Obama or McCain

[kimiko]

I'm taking a page out of Obama's book and will leverage my vote. So it will be McCain.

[zooracer]

I'm taking a page out of Obama's book and will leverage my vote. So it will be McCain.

I have to say there are a good number of responses on her for McCain.

The polls are constantly being shown on the media to have Obama way ahead of McCain...

However, I have always wondered about the validity of these polls. I remember with Gore that the polls had him winning and we all know what happened with that....

I think McCain has a good chance of winning this thing....guess we'll see

[JimInOK]

I have to say there are a good number of responses on her for McCain.

The polls are constantly being shown on the media to have Obama way ahead of McCain...

However, I have always wondered about the validity of these polls. I remember with Gore that the polls had him winning and we all know what happened with that....

I think McCain has a good chance of winning this thing....guess we'll see

I've been following a website that breaks the latest polls down into the electoral college map. Overall polls are really meaningless without considering how it all breaks down. Bottom line is it looks, at this point, like it's a lot easier for Obama to get to the needed 270 than McCain. But it boils down to a handful of close states (Mich, Ind, Ohio, NC, Virg) as the swing states. Toss Florida in there too, but the last poll put it a little more strongly in the McCain column.

Of course, as you said, if the polls are wrong, this estimate's wrong as well. If nothing else, I look forward to seeing how accurate it ends up being. Here's the site:

Electoral-vote.com: President, Senate, House Updated Daily

[zooracer]

I've been following a website that breaks the latest polls down into the electoral college map. Overall polls are really meaningless without considering how it all breaks down. Bottom line is it looks, at this point, like it's a lot easier for Obama to get to the needed 270 than McCain. But it boils down to a handful of close states (Mich, Ind, Ohio, NC, Virg) as the swing states. Toss Florida in there too, but the last poll put it a little more strongly in the McCain column.

Of course, as you said, if the polls are wrong, this estimate's wrong as well. If nothing else, I look forward to seeing how accurate it ends up being. Here's the site:

Electoral-vote.com: President, Senate, House Updated Daily

cool site...

Another thing to consider is that the economy may be on the mend here....

Oil is falling and the dollar is strengthening very quickly now...

Dow up 300 today..

If the economy gets better, this will help McCain I suspect...

We'll see!

[JimInOK]

cool site...

Another thing to consider is that the economy may be on the mend here....

Oil is falling and the dollar is strengthening very quickly now...

Dow up 300 today..

If the economy gets better, this will help McCain I suspect...

We'll see!

Oh, definitely true! There is so much that can happen between now and election day. I was just referring to their prospects as of right now. I fully agree that events could completely change the picture. Bigger leads have definitely been overcome!

[kork13]

Looking around, I just found this and found it (for the most part) fairly interesting, so I figured I would contribute.

Jeffrey: Thank you for encouraging strictly positive (for our own candidate) posts--by looking over some of these other posts, looking for ways to support my candidate, I actually was able to think through my positions on some of these.

Everyone else: Feel free to ask questions about anything I say, and I should be able to back it up a bit more concretely... Also, please keep in mind that my personal political affiliations are hard to define. I'm pretty apathetic about politics--I just want to be able to trust my elected officials to run the country properly and responsibly, and otherwise I largely ignore politics--which admittedly may be proven by any potential errors in what I've put forward. However, I'm in the military (in fairness/full disclosure, this is probably my most significant bias), and whether I like it or not, the person I call "Commander in Chief" impacts my career directly. In light of this, and based on some of my thoughts below, I'm voting for John McCain. Finally, I did try to keep this positive, though I won't guarantee there's not a bit of Dem-bashing...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Iraq: If we leave without establishing a stable government, it WILL become corrupted, such as was the case with the Taliban--we put them into power, but they became corrupted and thereby destabilized the country. We also put Saddam Hussein into power, but again, he became corrupted by the power and became dangerous to his own people and to the international community. Compare with other nations (Japan, Germany are prime examples) where a continued presence has been there, and the nations have been highly successful.

Energy: Nuclear power provides hoards of energy at lower costs (per kW-hr) than nearly any other power source. Even to work INSIDE a nuclear plant, one would be exposed in 1 year to a level of harmful radiation equivalent to about 1 hour of sun bathing. I desperately hope McCain can bring these to fruition.

Abortion: While I strongly oppose the idea of abortions, I recognize that there are *certain* circumstances in which I can accept it, such as in cases of rape, incest, or legitimate, critical danger to the mother. However, for those who are not responsible enough to keep their sex lives under control, I can never support allowing them to end a life that was never given a chance. I believe McCain has the best position: generally opposed to it, but has some openness to it (ex: he thinks it's allowable for rape victims) that he might consider a law which has carefully written allowances for exceptional cases.

Military: Point blank, McCain WILL support the military. The military keeps our nation safe from external threats, both real (N. Korean nukes) and implied (Russian and Chinese ... provocative actions). The military conducts/funds critical R&D programs which are either unparalleled outside, or are more advanced (alternate power/fuels, space tech, materials engineering, etc.). The military is THE MOST RESPECTED AND TRUSTED ORGANIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES, by a long shot. On a scale of public faith, from 1-100, military is at ~70. Compare with Public Education at ~40 and Congress at ~15. I don't have the polls to show it, but if you look for them, they're out there from (I think) Time Magazine. Looking at history, Democrats in general have cut, downsized, and restricted the military far more than Republicans. As a military man himself, I know that McCain will also strongly support the military, AND the FAMILIES of military members.

Promises: McCain has made alot of promises of what he'll do, but he has also laid out plans for how such things will be accomplished. He is realistic in his assessments (read: HONEST) of what certain actions will require, even if that means an increase in the national debt. He's HONEST and UPFRONT about these negatives, and does not try to advertise all these great programs while still promising to lower/maintain taxes and reduce the national debt. Oh, and his policies will help keep the size of the government's MASSIVE bureaucracy under control--nationalized health care and similar "warm fuzzies" will make even more bureaucracy.

Experience: McCain has a lifetime of political experience to back him up. In those areas he's not good with, he is capable of calling upon wise advisors, because his experience has taught him who he can count on for certain issues. The international community is more accepting of experience than forward thinking. Forward thinking does nothing for you if the Iranian or Russian presidents still won't respect you enough to take you seriously. Yes, his VP is inexperienced, and Obama's is, but it's primarily the PRESIDENT that deals with foreign parties. The VP typically deals with domestic issues, particularly with the Congress--where Palin's influence can be a breath of very fresh air.

Economy: Without Romney on McCain's ticket, I don't really think either party has a strong grasp on handling the economy. However, I trust McCain's ability to select good advisors more than I can trust Obama's.

Eliminating pork-barreling--his new VP will be EXCELLENT for attacking this problem!

Foreign Affairs: McCain has a backbone, very willing to call out and challenge foreign players. He's not wishy-washy about international threats. As mentioned previously, he has experience which will garner him respect in the int'l community.

Final note: I'm afraid of Democrats being in power. As I've mentioned in another thread somewhere, I wouldn't say i'm really a republican, i'm just not a democrat.

~Kork

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I would have been swayed to McCain because of his words against Obama regarding experience. BUT now with that Palin VP choice, HELL NO. He's completely discredited. Plus she has as little inexperience as Obama.

[kork13]

LAL: I agree on the experience count... I'm really quite astonished that he would shoot himself in the foot like that, but (excuse my momentary lapse into logical thought processes) he must have some good reasoning behind it.... maybe?

But really, I'm less worried about the VP being somewhat inexperienced than I am the Pres... of course, preferably one would have both individuals have a strong resume, but this year's elections have proven to be quite.... distinctive.

[sweeps]

But really, I'm less worried about the VP being somewhat inexperienced than I am the Pres...

Normally yes, but McCain's advanced age and history of skin cancer are strong considerations here.

[kork13]

advanced age, definitely something to consider.... skin cancer history, not so much... my family has had a number of issues with various cancers, and i can tell you this much... first, melanoma is not a difficult cancer to deal with at all... in fact, one of the easiest to control, so long as it's watched for and dealt with quickly. since he has had it multiple times in the past, i guarantee his doctors are having him always on the watch for anything, and if anything were found, it would be dealt with immediately. so the cancer doesn't concern me.... but the age.... definitely a factor.......

as I've said in either this one or in the other thread, I'm not entirely convinced of McCain's ability to win, based on his ticket, his platform, and other issues. Of course, I say the same of Obama, so somehow or other, we're gonna have a president.... hahaha at least we can say that for a certainty!

[Aleta]

I still like McCain and even more so because of Pallin. John McCain comes from a family with long longevity.

As for the VP. She has accomplished much in her short time as a governor. She went after the corruption in her state that was rampant and went against some pretty heavy guys in Alaska. She believes in cleaning up government and making it responsible to those that elect the officials. You can read alot of her accomplishments.

As far as unknowns, I can remember when people said Jimmy Who? (Jimmy Carter). Many had not heard of the man before he ran for office.

[kork13]

...Jimmy Carter might be a bad example to use to support Palin... I don't know much about him or his presidency, but I've gathered through others' posts that alot of people didn't like how he ran his presidency....

[kork13]

A random thought, but I wonder what Pres. Bush thinks of himself being used as the Obama campaign's primary means of advertising against McCain... Saying that McCain will only be a continuation of Bush...

I suppose he must consider it as the way of the beast, but I think that personally, I'd hate hearing that the terrible, destructive, etc. actions of myself and the last 8 years of my life as the reasoning behind who needs to replace me...

hmmm.... or does humanization of people have no place in politics? oh well...

[chumlyb]

I always hate topics like these because it reveals the ugliness lurking underneath. I can pretend it's not there when you're writing about money.

Obama - I am still on a high after the convention - watched every minute and could rewatch it if I had the opportunity.

[mladyd]

Obama. If for no other reason than it's time for a Democrat again.

I'm not thrilled with him, but I'm not at all happy with McCain either so there ya go. The question I ask myself is: does it really matter? Sometimes I wonder...