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It’s your Right and your Duty – Vote!
Tomorrow (Tuesday) is a big day. Wednesday is even bigger for me personally – it’s the day I finally get some relief from the incessant chatter about the election. Since this will be an historic election no matter which side wins, I feel like I need to comment on the election and urge people to get out tomorrow and vote. As such, this won’t strictly be a personal finance post, but since this election will affect our finances I feel like I have leeway to create the post (besides, it’s my blog!)
Can these guys just say anything they want?
I have paid much more attention to both candidates this time around as compared to prior years and honestly, I have not liked what I have seen. My wife has been very interested in the process this time around and has pulled me into it (albeit kicking and screaming to some extent). I get the feeling that they are just making stuff up as they go along. I especially felt this way while watching the debates. Most questions that were asked were greeted by a new program that was to be created or more spending. Obama did this throughout the entire debate (McCain pointed it out later in the debate) but McCain did it as well to a lesser extent. And of course, all of this new spending while cutting taxes, eh? Let me put it this way – I’m not holding my breath for my tax cut.
The great thing about a campaign (the great thing for the candidates, certainly not for you and me) is there is no accountability. You can promise whatever you want and after you get elected, if anyone even remembers all the promises you made, you can just blame the previous president for you not being able to follow through.
My take on Obama’s campgaign
I feel that, for the most part, Obama ran a very good campaign strategically. He always had a big lead so it wasn’t necessary for him to take too many risks. Of course, the fawning major media coverage and huge disparity in money to spend certainly didn’t hurt. The best thing the Obama campaign did was to effectively associate McCain with President Bush (let me say that must drive McCain crazy – most of the base republicans don’t really like McCain since he differs so much from some of the traditional republican positions and he is here being linked so closely with Bush!)
My take on McCain’s campaign
I feel that McCain’s campaign, in contrast to Obama’s, has not been run very well. I feel that his messages have been too disjointed – it seems that they send out differing messages from one week to the next. I also think that they seemed to get distracted with the whole Bill Ayers as terrorist thing and are only now focusing on more effective strategies like pointing out how liberal Obama is. That being said, in light of our current situation with the economy, Bush, the money disparity, etc, this should not even be a race. Obama should win in a landslide so it is somewhat astounding that this race is still going on. Now, maybe it still will be a huge win for Obama but there is some uncertainty still.
What is the deal with the polls?
How can there be so many different polls with so many different results. Let’s go back to one of my favorite quotes:
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." Mark Twain (attributed to Benjamin Disraeli)
With the huge disparity among the various polls, It is certainly starting to make me wonder if these polls are being manipulated purposefully.
My advice?
Ignore the meaningless campaign promises (how can you cut taxes and spend $800B more at the same time?), rhetoric, and name calling. Look at how the candidate has acted in the past and use that as your measuring stick. If they have consistently voted for something that you support, they will most likely continue to support that in the future. Similarly, if they have never voted for a tax cut in the past, do you really think they will turn into a tax-cutter tomorrow? The best advice I can give is to turn off the TV and look into each of these men’s political records and decide which one matches up with your values. Vote for characters and values and not for campaign promises.
Who am I voting for?
Well, I’m done prattling on about this and frankly, I’m fed up with the entire process. I keep thinking about all the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent campaigning and wishing that money could be put to better use – so wasteful!
As for me, I’ll be voting for McCain for a number of reasons. I like his experience. If you want to foster cooperation across the aisle, I feel that he has a track record of doing just that compared to one of the most liberal senators in office.
I do not agree with Obama that scapegoating the wealthy is the best way forward. I do not think that burdening people who work hard and are successful is the best way help out those less fortunate or less motivated (especially when the government is involved in the redistribution). I’m not really tickled by Obama calling me selfish for not wanting to pay higher taxes. Frankly, I’d much rather give my money to charity than the government as I feel it will get put to much better use. [By the way, what was up with Joe Biden telling us that it was "fair" for the wealthy to pay more taxes. Whether you agree with that philosophy or not, isn't making a certain group of people pay a higher percentage than others actually the definition of unfair ? Besides, even at a flat tax rate the wealthy would pay more money in taxes.]
I don’t like Obama’s record on social issues and I feel this topic is being unfortunately overshadowed by the poor economy. On top of that, some of Obama’s actions in relation the media (especially the few outlets that have the audacity to not fawn all over him) are extremely troubling to me. And honestly, I just don’t trust him.
So, there you have it – my reasons for voting for John McCain. I could go on and on about this stuff, but since is a PF blog, I’ll just stop there!
Now, you go out and vote! (but only once please)
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I have to agree with you comments. I often wonder why someone with called “Calculator Mike” didn’t stand up and simply do some addition and subtraction with all of the proposals and tax cuts going on. Perhaps Joe the Plumber’s plunger is just more metaphorical in what part of their body so many people are using to think…..