Are you voting?

This is really a question on whether those of us who supported another candidate will vote in this election.

One would suppose it should be a slam dunk.

1. You have a Presumptive Nominee
2. He's the only candidate with your leanings in the race
3. There is a lot on the line
   

However, as I talk with various people such as Liberals, Conservatives and "Middle of the Roaders", there is a lot of consensus... no-one is happy.

Take for instance Obama.

1. You have a nominee that is figuring out his position while campaigning. I don't think he's ever really thought about a lot of this before. His flips on positions, such as how quickly to bring home troops after he's elected, have gone from "immediate" to "gradual and reasonable" and are not simply small moves - rather continental plate shifts!
   
2. His inability to pick friends and staff that are not tainted by illegal activity is truly scary. It shows he lacks good judgment - can't pick those of good character and, maybe worse, may align with nefarious people to further a short term political goal.
   
3. He has no foundational principles to base his positions on. This makes him wishy-washy and is definitely not good. The fact that he has not thought through his positions is most clear when he's asked a question he didn't anticipate. He fumbles and sometimes in the same interview will give conflicting answers. That's bad for the leader of the free world - it casts uncertainty and doubt in the minds of our allies and thoughts of opportunity in the minds of our enemies.
   
4. How about negotiating with terrorists and rouge nations? No preconditions! Reminds me of the '70s when people were talking about unilateral disarmament - whoa! Jack Handey (SNL) said "I can picture in my mind a world without war, without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it." Humorous, but had we not taken our security seriously back in the 70s and 80s (thanks for getting us back on track Ronald Reagan) we would be the world being attacked and sacked. National security is serious business and not for the faint of heart.

How about Clinton?

For those who were Clinton supporters, actually, McCain probably reflects better on many of your views. What could be more important than National Security? At least Hilliary had a more reasonable approach to keeping the nation safe and withdrawing troops (although still misguided.) Her social policies still scare me - but they were not nearly as Utopian as Obama's. Those who support her seem to hate Obama.

Then we come to John McCain.

Some of us who are conservative, have trouble here. Because he reflects a less conservative position 20% of the time, it irritates me. I don't agree with all his positions, however, I have the following observations that will make me vote in this election and cast it for John McCain.

1. As noted above, he is the presumptive nominee. This is no small position to hold. In reality, no third party can win for a number of reasons (which I won't get into here ... there are good reasons for a two party system.) That means that either McCain becomes President or Obama becomes President (assuming no cataclysmic event disqualifies one of them.) Do I really want Obama? Well, no!
   
2. Some have said that we'll get what we deserve and they're not voting. To those who hold that position, I say... get over it! Use your head and quit throwing a tantrum! Allowing emotion to control you will not keep our nation safe nor put money in your pocket at the end of the day - actually, quite the opposite. A non-vote is a YES vote for Obama.... not on my watch!
   
3. He is 80% conservative. His voting record is well known. I may disagree with him some of the time, but as Ronald Reagan clearly stated that "the person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and ally." John McCain is an ally.
4. There's a lot on the line and only one who can keep us out of the ditch... John McCain. When I say a lot on the line, I mean that the next President will have the following...

• Keeping our nation safe with a strong defense. If we lose this one, we've lost it all.
  
• Supreme Court appointments. The next President will appoint 2 or 3. This will set the tone of the court and law for decades to come. Want an interpretation of the Constitution that is changing based on social pressure? Elect Obama - he'll appoint those type of judges. Want to have strict constructionist judges that will look at the Constitution as bedrock? Elect McCain. This point is so serious, that once the Supreme Court Justice is appointed, there's no going back - they are there for life!
• Tax policy. McCain is for maintaining lower taxes enacted by Bush. Obama is for obsoleting them (thus raising them back to pre-tax cut levels) and then increasing them from there. McCain does understand economics and impact of taxation on businesses and remaining competitive in a global economy.
• Social policy. He is for maintaining traditional family values as policy instead of trying to dictate social value change. Agree or disagree, he's for maintaining a strong family. 'nuf said for now.
  
• Government policy. McCain is for a modest government - not larger parent state socialism.
  

Bottom line is that we may all be unhappy in some regards relating to our nominees, however, my advise... use intelligence over emotion and take action that furthers your principles e.g. vote!

BTW. A "non-vote" is a vote for Obama. Is that who you want?

How are you voting? Let's have a dialog.

Lee