We are seeing the news reports and reading posts about the friction on the front lines. The Palin handlers are complaining about her and she is complaining about them. No one seems to be on the same page. With John McCain’s propensity for Ready – Fire – Aim outbursts of anger I wonder if they actually talk. I cannot imagine that he is tolerating this maverick behavior on her part. With each report that comes out his blood pressure must go through the roof. I bet he knows now that the cute little kitten that he introduced at the convention is really a hungry tiger.
Someone said yesterday that he thought it possible that if elected McCain might be more like the person he seemed previously and his policies would veer further from the mainline GOP. Even if that is true I do not agree with McCain’s policies and I certainly do not like his ready-fire-aim propensity for angry outbursts. Nor am I comfortable with his judgment if the campaign reveals his decision-making style.
We spend a lot of mental energy on these posts writing about the opposing candidates with increasing vituperation and frequent conclusions about their personal characters. A candidate’s character is of major importance to me and I trust my intuitive powers to discern something of candidates character by observing their behavior in these campaigns. However, we all know that some politicians possess the ability to enthrall without revealing their darker side.
This ramble is coming to the point that ultimately we must use both intuition and reason to make our choices between now and November 4. We must consider both character and their positions along with their words and actions. We must look at the team and determine if the team can work together for the needs of the nation and the planet or if the members of the team each have divergent and self-serving purposes for seeking this office.
My choice is clear and has been for more than two years.
Fortunately, I chose a couple of years ago that the republican candidates would not get my vote, because not a one of them renounced the war and the path to war.
While I’m an independent, I soured on the GOP almost completely when they went against the will of the people to impeach Clinton. When they did that, I swore not to vote for any republican for at least one election cycle. Since they didn’t field candidates I could support, it wasn’t hard.
The GOP lost all my respect and trust when they worked so hard during the Clinton administration to oppose any initiative or legislation coming from the Clinton administration. From what I observed, they fought simply out of spite and pique with no regard for what was good for the country and I voted for the first term of the first Bush.
I voted for George Herbert Walker Bush the first time, also. He was a congressman from my district when I was in college in ’70 – 71. Wherever I went in the following Navy years, his name always got my attention when it was in the news. In his second election, I reluctantly voted for Clinton, even though I had voted for Clinton for Governor several times. It WAS the economy, just as the economy is the biggest of a number of issues today.
I voted for Bush Sr, too, and would vote again for Clinton if that were possible. I never understood why Hillary didn’t oppose Iraq or, at least, say later that she’d made a mistake. Anyone with an ounce of common sense probably knew within five minutes of hearing about Iraq that it would be a huge mistake to go in there.
My hope today is that nothing steals the election from Obama.