[Preface: Please read beyond the first couple of paragraphs before tar and feathering me. My point of this entry is to give everyone some last-minute ammunition for friends who may be thinking of voting for McCain, because this election should not be close: it should be a landslide.]
Eight years ago, I not only cast my ballot for George W. Bush, I volunteered for his campaign.
I grew up with a Republican father in the Midwest. Even while my family embraced environmentalist, freedom of choice and a variety of other supposedly "Democratic" ideals, I developed a healthy dislike of liberals. That carried through to my college years.
From a broad, sweeping generalization standpoint, there is much to dislike about liberals (hard to believe, I know). They can be self righteous for no particularly good reason. More than that, they can be just as close minded as conservatives, if not more so. And don't even get me started on their superiority complex - because, really, it was that superiority complex, that uninformed arrogance that kept me from fully embracing liberal ideology sooner.
What I learned in all of this was that hating the other side accomplishes very little: teaching your child that Democrats are bad people, or labeling all white men as inherently racist does not bring about warm fuzzies, and it does not convince someone on the other side to listen to you. It's why I try to be open to both sides, to not label the other side as stupid, to try and understand where people are coming from. I am not always successful, but I have now lived in blue and red states, and I can say this emphatically: very few people on either side are evil, and most are just trying to do what they think is best for America.
Eight years ago, I honestly believed George W. Bush was the right man for the job. I did my research, but more importantly, I still clung to the ideals of the Republican Party: small government, freedom to live one's life without government intervention. In retrospect, I was extremely deluded, but to me, the Republican Party's traditional platform is one that supports freedom of choice, freedom from discrimination, and freedom to live one's life. I spent too much time at looking at what they said they were than at what they had become.
The past eights year have been an unmitigated disaster in terms of traditional Republican ideology. Several Conservative pundits have summed up the reasons much more eloquently than I have, but Christopher Buckley perhaps said it best when he quipped "I haven’t left the Republican Party. It left me."
Personally, the past eights years have served as a rude introduction to the political process: in my first presidential election, I cast a ballot for a man who has wrecked damage to every conceivable facet of American life. I still struggle to understand how any party that embraces small government can favor policies that force people to rely on government subsidies because their jobs do not pay enough, or side with an anti-choice movement that wants to determine half of the population's access to medical and health care, among other issues.
I voted for Kerry in 2004. I did not volunteer because, quite frankly, I remain wary of actively helping elect anyone. I did that in 2000, and to this day, I still feel like I helped dismantle America. The extent of my participation in 2004 (other than voting) was a painting.
In 2008, I think that painting is the same only it's Uncle John and not Uncle George. John McCain voted "with" George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, but I think the following are much more telling:
- He has gone on record multiple times saying he would follow George W. Bush's lead in Supreme Court appointments. Given that most of America favors "centrism," I cannot believe this is not a bigger issue for most people. Forget about concern over both the Executive and Legislative branches being in Democrat's hands for a few years. We are talking about having a far-right Supreme Court for decades. A balanced Supreme Court is in the best interests of America, and the election of John McCain would prevent that from occurring.
- His appointment of Sarah Palin. She is not Republican. She is a big-government conservative.
- His inability to set a clear path during the financial crisis. Look, I initially thought his stand for suspending the campaign was a good idea until it turned out to be an ill-advised PR stunt. More than that, a president cannot be everywhere, and McCain has stated numerous times he is not great on economic issues. Frankly, a president must be able to lead, but he also needs to be aware of his weaknesses and know when to allow the experts to work out the details while he sets a big picture. The best leaders are, after all, those who know when to follow.
None of these examples indicate a candidate who is ready for the Oval Office and capable of returning the Republican Party to its roots of small government.
This is not to say that Barack Obama is a perfect candidate. His lack of experience is troubling, and the Democrat love affair with him still reminds me a bit too much of the Republicans with Bush in 2000. I think parts of his energy and environment policy (especially biofuels and off-shore drilling) are centrist pandering on the exact issues that need a more left-leaning approach.
That said, the majority of the critiques the right has thrown at him are baseless. A socialist? Really? More socialist than George W. Bush? He's going to raise taxes? Yeah, it's not great, but it's better than living beyond our means or making outrageous and unrealistic claims about vetoing every spending bill. To that end, since when have taxes become the sole economic indicator? If raising taxes would mean government policies that increase job growth, buttress the economy, and help the financial markets retain their previous strengths, isn't that worth the price of a few hundred more in taxes?
As a former Republican, I do look to the people I most respect as being traditional ideological Republicans: those who are Republicans for more than the name and truly believe in small government. Almost all of them are supporting Barack Obama in this election. The Economist even gave a label to these individuals: Obamacons.
At the end of the day, the truth is I refuse to support a party that has endorsed the politics of fear as a way of getting Americans to vote for them the past eight years. I can think of few things more un-American than baseless scare tactics that demean our great democracy. We can regain our position in the world as a beacon and leader of democracy, of being that great city on a hill, but only if we say "Enough."
And that is why I am voting for Barack Obama.