Campaign Choice: McCain or Obama, It is the Lessor of Evils?

      *** I got back from the Grand Canyon.  The grandkids had a ball, so did Bonnie and I.  The view from the Skywalk was spectacular, but expensive. ***

        If you are an obama supporter, you might have been disappointed – as I was – by the reversal of his stance on campaign financing.  Originally, Obama made a promise that his campaign would make use of public financing.  That would mean there would be some restrictions on the amount he would be permitted to spend on his campaign.  However, when he saw how well his campaign was raising money he realized that his campaign would be a financially better off if he opted out of public financing along with the restrictions it brings.  What Obama did was, of course, perfectly legal under our campaign finance laws.  Several candidates, including President Bush in 2000 and 2004, have elected not to take public financing.  Obama’s move was disappointing because he make a campaign promise then, when he thought it suited him better, made a conscious decision to break that promise.

            The purpose of using public financing for a political campaign, of course, is to reduce the need for the candidates to go to large donors, lobbyists, and bundlers in order to finance their campaigns.  Obama said he wanted to change the way government and politics works.  Staying with public financing was one of the changes he said he intended to make.  With this reversal, Obama proves he is, like every other politician, interested in getting elected over personal integrity or keeping promises made. 

            This leaves us with the big question: What’s an Obama supporter to do?  Vote for John McCain, who has made a few flip-flops of his own since he became the Republican presumptive nominee?  Vote for Bob Barr or Ralph Nader?  Here’s my thoughts?

            McCain, as I mentioned, has reversed his view on a few issues.  The most prominent of these reversals is his view on the so-called Bush tax cuts.  He once said that he could not vote for them “… in good conscience…” because the vast majority of the tax benefit went to the very wealthy.  Now, McCain says the he thinks the tax cuts were a good idea, and they should be renewed.  With that reversal, McCain proves that he, like Obama, will say and do whatever it takes to get him elected.  However the real reason I could not vote for McCain is his political philosophy, which to me seems cold and sometimes mean spirited.  He opposed the children’s health insurance bill, which provides health care to poor children.  He opposed the G.I. Bill, in the form in which it was proposed.  The bill provides education assistance for soldiers returning from the fighting in Iraq.  He wants to continue George Bush’s way of selecting federal judges and he wants to continue Bush’s really bad judgment on our involvement in Iraq. 

            So, McCain is out, as far as I’m concerned.  I have a number of disagreements with Bob Barr and Ralph Nader, but even if I agreed with them on everything, a vote for one of them – as our system is currently set up – is likely to be counter productive.  They have not even a miniscule chance of getting 270 electoral-college votes.  In addition, you may be aware that the few votes Nader received in the 2000 election – most of which would have otherwise gone to Gore – threw Florida to Bush and gave us eight years of the worst president this nation has ever had.  If you want to go back a few years, you may recall that the votes garnered by Ross Perot – most of which would otherwise have gone to George H. W. Bush – gave the election to Bill Clinton.

            It all comes down to the following thoughts:

1. Every candidate will say what that candidate thinks is necessary in order to get elected.  Regardless of what they believe or even what they intend to do once elected, the first rule for all candidates is get elected.
2. There is no candidate, with whom I can agree completely on every issue.  I agree with Obama on some issues and disagree with him on others.  I do agree with McCain on a few issues and disagree with him of a number of others.  The same can be said for Nader and Barr.
3.  It is not possible in a nation as complex as ours, where a candidate must appeal to a couple hundred million voters, to find a candidate that will say everything one likes and nothing one dislikes.
4. Staying home and not voting, in my view, is a cop out.  We have a patriotic duty to try to elect the best candidate, of the choices our system gives us.  
5. We are stuck with voting for the candidate, with whom we agree most or disagree least.  In some cases, we are stuck with supporting the candidate, we perceive to be the least objectionable.  For me, that’s Obama.