to need to come to the table on some issues, but until there is a real way to hold parents and students accountable, the system will remain broken.
next, the ticket refers to "victory" in Iraq. what does that look like exactly? will their
gov't repay the massive debts we have racked up? will we be repaid in oil subsidies?
i'd love to hear their description- which is not forthcoming.
also,
mccain has little interest in improving our daily lives as is represented by his approach to the economy, social security, medicare and education.
finally, and this is the issue that is most aggravating to me, we do not live in a theocracy. God bless our founding fathers who assured us of that! religion does not belong in our politics, government or courts. i do not want
mccain selecting the next supreme court justices. i won't stand idly by and allow our country's policies to be co-opted by a religious movement.
along the way people have tried to describe voters who support
Barack Obama as easily influenced, naive, swayed by celebrity. this is all noise. the truth is that I, and many others I know, support him because he knows what we deal with everyday when it comes to the economy, our schools and families. further, he listens carefully. he is thoughtful and smart and does not make reckless decisions for himself or our country.this is one of the first times i am voting for somebody, rather than against somebody. so, no, I am not afraid and I will continue to send money to
Obama/
Biden and will look for other ways to volunteer to work for him.
if you are interested in a country that puts the people first, that restores peace, that represents the best of this country and celebrates it- then work for
Obama, as well.
keith olbermann