Vote McCain – October 2008

In August 2007, I wrote in this column that John McCain was likely to end his Presidential bid because of rejection by the Republican base of his original stand on immigration reform and because of his frequent bi-partisan efforts with Democrats. I was obviously wrong.

During the Florida Presidential primary election in January, I voted for Mitt Romney only because Fred Thompson had already dropped out of the race. McCain was not even a consideration for me. But the Republicans in Florida chose John McCain during that primary election and soon thereafter he won enough Republican delegates throughout the country to become my party’s candidate for President.

Similarly, most of my Democratic friends believed that their candidate of choice, Hillary Clinton, would be the Democratic candidate for President. Some were prepared to fight for her all the way through the Democratic convention before publicly – if not privately - coming together behind Barack Obama. Frankly, I believe many of them either plan to stay home on November 4th or vote for McCain.

I am now a changed man. Something happened to me while watching the Republican convention. I saw a new McCain. He was not stiff on stage, he talked about libertarian beliefs important to me, he gave me confidence in his background and skills to be our next Commander in Chief, and he selected Governor Sarah Palin to be his Vice-Presidential choice. And what a choice she was!

The Republican convention, and the media storm about Palin, crushed any remaining momentum which Obamamania had in Middle America and, as I write this column, the McCain-Palin ticket is basically tied in the national “likely voters” polls and is in striking distance of Obama in likely Electoral College votes according to most analysts.

But polls don’t vote. People do. So the only poll which will matter takes place on November 4th when Americans fill in those ballot circles, push those touch screens, or pull those levers. And I hope you will join me in doing so for John McCain. I also suggest you take advantage of Early Voting to avoid the long lines on Election Day.

To me the choice is clear between McCain-Palin and Obama bin Biden. Every four years candidates and their talking heads tell you that this may be the most important election in the history of our country. But this time, I agree with them. As our country continues to mature with millions of new citizens and voters who come from countries in which the government plays a bigger role in their lives than our federal government currently does, we are at a decision point as to whether our country should go down the path of those European and Latin American socialist models or continue primarily as a free market economy with the necessary regulations to keep it efficient.

Barack Obama has multi billion dollar plans to expand the role of government and has a scheme to pay for his nanny state by increasing taxes on the small businesses that are the biggest creators of jobs in this country as well as on the other most productive members of our society. He calls those folks rich. I call them evidence of the American dream that already pays the bulk of federal taxes. John McCain wants to keep that American dream alive by keeping taxes low. He knows that lower taxes actually generate more government revenue. And he knows the problem is not needing more revenue but rather simply needing to spend less. McCain will also end pork barrel spending like the nearly $1,000,000,000 (that’s one billion) that Obama requested in his three years in the U.S. Senate for his political cronies in Illinois.

Barack Obama wants to mandate that parents buy healthcare for their children or face large fines and penalties. He wants to mandate that businesses offer retirement plans for their employees or face fines and penalties. He wants to increase the earned income tax credit which is actually a government handout to those who do not pay federal taxes at the expense of those who do pay taxes. John McCain wants to give Americans the choice to determine the best health plans for their families and he wants younger Americans to be able to self-direct a small portion of their Social Security taxes.

The recent near collapse of our financial markets and the ongoing problems in the housing market are a good test of crisis leadership for both candidates. Frankly neither candidate seemed up to the test when the stock markets plunged in mid-September. Obama stuttered without having his teleprompter to guide him, while McCain failed to properly explain his comment that, despite the challenges of higher energy costs and the stalled housing market, that the American economy will pull through this current down cycle as it always does.

As to their economic ideas, if Barack Obama plans to bring back the same Clinton economic leadership team that deregulated Wall Street in 1999 and ran Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while he also raises taxes and limits international free trade, it may be time for me to move to New Zealand. Should John McCain win, I hope that he will continue to rely on the wisdom of Treasury Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke who, working in a bi-partisan manner with Congressional leaders, brought necessary calm to Wall Street and Main Street as our country finishes working through the subprime mortgage mess.

John McCain also knows that a strong military and a willingness to use that strength to battle radical Islamists and to spread democracy throughout the world is an obligation of the United States. Obama wants to pull our troops out of Iraq before we have fully secured victory and he wants to appease our enemies around the world. Even after Barack recently acknowledged that the Iraqi troop surge was a spectacular success, he said he still would not have supported it if given the chance to vote again! Obama also blew it after the recent Russian-Georgian conflict when he failed to initially chastise the Russians before finally following McCain’s footsteps in doing so.

Much has been made about McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin for his Vice-President. Even Obama admitted that her experience as a Mayor and a Governor was a tougher training ground than the “yakking” (his word) he has perfected in his brief U.S. Senate career. Sarah Palin is like a young Ronald Reagan who will bring a fresh perspective to Washington. Even the American public agrees that she and McCain will do a better job of working across the aisle in Congress than Obama who has voted nearly 100% with the positions of his liberal backers and constituencies.

The choice is clear. If you want the Washington elite to get more involved in your life at your expense, and if you want our national pride to be less important than our reputation at the United Nations, then vote for Barack Obama. If you still believe in the American dream of entrepreneurism, independence, self-reliance, and a strong military, then join me in voting for John McCain and Sarah Palin on November 4th. Our country’s future is at stake. Please remember to vote.