I’m a centrist, someone in the middle who likes some of the positions from both sides of the aisle. Tell me the issue I’ll tell you where I stand. From my position in the middle I see in all directions and decide where to go. In this election, as important as it is to all of us I have made my choice and I’m voting for the Democratic ticket of Obama / Biden. I have lots of reasons why I like them and some why I don’t, but this post is about why I can’t vote for John McCain.  

When this election started I said to my wife I hope that John McCain wins the Republican nomination because all the other Republicans running had some very fundamental flaws in character. I believed that McCain was the one person who had integrity and wasn’t all about himself or a party line no matter the cost. Then he won the primary and started running this general election campaign that has blown me away, everything I thought I knew about McCain unraveled right before all of our eyes. He has and as of today keeps changing his positions on everything from military policy to economics to how he was going to conduct himself in this campaign. He had spoken about a break from the politics of hate and smear and he wouldn’t engage in that because it was something that the American people don’t want especially when so many important issues and the direction of this country is at stake.

At first I believed him, this was going to be a serious debate about issues facing us and I was happy. That lasted for a very short time though. He has engaged in the worst kind of politics with verifiable lies about his and his running mates positions and well as Obama’s. It seems that’s just politics as usual for some politicians in this country, unfortunately for all of us. 2 specific things that McCain did revealed a lot to me about who he really is and what kind of president he’d be.

First with all that’s going on in this country and the world he picked a running mate who he barley knew and who the country barley knows. I don’t know enough about her in her 2 weeks in the public eye, but what has come out directly from her makes it obvious to me that at this time she is not ready to be in this position. In a world at the brink a person with ABSOULETLY NO real foreign policy experience (Russia being close to Alaska DOES NOT COUNT) should haven’t even been on his short list for VP let alone his pick. There are a lot of Republicans he could have picked who have the foreign policy and economic policy chops to be president. This was blatant politics, he needed to get the Republican base excited, he wanted to try to pick off some Clinton supporters and his first choices were all Republicans and a Democrat who were pro choice so they didn’t fit the bill. I’m sure that the Gov. of Alaska is a nice person a good public servant and a good mom but just her saying that she is ready doesn’t make her ready, that comes with experience and education in government and on how the world works, at this time she does not have enough of that. It is not a COUNTRY FIRST thing to do to have someone so unversed in politics and the world to be his number 2.

The second thing he did that made my decision not to vote for him very easy is his hiring of campaigners who worked for George W. Bush when bush beat McCain in the 2000 primaries. In the 2000 primaries it was neck and neck between Bush and McCain and the thing that put Bush over the top was one of the most discussing campaign “Swift Boating” tactics that I had ever seen. The Bush people started a smear against McCain about how he had an illegitimate black daughter. Their attacks on his family were relentless and completely untrue. The McCain’s had adopted their daughter from Bangladesh, nonetheless the attacks on his family, on his 9 year old daughter kept coming. It was the lowest low ball politics you can have, say what you want about a candidate but leave his children alone! It was disgusting and still leaves a bad taste but it worked, they lied and lied and lied again so loudly that enough people believed it and McCain lost. It was a horrible day for decency but a victory for Bush.

Now fast forward to this election and here is where I loose all respect for McCain, He Hired the Same People Who Did This to Him, His Family, And His Little Girl. He hired them for his campaign and they are doing what they do this time for him instead of against him. THERE IS NO HONOR IN THAT. I don’t know about you, but not only would I not pay money to those people but I couldn’t be in the same room with them. I’d want to fight them not pay them. I might even need to be held back if I saw them crossing the street, but I’m the kind of person who wouldn’t let anyone do that to my family. It is clear that John McCain who had honor as a young man no longer does, he won’t even stand up for his own family why would we believe that he would stand  up for us.

The only way America continues to be the beacon of hope, truth, and justice in the world is if the people in charge are truthful, have hope, and believe in the American system of justice working for ALL AMERICANS

The Choice is yours I’ve made mine

God Bless America

Let Freedom Ring