Election Day

Thank God it's almost over!

After dropping the kids off at school, I went to my polling place and voted. When I arrived, there were about 200 people standing in a line that wrapped around the building and ended about 100 feet from the entrance.  I know it was 100 feet because there were people handing out campaign materials near the end of the line.  I intended to confront them about it, because it is usually illegal to campaign at the polling place, but just as I was about to say something one of the campaigners warned another one to stay behind a certain point. The police had told them they could legally go no further than 100 feet from the building.  

The mood of the voters was quiet and introspective.  Very few conversations were taking place. People seemed generally patient, not complaining about the wait. Very serious.

Up until this morning I wasn't sure who I was going to vote for in the presidential election.  I had gone back and forth numerous times on Obama and McCain, both of whom have positions I love and hate, both of whom somewhat annoy me. Even as I stood in my little red, white and blue voting booth made of plastic dividers, I hesitated before marking my ballot.  I voted for everything else on the ballot and saved the presidential vote for one last consideration.

After taking a deep breath, and hoping I wouldn't eventually regret my decision, I voted for Barak Obama.

It was a difficult choice for me, most importantly, because I am pro-life. I don't like Obama's position on abortion.  I don't agree with it.  I would love to have a more pro-life candidate win.

John McCain is definitely more pro-life than Obama, so I could have voted for him on that issue.

Why didn't I?

McCain lost my vote for a few reasons.  He lost my vote by trying to make Bush's tax cuts permanent.  He lost my vote by resorting to extremely negative attacks on Obama, rather than telling me what exactly he's going to do for America.  He lost my vote because I refuse to choose him out of fear of a terrorist attack.  Fear-mongering is not a tool by which I wish to be motivated.

Ultimately, tossing aside my fears was the only way I could stomach voting for Obama.  I had to censor out the hype about how absolutely disastrous it would be if one candidate won over the other. That tactic is tired and played out.  Could bad things happen to the US because of whom we elect?  Yes, but that cuts both ways.  I can just as easily see McCain getting us into an unneeded war with Iran as I can see Obama being perceived as weak by terrorists.  Which is worse for the US?  

So, in the end, I cast my first vote for a Democratic president.  I have occasionally voted Democrat in local elections, but usually go Republican.

Here's hoping I won't regret the next four years if Obama wins.

On the upside...if Obama is truly awful as a president, maybe we'll get some great Republicans running in 2012.

Neverending Story

So, Hillary wins Pennsylvania, further prolonging the torturous campaign for the Democrat candidacy for November 2008.

John McCain can be seen in the background slowly rubbing his hands together in ecstatic glee,"Keep it up Dems...keep it up....Bwahahaha."

Not Voting?

There is this whiff of a suggestion circling throughout the blogosphere that evangelicals should stay home this November, refusing to vote for the candidates for President on the basis that none are truly "pro-life" and all lack an acceptable amount of faith in God, in the evangelical mind anyway. I think what I have come across is an aftershock from James Dobson's February declaration that he would not vote in November if McCain was the Republican nominee.

What I find most shocking about the growing popularity of this idea is the direct opposition it presents to the patriotism that evangelicals usually embrace. Countless times I have read articles, books, and editorials from right-wing, evangelical conservatives about the Founding Fathers, the Biblical principles that are at the core of the Constitution and our legal system, and our duty to participate in government. Now that the winds seem to be less favorable to the ideology of evangelicals, they want to take their toys and go home.

Ridiculous.

We have been told in the past, that we must vote our consciences and that each vote must honor God in its entirety. The equation of our religion with our vote has brought this identity crisis to full bloom. The illusion that candidates exist within the narrow parameters of evangelical opinion has contributed to the dilemma before religious conservatives. We have let candidates speak in our churches. We have passed out voter guides by the Christian Coalition. We have created litmus test after litmus test for candidates. Bit by bit, politics has rooted itself into the evangelical ethos and we have welcomed it, believing that we had some sort of right to a candidate who fit our mold.

The problem is evangelicals have gotten their way and have grown accustomed to it. The thought of dirtying our hands and choosing between candidates without the full approval of evangelical leaders has become too much for our gentle souls to bear. To do so would be to lower ourselves and compromise.

I find this interesting in several respects.

One, isn't not voting and assuring the victory of a more liberal candidate, over and above a less liberal candidate, pretty much the same thing?

Two, doesn't not voting smack of a Pilate-ish response? "Oh it's not me Jesus...you see..it's those people out there who want you dead....I'm just a neutral, passive agent." Trying to wash our hands of the whole thing is immature and illogical.

Three, do evangelicals really not understand that a large portion of Americans do not share the same ideological views as they do? The outrage I have come across shows no sense of reality about the vast gulf between what many average Americans believe about politics. There is always a sense of "those liberal conspirators" hanging about, implying that most people don't really back liberal politics but are simply manipulated by the media and Democratic leaders. That happens on both sides, to be sure, but detracts from the millions of people who really believe in certain political issues and vote accordingly. It is no coincidence that our last two elections have been so close.

Four, isn't choosing not to vote because you don't morally approve of the candidates awfully similar to not funding the Iraq war because you don't morally approve of it; something over which evangelicals have cried "Foul!" ?

Five, has evangelical leadership really wanted "godly" candidates(as defined by them), or do they want candidates who also fit their view of non-religious conservative values? I noticed Dobson didn't bother to endorse Huckabee until after Romney dropped out of the race. Pat Robertson endorsed Rudy Giuliani. John Hagee endorsed McCain. Huckabee....an obvious "evangelical" candidate, snubbed by evangelical leaders. I guess religious values weren't as important as they seemed. Personally, I don't have a problem with that, but don't cry me a river complaining that evangelicals don't have a candidate they approve of in November.

Citizens who participate in voting only when the wind is blowing in their favor, are not good citizens. True patriotism lies not in using the governmet to achieve our own ends, but revering the laws and processes which make our country what it is even when we are temporarily dissatisfied with its current leadership.

Vote, people.

No More Phone Calls; election talk

At long last the phone has stopped ringing--no more pleading for my vote from desperate politicians.

Sour-faced Mitt Romney was on the Today show whining that McCain had made over 10 million robo-calls. My jaw dropped to hear Romney's complaint. He, his wife, and about 100 of their closest friends have called us non-stop for two weeks, vying for our vote.

Yesterday, after work, I went to our voting precinct and made my selection--John McCain.

Why McCain?

Well, while philosophically Huckabee might be closer to my opinions, I felt that he really had nothing of substance to offer on the national level. He was probably a great governor, but seemed to have no thorough plan for anything. His ideas were always vague generalities that never communicated any specific visions for the war in Iraq, immigration, or foreign policy.

Romney...he just bugs me. His authenticity carries a huge question mark for me.

Giuliani....too focused on his glory days of 9/11 and the islamo-terrorist issue. He seemed like a one-trick pony.

Two of the areas in which I identify strongly with McCain are his stance against the use of water-boarding and torture, and his views on immigration. He seems to be the only Republican willing to stand up and say that any use of torture is wrong and not right for our country. He also seems to recognize that America's relationship with immigrants is not easily solved by deporting everyone to Mexico. Let's face it, if that happened our economy would crumble within months. It's unrealistic and naive.

So, McCain got my vote despite his stance on stem-cell research and the war in Iraq. I, personally, would love to see our troops home. McCain is committed to staying until we win...whatever that means. My vote was not determined by the War simply because, regardless of what any of the politicians say, we're going to be there for a while. Neither Clinton nor Obama are going to be sworn into office and be able to pull the troops out right away. It's impossible to do and would only create a bigger problem in the long run, so I don't buy the whole "elect me and I'll get them home ASAP" line. Life isn't that simple and things have a way of developing beyond the control of a single political leader's wishes.

The political pundits have posited that if Huckabee drops out Romney will get all of his social conservative votes. It's not going to happen. I think that, as a whole, the evangelical voter doesn't buy into the idea that electing someone with the same religious beliefs is going to lead to a better America, or success on the social issues that concern them. Many have voted for Huckabee because he is the candidate that evangelicals wanted 10 years ago, when they still believed the Republican Party was God's Party. Some still stubbornly believe that, but those numbers are dwindling in the face of Republican scandals and dissatisfaction with the War.

Now that it's all over, I'll be happy to answer the phone when it rings.