John McCain for President

I’ll be voting for John McCain next week.  While he was not my first choice in the primaries, McCain’s integrity, strength of character, respected record of public service, and his, um, testicular fortitude on issues merits my vote.  And of course his military service to America is the stuff of legend.

Sarah Palin has generated a lot of excitement, of course, and I believe her to be well-equipped to assume the office of president should the need arise.  She is an excellent choice for the VP spot.  But I’ve never voted for a ticket on the strength of the VP candidate, and won’t this time, either.

McCain is right on most issues, in my opinion.  On national defense, taxation (generally), the economy, the space program, abortion (yes, I have a litmus test on this one!), and many other issues John McCain’s stated position is in line with my own.  These are all things I deem to be good for America.  I don’t like some of his stances, such as how to handle illegal immigrants.  And most recently his support of the TARP bill was dissapointing.  But on the most important issues, McCain’s got a good record and good plans.  I can vote for him in good conscience.

As much as I’m voting for McCain, I’m voting against Barak Obama, too. 

The cultural love affair with Obama is understandable; he’s a smart, articulate, attractive man.  He has, however, changed positions on many issues in a suspiciously expedient way, and seems mostly bent on being elected, not on what’s good or right.  Obama has to date offered no substantive reason for me to vote for him.  His resume is razor-thin, he has shown poor judgement of character, and he is plainly disingenuous regarding some of his positions, especially his stated tax policy.  Being employed in America’s space program, I found his statements and positions about NASA early in the campaign to be wildly ill-conceived.  Of course, he’s changed his position (for the better) now.  But the fact that he had NOT thought through the issues in the first place is telling.  And disturbing.  On what other issues is his judgement unreliable?  How recklessly political is this fellow, anyway?

But there’s a more important reason to try to prevent the election of Senator Obama.  On taxes, I’ve become fond of saying that Obama is the candidate for people who can’t do math.  His plan to tax “only” the rich is a pure con game, as far as I can see.  Obama knows that businesses do not pay taxes the way that individuals do.  This is elementary: a business must build tax cost — just like any other cost of doing business — into the price of the goods and services it offers.  To do otherwise is unprofitable (read “stupid”.)  So under Obama’s plan, everybody pays the cost of his higher taxes — poor, middle class, and rich.  And who gets hurt the most in this fiscal bait-and-switch?  The poor; the very same people who are being duped by the Obama campaign into feeling (“thinking” is too strong a word) that their candidate has a plan to help them.  Sure, their taxes will be “lower”, but their cost of living will be higher because of it!  It’s a con, folks.  That’s all it is.  Don’t fall for it! 

Hasn’t he learned that each substantive tax cut in modern history resulted in increased revenue, not less? 

One of my gripes about McCain is that he failed to nail Obama on this fiscal shell game in the debates.  It’s an extraordinarily weak point in Obama’s candidacy, and McCain should tell America why it would be a burden on all Americans — especially the poor — should Obama be elected and manage to get it through congress.

So what can I do?  I can vote.  And so I urge you, too.  Vote for John McCain, a man I don’t always agree with, but one we could be proud to call our President.  See you at the polls!

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