Yes, this is a political post.  You knew it was coming, so here it is.

I will admit to some hesitation about writing and publishing this post.  I am a firm believer that who one votes for is a personal choice and no one should be judged for that.  I admit that I voted for W twice–once with a heavy heart, and once with an absolutely-leaden one–and, when all is said and done, I don’t regret it.  I agree he is anything but a successful president, but I still believe that he was the best candidate in both elections (sort of, read on….).  I thought Gore was running for president only to satisfy his dead father.  Now that all is said and done, I think he’s finally found his niche in the media.  I couldn’t vote for Kerry, whose entire platform was “I’m not the other guy.”  In both elections, especially 2004, I prayed that there would be other people running, but we have to live with the cards that are dealt.

I normally wouldn’t post who I’ve decided to vote for, or the fact that I voted for W, but I tend to post everything else AND I do follow politics, so it would be hard to post anything in the next  2-3 months and keep my choice out it.  So, if for no other reason that to make it a bit easier to post in the future, I’m going to lay down my cards here.

I do feel that I have to reiterate where I come from.  I’m neither a Republican nor a Democrat–I’m a PROUD independent.  On the political spectrum, I’m probably on the liberal side of moderate.  I don’t believe in the death penalty, I support gay marriage (as long as religious organizations are given the choice of whether or not to perform gay marriages), and I’m a Christian fan of church-state separation.  I also refuse to consider abortion an issue, but I’ll dedicate another blog post to that….too long to include here. 

This is the election I never thought I would see.  An election between two excellent candidates, between two candidates that I had a very, very hard time deciding between.  Even now, if the other candidate won, I can’t say that I’d be horribly upset.

When this all began, a year or so ago, I was sold on Barack Obama.  Here was a young visionary, something different, something inspiring.  On the other side, John McCain was in there somewhere, but he was overshadowed by Giuliani, Romney and Huckabee (personally, I think the fact that anyone with the name “Huckabee” should not be allowed to overshadow anyone else, but oh well!)  I admit that I always liked McCain.  In early 2000, I was living in Massachusetts where Independents can vote in the primaries and I voted for McCain.  I still believe that he would have been the better candidate then and, had he been president on 9/11/2001, things would be much different now.  But, that was 8 years ago and, let’s face it, he’s old.

I am surrounded by very Conservative, Republican family members and I have to admit that was another factor pushing me towards Obama.  After hearing countless unfair slams against Obama and his wife (who, in my opinion, rocks!  So, deal with it!), I felt that it was my duty to support him.  As I said, I’m not a Republican, nor am I conservative, and all that talk was just turning me off the Republican nominee, despite the fact that John McCain is as non-Republican as you can be without actually being a Democrat.

I rarely watch the news on television when it comes to politics (but, when it comes to Polygamists, I’m all over CNN).  Instead, I read the news on various websites.  I like CNN because it always seems to be the most up to date, MSNBC because it is probably the least biased (I’m not saying it isn’t biased, it just the least of the major sites), the Washington Post because it is the most in depth and the BBC because it has a different viewpoint.  I do not watch FoxNews or read it on the web (unless, of course, I’m visiting family.  Then I have no choice).

Recently I’ve read things that Obama has said that made me question him.  Things like refusing to answer the question of when life begins, because that is “above his pay grade.”   Personally, I don’t care what he believed on that point, but that answer was, well, really bizarre.  I don’t feel comfortable with someone, running for the highest office in the land–the place where the buck stops–refusing to answer a question, which was not an unexpected one, by basically saying that it’s not in his job description.  What else is above his pay grade?  What else will he just choose not to address as president?

So, this leads me to my main issue with Obama.  I don’t know if I can articulate this well, because I’m sure it will come off as a “he doesn’t have the experience” sounding rant, and it’s not that.  It is becoming more and more apparent to me that Obama doesn’t have a true grasp on what being president means.  I, for one, think he is capable of it, but we are all capable of doing many things, whether or not we are aware of the significance of them.  It’s almost more of a maturity issue, but I would never say that I thought he was immature.  Yes, I think that Obama may be lacking in experience, but not the experience that everyone thinks.  Things have really been rosy for him this past year, and my fear is that he expects that to be what its like being the president.  We all know that it is not.

So, yes, for those of you who haven’t figured it out, I’m throwing my hat in for John McCain.  The age issue is still a concern, but I think McCain’s health is probably the closest watched in the nation.  Two years ago, the pastor of my church–who seemed very healthy–died of an aneurysm and he was about the age of Barack Obama.  My grandmother, who started her day with a double nightcap and drove so horribly while she was intoxicated that the police were scared of her, lived into her 90’s.  So who is to say when it is our time to go?

Far more than Obama, I think John McCain understands the gravity of the presidential office.  He understands that it will be a battle from November 5 until he leaves office.  If he were to win, it would lead to the hardest years of his life (and this for a man who has already had several very hard years).  Policy-wise, I agree with both McCain and Obama on the issues that matter to me, although I think that McCain’s tax plans are better for the country in its current state than Obama’s.  (My view on taxes, which I realize no one shares with me, is that you should be taxed more when times are good so that you can be taxed less when times are bad).

Despite my claims that I would not chose a candidate before both VP’s were announced, and McCain just announced Alaskan governor Sarah Palin this morning, I will admit that I made up my mind last night and the choice of Biden really didn’t play a role.  (I think Biden was an odd choice, I believe Obama would have been far better off with Bill Richardson, but oh well!).

And I do like what I’ve read about Sarah Palin and was impressed by her speech this morning (which I did watch on TV–on CNN, since that’s the only HD news channel we have).  I appreciate the fact that she’s from a state that few in Washington seem to care about (Oregon also falls into THAT boat!) and she is exactly what John McCain needed, someone for whom not all three McCain adjectives–old white man–could be applied.  But she is an unknown and that can be a danger.  She can end up a Teddy Roosevelt or she can end up a Dan Quayle–only time will tell.

Finally, why now?  Why before the debates, which I claim to greatly enjoy?  Unfortunately, I can’t give you any answer other than that is just how I am.  True, it may come out that John McCain likes to eat kittens for breakfast and I may have to reconsider my choice at some point between now and late October (when I’ll receive my ballot.  Remember, I’m in Oregon where election day is nothing more than a deadline).  But, barring any unforseen revelations, I have found my candidate.

****Note:  My personal view on comments is that I will approve anything that is not obviously spam or does not contain profanity.  However, when it comes to this, I am also going to delete any comments that are inflammatory.  I welcome comments that may be contrary to what I’ve written, but only if they are respectful and backed up with actual facts.