I have an Aunt in Texas, who's as red as they come. She sends me lots of those mass emails that we've all seen, you know, the crazy ones.
But today she sent me one that wasn't really crazy - it was just simplistic. Basically, it said that everyone who was voting for Obama had no reason at all, they just want undefined 'change'. And that anyone who was for Obama was ignoring McCain's vast leadership qualities, as demonstrated by his being held as a POW in Vietnam.
This time... this time I responded to my Aunt. And this was my response:
Dear Aunt Red:
Thanks for the email. But when you get right down to it... I don't really care much about what John McCain has done in the past. Nor do I really care that much about what Barack Obama did in the past.
The only thing I really care about is what they are going to do in the future.
I don't trust John McCain. I do trust Barack Obama. When you boil it down, it's just that simple.
You, on the other hand, trust John McCain, and you don't trust Barack Obama. Once again, it's just that simple.
Neither of us is going to change the other's minds, and I know that.
But honestly, the last paragraph of your email is exactly right: As far as being a good President, no: I do not think being a prisoner for 5 1/2 years has anything at all to do with being President. I literally cannot understand why anyone thinks that being tortured and beaten for almost 6 years make someone a good President.
How in the world does that train you to balance the budget, negotiate trade agreements, manage medicare, medicaid, social security, educate our children, build new highways, or drive the development of new sources of energy? It simply has nothing to do with it at all. Having been a POW makes McCain an honorable man - but it does not make him a good President.
Now, unlike the guy in your email, I could list dozens of precise, exact, line by line reasons why I think Obama is more qualified than McCain. And probably none of them would matter to you at all.
You want a warrior, I want a diplomat.
You want guts, I want brains.
You value military experience, I value training in constitutional law.
You want quick to anger, I want calm and cool.
You think our problems are military, I think they're economic.
You want experience in foreign affairs, I want experience in domestic affairs.
You want 26 years of experience, I want a fresh outlook.
You're voting on your fears, I'm voting on my hopes.
You want someone of your generation, and I want someone of mine.
Once again, we simply value different things in our leaders, and we trust them based on different reasons. That doesn't make either of us bad people, it just makes us different.
So, in conclusion, whenever anyone asks me why I'm voting for Obama, I say this:
Imagine you had a contractor working on your house for the last eight years. Every date he promised he would make, he missed. Every cost estimate he provided, he went way over. In addition, your house right now is in really bad shape: wiring ripped out, plumbing all undone, drywall torn up. You can barely live in the house as it is. You keep complaining to the contractor, but he doesn't pay any attention to you - he just keeps ripping apart your house, whistling to himself.
And at the end of eight years, he looks around, scratches his head, and says: "Sorry, still not done, and I gotta move on to something else. Here's a card from another guy in my company. You should give him this job, he'll get it done for you".
Would you call the number on that guy's card - or would you tear it up, and look in the phone book for a new contractor? He could carry on and on about what a great guy his friend is, how much experience he has, etc. But there's no way I'm paying any more money or giving any more of my time to the same company that messed up the job that badly in the first place.