Why I can’t vote for Obama

I moved in 2004. I had to re-register to vote. I had been registered as a Republican my entire life. I changed my registration to Independent.

Why? I don’t bail on friends in hard times. Whether or not President Bush did the right thing in going into Iraq, whether or not he handled the challenges of the post-hostilities era well, whether or not I agreed with his policies, he was still the Republican nominee and the titular head of the party. I felt that based on political expediency, the leaders of the party bailed on him. They looked at the opinion polls and split. Those are not people of conviction. They did not deserve to have me counted as one their registered members.

We elected Bush president. We re-elected him. You go home with the date that brought you. Good times and bad. The nice thing about politics is you can either vote someone out or they hit term limits. You don’t bail on them. There was no criminal or immoral conduct – there were policy differences. People that bail on people because of differences of opinion are weak.

A party so in love in the polls – which are so open to manipulation – is insulting. To bail on a president in wartime is even more insulting.

I watched as the hogs approached the trough for the 2008 anointing. None of them grabbed me – neither party. I listened to Romney and Huckabee. McCain didn’t seem to have a shot, and he was always more of a statesman to me than a fiery politician. I watched with amusement as Hillary plodded through. I always thought her negatives were too high to win anything. I saw Obama as an empty suit –words full of promise, but no clue how those promises could become reality.

No one impressed me. My assumption as late as Spring 2008 was that I would just stay home.

When McCain and Obama won their nominations I began to research both. I knew a lot about McCain because of his Republican affiliation. I learned a lot about Obama through exhaustive research.

McCain comes across to me as a person that wants to solve a problem. While I don’t agree with what he sees as a “problem” and more often don’t agree with his “solution,” he at least has that focus. I liked his dedication to the military far beyond the time when people were probably encouraging him to run for office. What I learned about him was what made him a man. His policies were neither grabbing nor offensive.

I have read a lot of Obama’s speeches. I studied his career. I didn’t view it by asking myself, “Do I agree with [this] policy or [that] policy.” I viewed it purely as I view people that I include in my personal life: “What do they think?”

What I learned about Obama disturbed me. I really could not care less if he is “socially progressive” or a socialist. What I found is a man lacking the temerity to stand up for what he believes. I found a man that would say one thing to one group and shy away from, even refute, what he said to another group. He is pro-abortion. I am not. That difference is fine. But at least vote for the abortion bills – don’t declare yourself “present.” I found a man that is not true to himself.

I found a man that is afraid to say, “Here is who I am.” That disturbs me greatly.

Part of it is his youth and swimming in waters too deep for him at this stage of his life. He has been at the center of a storm ever since the Columbia faculty spotted him. His move to Chicago was in response to a suggestion, not a journey of his own making.

“You can’t be a community organizer in this town without having a church,” he was told. So he found a church. He sought God for expediency? Not in my circle of friends. I would rather someone say, “Church is for people that need bricks and mortar for their spirituality.” He did not. He found a church instead.

Concerning Ayers and Klalidi, Obama has downplayed his relationships with them. The record is replete with years of discussions, years of working together. Why denounce them – or try to distance himself from them? Why couldn’t he say, “These are people whose paths crossed mine. I don’t adopt their views, but I listen. I don’t in horror from views that I find repulsive. I try to understand. It doesn’t change who I am, because here is here I am …” No. He did not. Why? Because Obama feared the public reaction. The very same reason I left the Republican Party.

Now that I see the man, I look to his policies. Everything I needed to learn, I learned last night in one of his commercials. The audio went something like this: “Are you a nurse making $60,000 a year? If so, under the Obama plan, your taxes will go down $1,000. Under the McCain plain, only $150.” The entire ad was buying votes. I find that repulsive.

I was in a test market group for an Obama ad that I have not seen on television yet. He compared himself to Gandhi, Einstein, and John Lennon: “Some people dare to change the world – only those that dare can actually do it.” Oh. My. God. Barry, brother, get a grip. It sounds good. May feel good. But you are so clueless on the realities. Vladimir the Terrible from the soon-to-be-back USSR is going to chew you up.

In the end result, I will vote for McCain. It is probably a three-part vote: Against Obama, for Palin (I think she is a true outsider), and against Biden (he is NOT from Scranton – I am. I detest interlopers. He left when he was ten for God’s sake. What were you doing at ten? “Mommy, I want another a cookie, and I promise to be good!” Joe, just shut up.).

I cannot vote for Obama because I do not believe in the man. I am sure he would be interesting to talk to. So would a lot of people. But if I cannot believe in the man, I cannot vote for him.

McCain it is.