Blog
2008 Presidential Election Thoughts
First of all, lets recognize that both candidates talk about change but neither one will be able to provide anywhere near the degree of change that they promise. Of course any change from the current administration is likely to be an improvement but lets take a quick look at what we can really expect from the candidates.
If Obama is elected, he will try and spend a lot of money on various government programs but the problem is that there just isn’t a lot of money to expand government spending, at least not at the rate that he wants to. Certainly getting out of Iraq will save quite a bit of money but the current administration doesn’t include the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in the budget. Accordingly, by leaving Iraq and focusing on Afghanistan, the deficit won’t change.
I don’t really expect Obama to buck the military/industrial complex to any degree and to bring our spending on the military down to any sort of reasonable level. I also don’t see President Obama cutting any domestic programs so where is the money going to come from to expand health care and spending on alternative fuels?
The best that I expect from a President Obama is a certain feeling of confidence that we no longer have a warmonger in charge. I’m not sure that he will be any more successful in molding the rest of the world into what we want but, perhaps, he’ll realize that military threats and refusing to speak to other nations hasn’t been a particularly effective strategy. Perhaps he will be the one to finally end the ridiculous embargo on Cuba but then again the Cuban-Americans are a very politically powerful force.
If McCain is elected, I expect that he will try and buck the system but will quickly find that by pissing off the Democrats and the Republicans, he really has no power or leverage to get anything that he wants accomplished. He has sold his soul to the devil (aka the Far Right) by selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate. If this gambit turns out to be successful, he’s going to have a big debt to pay. In order to get any assistance from the Republicans and his conservative constituents, he will have little choice but to nominate very conservative judges and justices. While I believe that in his heart he is pro-choice, his judicial selections will eventually overturn Roe v. Wade. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing as I’ve always thought that the issue of abortion should be handled at the state level by the respective legislators in each state. The effect, however, is going to be remarkably. Over the last several years, the battle over abortion has really quieted down. Allowing the issue to be addressed on a state by state basis will bring it back to the fore of every debate and every election. State senators and representatives will no longer be able to duck the issue. This, perhaps more than anything else about a possible McCain victory, really scares me.
On foreign policy, President McCain will continue the legacy of the Bush Administration by exercising American military might throughout the world as he deems fit, with or without the support of the international community. President McCain will send forces into Pakistan to track down Osama bin Laden and the Taliban and dare Pakistan to do something about it. The fact that Pakistan has nuclear weapons won’t be much of a deterrent.
So over the next couple of months, we can expect politics as usual. Republicans will berate the Obama/Biden ticket and the Democrats will excoriate the McCain/Palen ticket. The candidates will do their normal shuck-and-jive and promise everything to everyone. If I have a recommendation to any particular voter, it is to list the issues that you find most important to you and list them by priority. Then go through each of the issues and determine how you think the candidates would address those issues. At that point, you should be able to make an informed decision. Don’t, however, make a decision just based upon a single issue, be it abortion, Iraq, the economy or space exploration. Neither of the candidates will screw up all of these issues although whoever wins will screw up at least a couple of them. Whatever you do, choose wisely.
If Obama is elected, he will try and spend a lot of money on various government programs but the problem is that there just isn’t a lot of money to expand government spending, at least not at the rate that he wants to. Certainly getting out of Iraq will save quite a bit of money but the current administration doesn’t include the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in the budget. Accordingly, by leaving Iraq and focusing on Afghanistan, the deficit won’t change.
I don’t really expect Obama to buck the military/industrial complex to any degree and to bring our spending on the military down to any sort of reasonable level. I also don’t see President Obama cutting any domestic programs so where is the money going to come from to expand health care and spending on alternative fuels?
The best that I expect from a President Obama is a certain feeling of confidence that we no longer have a warmonger in charge. I’m not sure that he will be any more successful in molding the rest of the world into what we want but, perhaps, he’ll realize that military threats and refusing to speak to other nations hasn’t been a particularly effective strategy. Perhaps he will be the one to finally end the ridiculous embargo on Cuba but then again the Cuban-Americans are a very politically powerful force.
If McCain is elected, I expect that he will try and buck the system but will quickly find that by pissing off the Democrats and the Republicans, he really has no power or leverage to get anything that he wants accomplished. He has sold his soul to the devil (aka the Far Right) by selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate. If this gambit turns out to be successful, he’s going to have a big debt to pay. In order to get any assistance from the Republicans and his conservative constituents, he will have little choice but to nominate very conservative judges and justices. While I believe that in his heart he is pro-choice, his judicial selections will eventually overturn Roe v. Wade. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing as I’ve always thought that the issue of abortion should be handled at the state level by the respective legislators in each state. The effect, however, is going to be remarkably. Over the last several years, the battle over abortion has really quieted down. Allowing the issue to be addressed on a state by state basis will bring it back to the fore of every debate and every election. State senators and representatives will no longer be able to duck the issue. This, perhaps more than anything else about a possible McCain victory, really scares me.
On foreign policy, President McCain will continue the legacy of the Bush Administration by exercising American military might throughout the world as he deems fit, with or without the support of the international community. President McCain will send forces into Pakistan to track down Osama bin Laden and the Taliban and dare Pakistan to do something about it. The fact that Pakistan has nuclear weapons won’t be much of a deterrent.
So over the next couple of months, we can expect politics as usual. Republicans will berate the Obama/Biden ticket and the Democrats will excoriate the McCain/Palen ticket. The candidates will do their normal shuck-and-jive and promise everything to everyone. If I have a recommendation to any particular voter, it is to list the issues that you find most important to you and list them by priority. Then go through each of the issues and determine how you think the candidates would address those issues. At that point, you should be able to make an informed decision. Don’t, however, make a decision just based upon a single issue, be it abortion, Iraq, the economy or space exploration. Neither of the candidates will screw up all of these issues although whoever wins will screw up at least a couple of them. Whatever you do, choose wisely.