Vote!

Notice the button above is in the center; that's so people won't think I am subliminally suggesting one side or the other. Also, I chose a plain font for the same reason. Unfortunately, 'plain' rhymes with McCain, so I may have a problem there. Also, perhaps you have received the email in which all the words are jumbled (first and last letters must be the same). Most people are able to read the entire message with little effort. Therefore, a second problem is that the letters in 'plain' also can easily be seen as a plug for Palin. I'll take my chances.

Humorist Kin Hubbard once wrote: "We'd all like t' vote fer th' best man, but he's never a candidate." That seems to have been the case for several elections now. In the last election, for example, Kerry got my vote, but I didn't vote for him. I voted against Bush. Looking at the economy, etc., I wish more people had, but I am not sure it matters. I would give almost anything to see what the country (and world) would look like today if Kerry had won. His victory may have a huge difference but maybe not. An anonymous quote says, "No matter who you vote for, the Government always gets in." That is quite telling.

Anyhow, this election is one more in which neither candidate "flips my switch" as again the Government will get in. Anyhow, I am writing this for any undecided readers. The last survey I saw indicated some 94 percent of voters have made up their minds. If you ask how anyone can still be undecided, I suspect those people are still wondering if they should even vote or if they should vote for a Libertarian or Green or Socialist candidate. There are six major party candidates and many, many others. I started to count all candidates and got up to 47 just getting through the B's. When one votes for anyone other than a mainstream, major party candidate, either s/he is voting strongly-held conviction, making a comment on what the two major parties is offering us, or perhaps "wasting a vote."

All of that said, I am going to stay mainstream and take a chance on Obama. There are two words that make him the only choice in my mind: President Palin. Being objective, I believe any thinking person would understand that a Jane Six-Pack doesn't belong in the highest office of the land and that she is not ready in any way, shape, or form. I believe John McCain is a good man, but I also believe his judgment lapsed when he picked Palin! There is a posted one in seven chance that John McCain will not make it through his first term. That would place her in the Presidency. You betcha it would, and that's absolutely unacceptable to me. I don't want a folksy, cutesy empty suit as the leader of the free world. She is not ready. Period.

From emails I receive, there are too many people out there who feel (1) If the candidate's a Republican, that's good enough for me, or (2) He's black - that's all I need to know. My problem has been that neither candidate represents fully what I believe is important. Two cases in point: (1) I do support the Second Amendment (Republican), but I also believe that while abortion as birth control is absolutely unconscionable, I do ultimately believe it should be a woman's choice (Democrat). What's a voter to do. Looking at more issues, I see I will save $1,000 under Obama's plan and zero under McCain's. The ads all lie! One needs to look at the facts (e.g. www.factcheck.org). I did, which is why I will give Obama a chance.

Under our last few "Conservative" presidents (Reagan [$155 Billion deficit], Bush 1 [$290 Billion deficit], and Bush 2 [$500 Billion-ish] ), our deficit blossomed! Tax-and-spend Liberal Democrat Clinton left office with a $236 Billion surplus, which Bush 2 has squandered away. The facts are there, so that's another plus on Obama's side.

I have gone on long enough. While not a hearty endorsement, I encourage you to give Obama a chance. I will.