I have always enjoyed the sordid game of politics, from the time that I cast my first vote in a 1993 election; it always struck me as an entertaining game of gotcha from people with a host of skeletons in the closet playing a game of getting one up on the other guy. I have never held illusions of putting a politician on a pedestal as what is done in the dark is always brought to light, especially when you are living in the public eye.
Unfortunately that is the give and take of being human. It is humorous to think that people watch reality TV for their fix of drama, when all that they need to do is to turn to C-SPAN.
What I do find repulsive is those that wax poetic about morals, values and the political sphere in the same breath. Often those who speak the loudest are the ones that take them the lightest (Newt Gingrinch, Tom Foley, Tom Foley, Bill Clinton and the list goes on).
Unfortunately there is no getting around that reality, so I always try my best to filter out such outrageous talk. It is my contention that it is an oxymoron to be successful politician and be without the proverbial smudge, that being said the only clean politician is typically the 3rd or minor party candidate. It is a must that you get your hands dirty if you are to play the game effectively.
In the outset I always tried to make it a rule to issue my vote based on my principles, especially in national elections. As I got older I started to issue my vote based on the personality of the candidate and later my litmus test started to lean towards a combination of personality and the educational endeavors that prepared them for the job that they were seeking; as I witnessed how furthering my education changed me on a personal level. I believe that education is the great equalizer and that by broadening ones intellectual horizons this can offset a great many things.
This impending presidential election is a very important one, I started out being torn between Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich, but as the ranks of the candidates started to thin out I was forced to look towards the national election where I would lodge my traditional vote for a 3rd party candidate. But last week I was inspired by Barack Obama's acceptance speech not as a person who happens to be African-American or as a person who was born and raised on the Northwest side of Chicago, but as a pragmatic American. This year I will not cast that "protest" vote for my favorite 3rd party I will cast it for Obama.
I can see him employing the strategy that Abraham Lincoln employed in selecting his rivals to serve with him in his Cabinet, not being surrounding with yes men and women will be essential to success on the Presidential level, this was a key to Lincoln's success, one that was never fully realized. It is also my contention that no experience can compare you one for the job of being President of the United States, arguably the most stressful job on the planet.
McCain candidacy concerns me on several levels the first being the trumpeting of his values, but I find that hard to stomach considering that he not only cheated on his wife, but he left her and his 3 children for another woman, which leaves me to think that if he would this to his own family what would he do to people that he didn't have the benefit of knowing personally?
His age and his battle with cancer, I don't think that quibbling with the realities that age brings into the equation coupled with his susceptibility to developing other forms of cancer; studies have shown that as people get older the propensity for other cancers and illnesses heightens substantially.
Seeing how the stressful job of the Presidency has aged past occupants of the White House, I shudder to think of the job that it would do on McCain if elected, as he would be the oldest person ever to hold the job.
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Considering his educational acumen brings even more worry lines to my forehead. McCain graduated 5th from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy, which brings to mind another party boy who didn't take his studies as seriously as he should have...Now I am keeping in mind that this happened a very long time ago, but isn't our educational acumen and issues of character considered in other lines of employment? When I worked as a hiring manager I never hired the person with the dry personality or the one expressed dismay at educational pursuits, why should we in this election?
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Comments: 22
much as I dislike hilarity I'd have rather had her as a president, so.. we have cancel.
My family & I are looking at living overseas for the purposes of intellectual growth-as America isn't the center of the world. I have a niece in Japan that I would like to visit, does that make me and my family any less American?
As Tea Tree suggests, there is a worry that too much is being placed on Obama's shoulders, but I think this is a needless worry for several reasons. First, he is certainly more capable of handing the pressures of President than is someone like McCain who tends toward knee-jerk reactions, nervous discomfort with difficult issues, and a rather dichotomous view of the world (your either with me or against me). Second, because Obama isn't in this alone. Not only will there be a Democratic-led Congress with which he will have at least two years to work, but there are millions of Americans willing to pitch in to help bring about a new direction in governmental dynamics. No one expects Obama to walk into the White House and make things happen overnight. At best we can hope for a change of thinking that allows us to work toward our long-term goals. But we need to start somewhere. Obama gives us that opportunity.
The obligation of the rest of us is to make sure we give ourselves that opportunity, and then work hard after to the election to hold our elected officials accountable.
Clearly Obama will build his own "Team of Rivals" and listen to all perspectives with the goal of finding a path forward for all of us, not just the slightly more than 1/2 that voted for him. This is the reality of Obama, and it is a reality that positions us to regain our leadership role, both here in the US and with the world.
I think this country and its people are tired of lies. That's with all these politicians
saying they're going to do something and dont.
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I always take that term "frightening" (I hear variations of this alot) as a way to avoid saying what is really being thought. I just wish people with be forthright about what they believe instead of dancing around it.
It is really laughable, I can't think of anyone that doesn't have relatives that they wouldn't mind sweeping under the rug...
For example George Bush's brother Neil, who was a major component of the S&L scandal & he had a proclivity to women that were "paid" keep him company... OR Jimmy Carter's brother.... Billy, who caused a lot of embrassment to the Carter's.
Thank you for your comment Jen, but be sincere in what you believe... Don't put a dress and lipstick on it!
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