Lets Vote!

The third and final presidential debate is over, so you must be ready to vote! Yeah, neither am I. Watching the debate last night, I was unimpressed. It’s the same old rhetoric again and again.

The most notable aspects for me are the following:

1. McCain comes off as an irritable and smug candidate. The contrast to Obama is striking, because he exudes calmness and a quiet confidence. The presidency shouldn’t be based on this alone, but lets be honest, he seems more ‘presidential.’
2. Obama likes government. A good number of his policies center around spending more money and more government regulatory oversight. I’m not convinced that’s the way to go and I don’t like the government in my business.
3. McCain keeps repeating “We can do it. We’ll get it done.” (this is especially evident in the second debate), which continually gives me the impression he thinks its going to be easy. As a country we are facing a multitude of problems and yes I think we can get through them, but not without changing the way we live our lives and sacrificing a few things (I’m not talking civil liberties here people). It is ludicrous, knowing the scope of the issues, to think we are going to tackle the environment, social security, AND healthcare at the same time like he proposed in the second debate.

Obama was right on in his closing statement and said two important things. First, that we need to make sacrifices. Economically speaking, we can’t continue to live outside our means as a government, as families, or as individuals. We are a credit-loving people, who want everything now. The blame for the current economic crisis does lie mostly on Wall Street, but every citizen should be prepared to accept some responsibility. Secondly he said, we need to get back to investing in the American infrastructure with education, small businesses, jobs, etc.

I still haven’t decided who to vote for and November 4th is coming quickly (even quicker if one has to vote by absentee – which I do). I found a website (www.glassbooth.org) that asks you to answer a series of questions on relevant issues, tallies the answer, then provides the candidate(s) – in rank order – that aligns best with your own beliefs. My choice was strikingly clear: Obama 71% and McCain 71%. So I guess that means if McCain and Obama have an illegitimate son or daughter who runs for president, they’re getting my vote!