Sometimes I wonder if anything is absolute anymore. Is there still right and wrong? Good and bad? Truth and lies? Or is everything negotiable, left to interpretation, grey. Sometimes we're forced to bend the truth, transform it, because we're faced with things that are not of our own making. And sometimes things simply catch up to us.

Presidential Election 2008

This year’s presidential election is one of the most talked about and publicized elections possibly of our time. Since we are in such a financial crisis at this time, everyone is looking for a strong presidential candidate that will be able to bail us out. Both presidential candidates have their supposed financial plans and endless strategies to help with the current financial struggle. However the main thing people need to think about when voting in this year’s election is who seems to be the most trust worthy and genuine candidate.
In the article “All Fired Up” by Mark Binker from the News and Record it talks about how this is one of the most heated elections ever and how simple chit-chat about this election could turn heated in a flash. “Folks who never so much as donned a campaign button are cavassing for votes” (Binker A1) An example given talks about an Obama rally in Fayettville where the tires of thirty cars were slashed, and police had to arrest Obama supporters for disorderly conduct. These actions show just how extreme this election is for the people of America. Political scientists claim that voters are more emotionally invested in this “battle” between McCain and Obama than any other presidential election in recent memory (Binker, A1).
Although it seems like we are all looking for somebody to pull us out of our financial struggles and mayhem it comes down to: who seems like the most trust worthy and reliable candidate for the job? Reporter Jonathan Weisman from the Wall Street Journal makes it seem like Obama might not be ready for the presidential position because of his condescending promises, and the fact that he promises to help everybody. “Sen. Obama has been able to win support by convincing voters he could simultaneously be a populist and a fiscal disciplinarian, that he could invest in education, energy and health care and adhere to rules that say additional spending must be more than offset by cuts or tax increases. He attacks greed and excess in Wall Street, yet reaches out to assure financial leaders he understands markets' needs (Weisman).”
The Wall Street Journal also talks about how the money for senator Obama’s agenda simply is not there. As all of us know if the money is not there the simple way to attain this money is to make taxes higher, which goes against cutting down on the middle class’ taxes. Obama is wanting to move to fast on the issues at hand and does not realize how trying to do things to quickly can send things into even more chaos. Senior Obama advisors say that he has not given a clear commitment to any of these things he is campaigning for (Weisman). This makes me really wonder about what Obama will do if he becomes our next national leader.
In my opinion I just don’t think Senator Obama is ready to hold the position as our president. I think Senator McCain should be president because he is older and wiser and shows respect for his apposing candidate. In the article “McCain Denounces Pitchfork-Wavers” by Anne Marie Cox, McCain states that he has the up most respect for Senator Obama when the crowd started booing at the mention of his name, and then he stated “I want everyone to be respectful and let’s make sure we are”. That shows the maturity and decency of Senator McCain during this run for election, he did not put Senator Obama down like the crowd was hoping but instead lifted him up and said that everybody should be respectful of him (Sullivan).
John McCain would be a great choice for president for three reasons: 1) A commitment to protecting and defending the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, 2) A consistent record of adherence to conservative principles and the ability to hold together the Republican coalition of economic and social conservatives, and 3) A willingness and capability to take on and defeat the Democratic Party’s nominee in November 2008. I believe that John McCain is the best suited of all the Republican nominees because of these three things and because he is a war veteran as well. He personally knows and understands what America is going through right now because he has actually experienced it and Obama can’t say that.
I think when voting people should take a good look at both presidents’ maturity and if these plans they are promising us sound realistic or not. It is one thing to make all these promises to the people; however it is another thing to actually be in the position of president and actually carry out your plans. We need to find out who we know we can trust to run this country to the best of their ability with plans that makes sense. Each person needs to pay special attention to exactly what these presidential candidates and saying and promising before we put our full trust in them. After all our next president is supposed be our great hope to pull us all out of the slump we are in right now. We need to take a good look and really study these plans that they hope to carry out to see if they really are realistic or not.

Cox, Anna Marie. “McCain Denounces Pitch-Fork Wavers”. 10 October 2008. http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2008/10/10/mccain_denounces_pitchforkwave/
Weisman, Jonathan. “Democrats Vie to Shape an Obama Legislative Agenda”. The Wall Street Journal. 30 October 2008. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122532312630982163.html
Binker, Mark. “All Fired Up”. News & Record 26 Oct. 2008: A1.
Sullivan, Amy. “An Antichrist Obama in McCain Ad?” Time Magazine. 8 August 2008. http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1830590,00.html