2008: Punch-drunk

This election has been an emotional roller-coaster for me. For years before it, I was living in dread of a Hilary presidency. I was certain that was the worst thing that could happen to America.

Democrats rarely prove me wrong, but they did so a few months ago by choosing a candidate who will do more damage to America than Hilary could ever dream of. Meanwhile, my own party presented me with someone I had been sure would never get our nomination, someone I was under the impression all Republicans loathed. It was in reference to McCain that I first heard the term RINO: Republican In Name Only, in case anyone doesn’t know.

I still don’t understand how he got our nomination. Genuine conservatives are weak enough at opposing liberals; why would we pick a so-called Republican who doesn’t even want to?

When McCain got our nomination, I was forced for the first time in years to seriously consider who to vote for instead of just planning to vote a straight Republican ticket. I had to weigh the possibility that long-term, an inevitably disastrous term of Obama followed by eight years of a genuine Republican might be best for our country.

Over the course of months, I had gradually resigned myself to voting for McCain, chiefly because of the horrific revelations about Obama that kept coming to light. I won’t link them all here because if you’re reading this site, you’re almost certainly familiar with them.

Then he picked Sarah Palin.

I naturally assumed that all my fellow Republicans would join me in pointing out that a woman with an infant cannot meet the responsibilities of high office, and that Palin has proven her irresponsibility by raising two delinquents so far. I have no doubt that the younger Palins will show plenty of behavior problems as well when they’re a little older, old enough to get in trouble that would come to the attention of the law; at their age, likely only their teachers and the parents of their classmates have seen it.

Instead, of course, there was a tsunami of enthusiasm for this neglectful mother who left her town bankrupt after her stint as mayor. Even Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh let me down, and I’m left unable to recognize my own political party.

At this point, I don’t even care who wins. Obama will damage the country quickly, probably within hours of being sworn in. McCain & Palin will do more gradual damage, with their endorsement of out-of-wedlock teenage pregnancy and working mothers. But since they will have warped the stance of conservatives to condone these damaging things, in the long run they will do worse harm to America. At least an Obama presidency will give good people something to oppose.

As for myself, I am giving my vote to the Libertarian candidate, Bob Barr. If anyone knows where we can get another 60 million voters for him, please let me know.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, September 13th, 2008 at 8:22 am and is filed under Vox Populi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. | 184 views | Trackback | Print this page |

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