Can you vote for someone you don’t like?
As I type this, McCain has just announced Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate just hours after Obama gave his speech from “Temple Barack” at Invesco field from Denver last night. It’s a brilliant pick, of course aimed squarely at people like me who despite her rousing speech at the convention this week still have issues with Obama not choosing Hillary Clinton has his running mate. I know, let it go already, right? But even as recent at 24 hours ago, 30% of Hillary’s base of support is firmly in the “undecided category” which is the odd place where I now find myself, IM’ing with the Toast on Facebook trying to decide what’s really important to me.
During Hillary’s DNC speech she asked, “We’re you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?”
If I’m to be completely honest, I believed that Hillary was the best candidate to advance the democratic causes I value most, among them, a woman’s right to choose which will continue to be a central issue in this campaign, particularly as it relates to Supreme Court Justice nominees. So yes, I was “in it” for Hillary, putting my faith her her above the democratic values.
It’s not just that I’m neutral on Barack, it’s that I actively DO NOT LIKE HIM. I do find him arrogant, I don’t like his wife, he is not someone that I would want to have in my home for drinks and his Hollywood- hobnobbing is groan inducing. “Celebrities are people too”- yeah they are, but so what? I don’t need to have your lobbyists treating 600 VIP contributors to a private concert with Kanye West (and I have a lot of Kanye on my iPod, just so you know). Kanye doesn’t have the same problems that working America has.
So I’m being asked to decided on whether to vote for a guy I can’t stand because I believe in his platform and a guy I like, but whose ideals I find largely reprehensible, especially as it relates to the Evangelical Christian agenda, social service issues and the Iraq war.
And so, I am undecided.
I’ll be watching the RCN next week with as much attention as I did this week’s DNC and I’ll be watching the debates trying hard to focus on their platforms instead of personalities.
I wish on many levels that the issues in our country are such that I could trust both McCain and Obama to take the common sense approach to running our country. As I get older, I realize how much discord there is in our country on what constitutes common sense.
It should be so obvious that dependency on foreign oil is a contributing factor to our current energy crisis and that, off-shore drilling isn’t a sustainable solution. I can’t believe that McCain is so obtuse to not “get it”. I think he gets it, but is stuck in a party that won’t let him exercise common sense because of how it impacts the oil barons who are the bedrock of the Republican Party.
It’s not “baby killing”, it’s preserving the health of women and children everywhere. Making abortion illegal, doesn’t stop abortions. Because I’ll jump off the Wilson Bridge if I’m pregnant and don’t want to be, before I bring unwanted child into this world.
Where would it stop? Because the mission of Evangelical Christians isn’t just the end of abortions, it’s the complete and total control of a woman’s reproductive health. The true Right’s end-goal is to make all forms of contraception illegal, including condoms which help prevent the spread of HIV and a myriad of sexually transmitted diseases. I think McCain gets this too, understanding that merely making abortion illegal creates more problems that it could hope to solve. However he’s morally opposed to abortion stating that he believes that life begins at conception. But to what, if any extent, should his personal belief that abortion is a sin, have a bearing on his ability to serve our country as President? I can respect his point of view and while at this point in my life I would NOT have an abortion, there are circumstances where I absolutely would. If Evangelical Christians want to picket and parade in front of Planned Parenthood, that’s their right, but in the end that choice belongs to women and not to our government. If you don’t want to have an abortion, good for you but if we give our government the power to legislate morality, we sacrifice civil liberties at too high a cost.
Do you vote for the person who has the most experience or for the ideals of the party? Do I vote for Obama because he’s the furthest departure from the last 8 years even thought I think he’s an arrogant prig with intellection depth of a teaspoon? If I’m voting for Obama, it’s less of a vote against McCain as it would be a statement against, not Republicans, but Evangelical Christians.
2 months until the election. Stay tuned.
I’ve been debating for days on whether or not to comment. I hope that we are good enough friends that I can be honest. I’m wondering if your dilemma is more about sour grapes. And if it is, I of all people can understand that. There are not many people who would have been more disappointed than me if Obama had not been chosen for the Democrats. I would have been very upset if Hillary was my choice in Nov. I probably would have even said that I was going to vote for McCain just to spite her. But standing in front of that voting machine in Nov. there is no way I could, in good conscience, have voted for McCain. And this is coming from someone who voted in the Republican primary in 1999 for McCain over George W. But there is too much at stake now to let pride get in the way. A McCain presidency means dead American soldiers for decades to come. A McCain presidency means continuing indifference to the crisis in Darfur. And a McCain presidency continues the economic policies that have given tax breaks to those who don’t need them. Not to over-dramatize, but I really do feel like lives are at stake if McCain is elected – whether those be the lives of Africans; the lives of young, American high-school graduates who enlist because they have no other economically beneficial options; and the lives of poor Americans who couldn’t make enough to survive before, but are worse off now after eight years of governmental indifference. I know you were personally invested in Hillary’s campaign, probably even more than I was personally invested in Obama’s campaign. And that personal investment can lead to real hatred of ‘the other guy.’ Lord knows there were times when Hillary inspired me to use obscenities. But being a ‘blue dog Democrat’ (which is what I thought you were) means just that – you vote for who they lift up even if you think their candidate is a dog. And who knows, Obama could surprise you. You have more of a chance being surprised by Obama than you do being surprised by McCain.
Good grief….quit your crying Democrat Dad! In your spare time…try acting, I think you’d be good at it! To say if McCain is elected means dead american soldiers for decades to come is ridiculous.
I’m a Republican and will be voting for McCain. I do think Hillary though would’ve been a better choice as the nominee…and for ODOOFUS not picking her as his running mate was his mistake. He is all talk and his entire speech was McCain bashing and nothing to tell us what he’s going to do to solve any issues. Maybe just maybe you guys still have a chance…..Perhaps something will happen to force hairplugged Biden off the ticket and Hillary back on? WOW, wouldn’t that be exciting? The next few months are going to be fun!
I know it’s a sin not to vote, right up there with eating chicken wings if you’re vegan, but I can’t vote in this election, which depresses me quite a bit. If I need a new pair of shoes but the two pair that fit are not to my liking, I just don’t buy any. But this isn’t shoes. I am with Jen on not liking the Bama. I don’t like him. I don’t know why I don’t like him. But I don’t. And McCain? Too silly to bother with, and sillier now that he has that anti-woman woman running mate. Whose idea WAS that, anyway?
OK, here goes my rant (remember, I still love you)…
Alas – first, you are not asked to “like” the person you vote for. You are asked to make a decisions to cast your vote as a strategic option for what you feel is “best option”, considering the climate (aka – congressional majority (rep versus dem), current issues, etc.).
Next, we all seem to get wrapped around the rhetoric here. If you break down the candidates, their track records, their hypocrisies, you will find that they are all very flawed and will do pretty much anything to win this campaign. They are in it to win it. It is the political machine at work.
All I see above (for the most part) are empty sound bites and baseless accusations (AKA: Party Rhetoric)
Energy crisis: Um…look around, you know, the WORLD. The US is well under market value for Petro in comparison. Crisis? No. What is closer to a crisis is the world impact that is still mounting thanks to liberal lobbying for Ethanol which actually increases Petro product use in the end(due ot it’s inefficiencies), and is solidly contributing to a grain crunch/”crisis” affecting supply – globally. It affects feed to livestock, and staples we consume. The prices are still rising. -way to responsibly impact the economy liberals, gee thanks.
Bottom line: Obama tells us he won’t increase taxes for average people – he is really lying. He will by way of not extending the current rebates we receive – oh, and he is all for taxing those evil businesses. Great, in a down economy that’s is just what the doctor ordered – the more businesses pay, guess what happens? Job loss, loss of production, loss of competitiveness due to closures – oh and increase price of everything.
Yes, what a plan for the economy.
My vote comes down where my wallet is. I don’t like either candidate, but my pockets will be better of with less handouts, less whining, and less taxes and targeting of businesses.
In the end, none of it matters in the sense of that actual candidates. There is no “change” here – just the regular party rhetoric from both sides.
I got to saw you are very articulate about your thoughts and I appreciate that, however I disagree with your views almost entirely. But that is not why I am writing, what you need to do this election is to look at the candidates and find the one you can see sitting across from Putin and talking out Georgia, you can see sitting in the oval office, you can see running our country, maybe not the way you exactly want but the way that will keep the country okay until someone you do like will get in. Good luck in your candidate search.