Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Super Tuesday
Well, I'm heading to the polls today.
With my my anticipated enthusiasm of voting against the former mayor of New York sadly gone by the boards (but, hey, my prediction that he wouldn't win a state outside of New York or New Jersey was, well, sort of right!), I now have to decide who I'm going to vote for.
Ron Paul had been my long-time favorite. Aside from raising the right questions on current U.S. foreign policy, the size of government, he's also the only candidate to actually mention the impact of the falling dollar on the economy (heck, if McDonald's commercials can make jokes about the falling dollar, don't you think politicians might realize that there's a potential problem here?). Unfortunately, Paul missed a strong opportunity to explain his rather repugnant newsletters from the '80s and '90s (as revealed in The New Republic last month). I don't think Paul is necessarily racist, but there should be a better explanation rather than, "Well, I didn'tright write them." In other words, Paul -- who's a straight shooter in other respects -- could deal with a little "straight talk" when it comes to things that have his name on them.
So, that leaves me with John McCain and Mitt Romney. Neither is perfect. McCain was my guy in 2000 and there's still much I respect about him -- even despite McCain-Feingold. I hate his view that we might need to be in Iraq for 100 years. On the other hand, despite his stance on war, he was the one who was holding Rumsfeld's feet to the fire on troop strength and strategy. When few other Republicans were. He has also demanded some accountability from the administration on Guantanamo and waterboarding (a position that has caused many conservatives to now claim, bizarrely, that McCain is "wrong on torture"). Furthermore, he's been railing on spending and earmarks for years -- more than his fellow GOPers can say.
On the other hand, Romney has flip-flopped on so many positions (agree with McCain or not, he generally stays with the position that he adopts), how he can be considered a reliable "conservative" -- as many on the right now wish to declare him -- is beyond me.
Thus, I will, grudgingly, vote for John McCain today.
Others may respectfully differ.
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With my my anticipated enthusiasm of voting against the former mayor of New York sadly gone by the boards (but, hey, my prediction that he wouldn't win a state outside of New York or New Jersey was, well, sort of right!), I now have to decide who I'm going to vote for.
Ron Paul had been my long-time favorite. Aside from raising the right questions on current U.S. foreign policy, the size of government, he's also the only candidate to actually mention the impact of the falling dollar on the economy (heck, if McDonald's commercials can make jokes about the falling dollar, don't you think politicians might realize that there's a potential problem here?). Unfortunately, Paul missed a strong opportunity to explain his rather repugnant newsletters from the '80s and '90s (as revealed in The New Republic last month). I don't think Paul is necessarily racist, but there should be a better explanation rather than, "Well, I didn't
So, that leaves me with John McCain and Mitt Romney. Neither is perfect. McCain was my guy in 2000 and there's still much I respect about him -- even despite McCain-Feingold. I hate his view that we might need to be in Iraq for 100 years. On the other hand, despite his stance on war, he was the one who was holding Rumsfeld's feet to the fire on troop strength and strategy. When few other Republicans were. He has also demanded some accountability from the administration on Guantanamo and waterboarding (a position that has caused many conservatives to now claim, bizarrely, that McCain is "wrong on torture"). Furthermore, he's been railing on spending and earmarks for years -- more than his fellow GOPers can say.
On the other hand, Romney has flip-flopped on so many positions (agree with McCain or not, he generally stays with the position that he adopts), how he can be considered a reliable "conservative" -- as many on the right now wish to declare him -- is beyond me.
Thus, I will, grudgingly, vote for John McCain today.
Others may respectfully differ.
Labels: GOP 2008 President, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul
