It seems to be the tendency among opinionated people these days to think that if their candidate is not elected and the OTHER candidate IS elected, the world will collapse and life as we know it will end.
But, as much as I'd hate to see McCain elected, I am among those who do NOT think the world will end or that the United States will utterly collapse if McCain becomes president. 'Twould be a shame, but we would survive.
I DO believe that we are in tough times right now, largely due to the choices that most of us make every day in how we live, how we consume and how we relate to one another. Whoever is elected president will have a tough row to hoe and we'll need to give them whatever support, well-wishes and prayers we can afford. (But don't confuse "support" for a blank check to do as they wish...)
Having said that, as this campaign winds down, I would like to offer a few words in praise of this both McCain and Palin.
I believe that McCain has shown himself to be a man of integrity. He has also waivered at times in acting honorably, but we all do and this campaign has surely been difficult for all involved.
Still, McCain's willingness to not merely voice support for a military but to actually take part in it, his refusal to leave the Viet Nam prison camp when offered the choice, this speaks well of the man's sense of honor. I certainly would have disagreed with his support for that war, but at least he wasn't a chickenhawk. He put his money where his mouth was and it cost him dearly. That says something about a guy.
More recently, this integrity has peeked through when some of his own followers have spoken falsehoods and he has confronted them - I'm thinking of the lady who said Obama was an Arab and McCain corrected her firmly - it is a difficult thing to stand up to one's own supporters and friends and he has done so at times, to his credit. Also, his classy ad the night of Obama's nomination where he praised Obama for reaching this historic point, is another indication of integrity and class. Good for him.
Further, I believe that McCain is genuinely a small gov't kind of politician - unlike the Reagan/Bush/Bush types who crow loudly about being small gov't but then oversaw devastating increases in the size of gov't and in all the wrong places. Times will be tight in the coming years and we definitely DO need to cut back in some places (in addition to adding on in others) and McCain might be able to deliver where his neo-con brethren have not.
And Palin, I'm sure, is a decent woman. I believe that she fully intended to reform Alaskan politics and be a different sort of politician, a representative of the common folk because she IS common folk, and that's a good thing. Her devotion to her family and to simple values are all good things. I don't believe she would be the right person to be at the White House (at all - horrifyingly bad, even), but she may very well be a good match for Alaska's people.
As much as I'd hate to see McCain as president, I believe that he would probably be a much better president than he was a candidate. I think he pandered to the Right way too much (although he probably couldn't have gotten this far if he hadn't) and he will return closer to the middle (middle of the Right, that is) and more to his more sincere values if elected.
That's still far too far to the Right and too close to Bush's policies for my tastes, but I don't believe he would be as bad as Bush was. Faint praise, perhaps, but them's my thoughts.
I stand by my belief that Obama will win handily tomorrow. I think he has run an incredible campaign and, even if the Republicans disagree with his policies, they could stand to learn something from his campaign. I think Obama's community organizing skills and experience served him well during this campaign and smart analysts will be reviewing it in the days and years to come as a model of how to run for office.
Additionally, I don't think Obama will be as good a president as he was a candidate - his candidacy was too perfect and the job of president too impossible for him to be able to live up to that bar of excellence. Still, I look forward to seeing what he and the Democrats do with their possible dominance in this election. At the very least, I'd hope they'd manage to do less harm than we've seen the last eight (28?) years.
And, should the worst happen and McCain is elected, God be with him and here's hoping he's up to the job. He's bound to be better than his predecessor.
4 comments:
Agreed.
I'd be very disappointed, but I firmly believe that a McCain presidency would still be 85 billion times better than the last 8 years.
There are plenty of things on which I disagree with McCain, but there was enough commonality for me to vote for him in the Republican primary. I think McCain as president would drift back toward the centrist ideals he's held for years, but had to surpress in order to appeal to the fringe right.
Those who think the world will end if Obama is elected, or if McCain is elected are on the far fringes. Fortunately I suspect most people are more reasonable and will, I hope, support the President while holding his feet to the fire, whomever wins.
Anything else is simply unAmerican. ;)
Well said, both you you.
Dan, you might take apeek at a rare "plitical issue" post of mine over at Walking the Berkshires. Inspired by, and in response to, my cousin Tigerhawk on the subject of whether the rich are either selfish or unpatriotic if they do not gladly hand over moremoney to the government. I took it somewhere else, and TH has followed. Good discussion so far.
http://greensleeves.typepad.com/berkshires/2008/11/what-prevents-e.html
I have to admit that I think things would be quite bad under a McCain Presidency. I do not necessarily believe it would be the end of American civilization as we know it; I do think, however, that there would be as much nonsense and stupidity - perhaps even more stupidity - as the past eight years have wrought.
I would also take issue with the idea that McCain is a decent, honorable person. This campaign has revealed that he is not, in fact, decent, and would rather play to what is most base and despicable in the American character to attract votes.
I would like to be as magnanimous as you and Alan are being, but I cannot bring myself to do so. In 1988, I was disappointed that Michael Dukakis ran such a stupid campaign as to blow 20 point lead and lost to George H. W. Bush; on the other hand, I did not believe then, nor do I now, that it would have made much of a difference. With the possible exception of the invasion of Panama in December, 1989, I doubt the four years would have been much different had Dukakis been in the White House, because events were driving politics in those years.
This election is vastly different, because the times are different. Both parties are different. The country is different. I dare say that the spite-filled, ugly underbelly of the Republican Party will become even more visible in the case of a Democratic victory, but imagine those folks in control, for another four years, of our policy and our national discourse.
You are generous with silhouetting the two candidates. I would not be so kind. … I am Thankful to God I don’t have to find out what would happen with those two on the reins…
Post a Comment