Which to choose–McCain or Obama? The choice is between a man who does not deserve to be President, and a man who will be intolerable as President. That being said, the winner of the title Commander-in-Chief is patently obvious. It doesn’t matter how many mistakes McCain will make as President, at least you know he’s on the right side. That isn’t quite so clear with Obama, in part because of his connections with former terrorists and anti-American preachers, and more so because of his stated position that we should negotiate with known mortal enemies such as Iran. McCain actually shows some promise of being better than Bush, although that’s not saying much given Bush’s latest shocking and disgraceful decision to remove North Korea (and possibly even Iran) from the realm of nations considered dangerous enemies.
As for the economy, Obama’s philosophy is clear: All socialism, all the time. He’ll make America as socialist as he possibly can, and he’ll have (for at least two years, maybe even eight) a fully Democratic Congress to help him do it. He will pack the Supreme Court with justices opposed to property rights and ownership of guns, and unapologetically on the side of big government liberalism. Obama is the socialist FDR for the 21st Century–only without the willingness to use American military force, as FDR did. Handing over the military to Obama is enough, by itself, to rush to McCain. I live near a major Air Force base. When I watch those military planes fly over my house and think of those planes and soldiers under the command of Obama, I frankly feel sick. But McCain doesn’t deserve the presidency. He is either unable or, worse, unwilling to defend what remains of American capitalism and freedom against the much more philosophical and deeply held belief system of Obama. Obama invited McCain into a debate not only of policies–with Obama on the wrong side–but also a debate of underlying philosophy. Thanks largely to McCain, we’ll get neither.
I blame McCain for this much more than Obama. Obama knows that ideology matters, and he’s prepared to act on his. Witness his recent comment to a voter, caught on tape, that it’s time to “spread the wealth around.” Obama’s ideology of wealth redistribution for its own sake is clear. McCain hopes that if you ignore ideology, it will go away. Witness his slide in the polls in a country that really isn’t all that socialist. This is because Americans, while practical, also care about morality and ideology. Sometimes both candidates ignore these in an election, but this year one of them doesn’t. Unfortunately, this candidate is on the wrong side and is on the verge of a historic–and disastrous–win.
I’ll sleep better at night with McCain commanding the armed forces. This is why I’ll vote for him. This matter of military security is too important to warrant abstaining from voting this year. But I know McCain does not deserve my vote, because he’s making the world safer for forces opposed to freedom, democracy and individual rights. Things may change, but as I write this, the question remains: How big a landslide for Obama? And what will such a thorough victory for the most liberal, left-wing candidate in American history mean for the cause of both maintaining and restoring a Republic based on individual rights? I hope we don’t have to find out.