I’m reluctantly voting for McCain. Fred Thompson was my candidate and I’m very disappointed at the way things turned out – he would have been a great President. McCain…well, McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, Gang of 14, etc., etc.

I’m conservative. I could vote for a Democrat like Zell Miller or Sam Nunn (or David Boren) but they are not available to me. McCain comes closest even though I HATE illegal alien amnesty and the quashing of free speech via McCain-Feingold.

The third rail –

I come from a long line of Democratic voters. Indeed, I’m probably the first member of my family to vote for a Republican. And its a VERY large family located in the South. Yellow-dog Democrats for the most part. I grew up handing out Democratic literature at polling places, and my Dad was a union organizer.

The reason I mention this is that there is not one family member I know of who is willing to vote for Obama. Most of them will be sitting out the election so they don’t vote for a Republican, but a number of them intend to vote for McCain.

Why. Well, some of it is admittedly racial. There are a lot of Southern rednecks in my family background who would NEVER vote for a black person, regardless of their qualifications.

On the family members who are NOT racist…Rev. Wright says it all.

My mother cried when Dr. King was assassinated – I remember.

(aside – I also remember being very confused about the King assassination. Why would anyone want to kill the King?? He was the King, after all…)

Mom is one of the nicest, non-judgmental people to walk the face of the planet, and a reliable Democratic voter in EVERY election (no sitting out local elections for her!). My parents have always lived in mixed-race neighborhoods, and there are several black women who have been among her best friends for decades.

And in November, for the first time in her life, she is voting Republican, for McCain.

On Obama when I asked her – “I just don’t trust him. Look at his preacher!” Then the discussion of Chicago politics, Tony Rezko – and she was totally unaware of Obama’s ties to Auichi and Ayers.

Trust me, this is a most difficult decision for her, and she feels a certain amount of guilt over it. But she honestly thinks that Obama is bad for the country. How many other Democrats out there are like her?

Now the next thing, the so-called “Bradley Effect”. How many people will say that they are voting (or willing to vote) for Obama due to the fact that they don’t want to be considered racist? If you look at the primary exit polls it appears that the Bradley effect is pretty strong. It will probably be stronger as the general election season progresses, since Obama is pushing the “they think I’m a scary black man” meme.

Please.

I would be more than happy to pull the lever for a Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, JC Watts, Thomas Sowell, or Michael Steele. But there is NWIH that I will vote for Obama, as much as I dislike McCain. The behavior among his acolytes is reprehensible (look at their caucus behavior in Texas). And he’s a SOCIALIST. Or, at the very least, a naive Marxist. Plus being entirely unqualified to be President – two years in the Senate? Voting “present” on most of the controversial bills presented in the state legislature where he originally served? The reprehensible conduct towards his past political opponents??

Shame…I’m independent, so the Dems could have conceivably had my vote by nominating someone who had something in the way of conservative values, especially since McCain only pays lip-service to them.

Blacks vote Democrat about 95% of the time unfortunately, and a black Democrat with the exact same views as the white Democrat will get that black vote (and especially if the white candidate turns it into a racial contest or goes out of their way to suggest that the opponent is naive like a child).

As for others, the appeal of Obama consists of a candidate who has done many things differently, and promises to continue that. Most people who do support him have read some of the numerous policy positions on his website and anyone who walks around saying they are “scared” or “don’t know what he will do” are just repeating Republican stupidities.

Both candidates have been pretty outspoken in what they would like to do and you have to just pick which items mean the most to you. But many people not voting for Obama are doing so for reasons that are pretty simplistic or misguided.

Right now I just hope McCain comes up with some really solid initiatives beyond the status quo so that I can be mildly happy with either outcome.

Nor do I think Bush was a bad president in many areas. Our current economic woes are in fact due to trying to make corrections after the Clinton dot.com bubble.

However, we are in a world of difficulty in many areas and Republicans have a tendency to tinker instead of coming up with bold ideas. We are in need of something very different.

There are certain things this time I am willing to gamble on. I am willing to gamble that once in office, Obama will take the right course in Iraq, whatever that proves to be, and once he has more information. I am willing to gamble that if McCain was elected, abortion laws are not going to move one inch in any direction. I am also willing to gamble that someone needs to make big changes in either tax policy, healthcare, or social security and McCain does not seem to be that man.

And in a world where Iran has progressed with possible dangerous weapons despite our “not talking” and where Israel deems it wise to talk to groups like Hamas, engaging your enemies is an additional unexplored option that we don’t nearly use enough. I do want a president who will speak before he fights.

My ideal candidate was Huckabee of all people. But right now I want a candidate who will DO SOMETHING different, given that both candidates are not too high up on the “I love Jesus” meter.

What scares me about Obama — not Obama the man, but Obama the myth and the glazed eyes, disengaged brains of the followers of this faux messiah. It scares me very much becuase I ask — is this the anti-Christ? That so many don’t even question his credentials, his positions, his beliefs — they just see his black skin and go gah gah over how great it is that the US would elect a black man. Thank you very much — but I am saving my pride in America when it is Michael Steele and not this otherwise unaccomplished baby killer.

If I as a white male had said those kinds of comments, fat toadies like Sharpton and Jackson would have howled “racism!” since they have no other rational defense to base thier “logic” on… and once again they’d've been WRONG.

Once again, I find myself faced with voting for the lesser of the evils. Having one party controlling both congress and the White House has me in deep concern over the lack of checks and balances and what a Socialist party agenda could do for taking us warp speed into Depression-II…

Regardless of the rhetoric, experience counts.

And yes, I agree, GB has been one HUGE disappointment. But face it, at least he’s keeping the war and other major issues OVER THERE.

But, at least my garden is still cranking out good veggies so I won’t go hungry for the time being… I think if the current economic trend continues, you’re going to see alot of the old “victory gardens” coming back…pity the folks in the cities…

…and the beat goes on…

Looks like this evangelical Christian author has a refreshing perspective on Obama:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11099.html

Perhaps for the same reason folks use to mock Richard Milhous Nixon’s middle name. Making fun of a candidate’s name is a time-honored political tradition, and it seems odd to object now.

In fact, one of the creepy things about some supporters of He Whose Middle Name Must Not Be Mentioned is their willingness to accuse those who mock His middle name of racism/religious bigotry (they cannot seem to make up their mind which). Given the Democrat Party’s support for fascist measures such as the Fairness Doctrine, it’s not safe to assume that this outrage over playing with the name “Hussein” is entirely harmless.

I lived and worked for a number of years in east Africa (where my wife is from). Many African countries have laws making it a crime to “insult” the government. My favorite is the one that criminalizes naming pets and barnyard animals after the President of the country. These laws are sold to Africans as a way to make political campaigns “clean”. When I listen to our media decry “mudslinging” and call for “bipartisanship”, I am reminded of the anti-pet name law.

Making fun of “Milhous” or “Hussein” may be weak politics, but at least it is an indicator that PC has not devoured all free speech.

All I know now is that I don’t like and won’t vote for McCain, Obama, Barr (likely Libertarian candidate), McKinney (or whatever the Greens toss up), or Baldwin (Constitution Party candidate). So for President at the moment I’m stuck with having to exercise the write-in option and writing in someone who is not even running.

So you were just writing a post criticizing taxes in general, not actually responding to the fact that Obama will increase taxation.

Good to know.