Reader L:
1. Have you decided who you'll vote for.. and if so, why? I feel fairly confident that I'll vote for Obama/Biden. In his first major decision as the presidential nominee, Barack Obama chose someone who will help him govern, who will balance his weaknesses with strengths, and who is ready to be president. I think it showed great courage in not choosing someone who might have more electoral appeal.
2. Does Sarah Palin make you more likely, less likely to vote for McCain? As you might guess, for the same reasons I lean toward Obama/Biden, I am now much less likely to vote for John McCain. Sarah Palin seems like a gifted politician, but I have seen no evidence thus far that she would be ready to be President if something were to happen to John McCain. I believe McCain's decision was one of electoral positioning more than
governing, with Palin bringing women, middle America, and Christian conservatives into his fold (maybe).
3. If you're still undecided, what are your biggest hangups about Obama and McCain? My biggest hang up about Obama is his relatively thin resume. I agree with him almost fully in theory, but I'd like to see some results from his history (Biden, however, represents my political ideology along with a track record of enacting the things I care most about). My biggest hang up about McCain/Palin is their inability to say practically nothing of substance about their plans. The campaign from where I sit (as an informed independent) appears to be based around: "McCain is a good man of courage, and Obama is too inexperienced." We have some serious problems in our country and I'd like to see some proposed solutions, not misleading and unfair attacks on Barack Obama. I think in the end McCain will do a fair of job of energizing the GOP base, but will do little to draw independents to himself and Palin.
And Reader
R:
(1.) Who to vote for...
\I'm leaning toward McCain after he was able to define a reasonable track for his party and the country last night.
The Washington mess has to be turned around, and I don't think politics-as-usual will work. Although McCain must run against his own party's past 8 years, an Obama victory puts all of the government in the hands of one party. Progress on either side of that situation sounds difficult, but McCain feels to me the better of two flawed options.
McCain will run as a maverick with the resume to put both sides of the aisle to work, in what will most surely be a divided government. But a less friendly term for maverick is "cowboy", and his backers must hope that McCain's ability to reason will overcome his gut instincts and tendency for emotional responses.
Gov. Palin's role...
She's not another tired Washington insider, and that's a plus. She helps secure part of McCain's base, leaving him to fight bigger issues.
On the downside, if another set of culture wars breaks out, we'll all be losers.
On the net, a plus, but still a relatively unknown person.
Hang-ups about the two candidates...
Obama has character, and that's a great characteristic. But he's terribly unprepared for the role of President, and leadership depends both on character and experience. Hence his backers are taking a chance on a half-blank slate.
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