If You Read Nothing Else about McCain v Obama, Read This

If you’re the type of person who doesn’t follow politics, but does take the time to watch the convention speeches, I’m asking you a small favor.  It won’t take much time.  Just read this article (and click on the links within it). Think about what it says. And then read this one. Are you going to be fooled by the antics and tricks of skilled political operatives?  Will you vote on anything other than the issues? Do you want someone in the White House who is more intelligent than you or someone who barely made it through college?  Whom do you want to represent our country on the world stage?  To be a role model for our children?

First and foremost, the policies and plans of each of the parties are very different.  In a nutshell? The GOP ticket is extremely conservative, anti-choice, pro gun and favors corporate interests.  The Democratic ticket is progressive (but not, IMHO, overly liberal), pro-choice and favors the interests of ordinary Americans (i.e., will cut taxes for the majority of Americans). I am a firm believer in a strong work ethic and believe that these two gentlemen agree with me. Not in favor of handouts and not in favor of big government.

Education is a priority in our household, so I’d like to be able to hold up our leaders as smart and capable role models for my children.

The GOP team is, undeniably, not as smart as the Democratic team.  Senator McCain finished at the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy (and was a shoo-in for admission, given the legacy track provided by his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, all ranked Admirals, who all attended before him), even though he went to an elite boys preparatory school (for which his family paid $45,000/year tuition) and has admitted he does not understand economics. His running mate barely made it through college, attending five colleges in six years before finally graduating with a degree in journalism.

The Democratic ticket boasts two attorneys, Senator Obama earning his law degree from Harvard* (paid for with scholarships and student loans), being elected president of The Law Review (no easy feat) and teaching Constitutional law. Senator Biden, also an attorney, served in the Senate even longer than Senator McCain.  Michelle Obama is also an attorney and Senator Biden’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden, earned her Doctorate in Education. Smart, hard-working, savvy people there.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Barack Obama & Joe Biden provide strong, assertive, upstanding, respectable, calm and confident role models for our kids.  Just as I wouldn’t want my kids laughing at other kids or mocking them, I was disappointed in the GOP convention where Giuliani and Ms. Palin made fun of the other party in derisive, sarcastic tones.  After the past eight years when leaders refused to apologize, used curse words on the floor of the Senate and gave an ultimatum to the world (“you’re either with us or you’re against us”), I’ve had enough. I’m looking for leaders who exemplify character traits that I’d like to see in my children.

Plain and simple.

Don’t just vote the way your parents did or the way your friends do.  Don’t vote as if you’re choosing your senior class president in high school.  It’s not a popularity contest.  It’s our children’s future. Please, spend a little time with that New York Times article. Think about the substance. Or, if you don’t like The New York Times, do your own research.  Just be informed – without spin from either party.  A story always has two sides – try to get down to the facts.  Then…vote your conscience.

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If you’d like to hear from women in their own words, read this.

And for all my female readers, read this article, sister to sister.

*and, by the way, he did not even note his race on that application, so any assumptions about affirmative action are simply unfounded and erroneous

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