Top 3 issues with the campaign:
1. Personal Responsibility
2. Abortion
3. The War in Iraq
Personal Responsibility
I am very troubled with Obama’s socialist views. “Shared responsibility” is a nice euphemism for socialism, but it is socialism nonetheless. I have been teaching for 13 years. In the beginning of my career, I wanted to “save” everyone. I wanted to take care of these families and hold their hands. Well, as time goes by, I have realized that there are people who do not want to help themselves. They just want other people to do it for them. Many of these people are flagrantly irresponsible and expect to be taken care of. It is as if we (society, schools, etc) owe them something. For what? I am all for helping someone who is working towards a better life or for someone who is physically or mentally unable to care for themselves. However, this is not the case with so many Americans. The lack of personal responsibility is out of control. Our society is plummeting at a staggering pace. I am terrified of where our society will be in 25 years if responsibility is punished even more than it is now and irresponsibility rewarded more. I do not want to be penalized for being responsible. This is America. Hard work and responsibility, not entitlement, should be the key to a successful future.
Abortion
This is a philosophical difference that I find extremely important. I think that Roe vs. Wade should be overturned. As a matter of fact, the woman that Roe vs. Wade was based on would herself like it overturned. I agree with McCain that the question of abortion should be returned to the individual states, as a BEGINNING step to ending abortion.
At the very least, late term abortion should be banned. If a woman feels that she has a right to make a choice to abort her baby, then she had better make that decision early on. I am a pro-life supporter. However, if a woman does choose an abortion, for whatever may be the reason, I do not see why she would need to wait until late in her pregnancy. If there is a medical problem with the child, I personally do not support abortion. However, I realize that this is a difficult decision for a woman to be faced with. If a woman did choose to abort a baby with severe medical problems, then even those problems can be recognized early on in the pregnancy. If a woman declines early prenatal screenings for abnormalities (which I chose to decline), then she may not find out about an abnormality until the 20-24 week ultrasound. Well, by declining the earlier testing options, she made her decision to keep her baby, regardless of health. So, in my opinion, that would not constitute a reason to have a late-tem abortion. I realize that there are some women whose pregnancies may endanger her own health. Once again, this can be determined at an early enough stage to avoid a late-term abortion. If the medical problem does arise later on, there can be provisions in the law that would allow the woman to choose an abortion; by the way, McCain supports this provision.
Being the mother of two premature babies, it sickens me to think that a woman can choose to abort a baby that could be saved if it had been born at the same stage of pregnancy in which it was aborted. Neither of my girls were any less of a baby because they were premature. I had a student in my classroom that was born prematurely, at 24 weeks gestation. She has no physical disabilities and only a mild learning disability. Her IQ is within the average range. Partial-Birth abortions were “invented” by a doctor right here in Kettering , OH, Dr. Martin Haskell. The clinic where he practices this horrendous procedure is right down the street from where I work. I drive by his clinic every day on my way to work. It is an atrocity what is happening in that building. He literally sucks the child’s brains out, and smashes the skull as the child is being delivered/aborted…SICK!
Obama is a pro-choice supporter and supports late term abortion. My greatest problem with Barack Obama is that he does not even oppose infanticide. So, if a poor, helpless baby actually survives an attempted abortion, the child is left in a pile of soiled sheets and towels to die. I read an article written by a nurse in one of these procedures where it took the child 45 minutes to die. The baby was literally tossed in with the soiled laundry until he expired. Obama has voted to support the fact that doctors are not required to provide medical care to a baby that survives an abortion.
The War in Iraq
I think that we must win Iraq . Regardless of whether you feel that war in Iraq was justified or not, we are there now and must not leave until the job is done. If we are to win, how can we have a set withdrawal date? Additionally, it would be irresponsible to pull-out of Iraq on an arbitrary date if Iraq is not able to defend and govern itself. Cleary, such a withdrawal would add tremendous instability to a region of the world that is already on the brink of chaos. We would be leaving more of a mess than had existed before we entered this war. We need to be there until the job is complete to add stability the region. John McCain is prepared to stay in Iraq until the job is done. Obama is ready to pick an arbitrary date and leave.
Problems I have with Obama
1. His record of indecisiveness - Obama has voted “present” nearly 100 times in his relatively short political career. It is as if he is afraid to vote one way or another in fear of making the wrong choice or offending others. Get a backbone and stand up for what you believe in. Make your vote count. Represent your constituents. Do something in addition to just show up and be “present”. A president needs to make monumental decisions regarding the nation’s security, economy, etc. I like how John McCain put his campaign on hold and went to Washington to help with the financial crises. I was less that impressed with Obama’s attitude of, “If you need me, call me.”
2. Questionable friends - Jeremiah Wright…need I say more? I liked Obama prior to the Jeremiah Wright mess. How can I support a man whom I saw with my own two eyes look right at the camera and lie? It reminded me of when Clinton said that he did not have sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky. I saw Obama look into the camera and say that he “did not recall” being at the services where the racial remarks were made. He said that if he were there, that he would have told his pastor that he disagreed. Then, come to find out, Obama admitted that he was there for some of these sermons. Obama said he did not share Reverend Wright’s beliefs. How could he sit in that church for 20 years listening to that kind of preaching? I know I wouldn’t spend 20 years listening to someone who is supposed to be my spiritual mentor unless I agreed with what he was preaching about. I surely would not have someone I differ with so drastically perform my marriage or baptize my children. After he changed his story and admitted that he was present for some of those sermons, I just completely changed my views of him. At the very least, surrounding himself with people with questionable and/or radical views (i.e. Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, etc.) demonstrates poor judgment.
3. Off-Shore Drilling - Obama opposes off-shore drilling. McCain and Palin are in favor of off-shore drilling. I think that we should explore and make use of our own natural resources while we explore and develop alternative energy sources, which will take years to develop. Drill, baby, drill!
4. My next problem with Obama is a personal opinion; I think that he is fake. He is wooing America with his incredibly charming personality. Once he is in office, and I think he will win the election, we will see a whole new side of Obama. I do not think we are going to like what we see. If he wins, I think we will become a country even less stable financially and militarily, and even more divided. On the up-side, I do not think that he will win re-election in 2012 and will create a huge political shift to the right, the same way Carter led to 12 years of a Republican presidency. So, at least we only need to survive Obama for 4 years.
5. Taxes - I don’t like how Obama keeps saying that he will make income tax cuts for 95% of working families. I don’t dispute that he will, indeed, cut income tax, but no one seems to grasp that Obama plans to raise taxes in other subtle ways (gas tax, energy tax, business tax, etc.). We will all pay more in taxes than we did before he takes office. He isn’t lying about the income tax cuts. I am sure he will follow through on his word. But, he hasn’t discussed all of the tax increases he will push for and how much it will cost working families. It is like how Ohio Lottery money is supposed to go to benefit Ohio schools. Well, we do get money from the lottery as promised, but funding was cut from other educational budgets, so we were left with less money. Obama’s income tax cut is just a way of shifting money around to make things look good. Speaking of taxes, I also do not like that small business owners will have their taxes increased since they fall into the $250,000 + tax bracket. Small businesses are failing and closing up shop around the country. Business owners should not be penalized for working toward their American dream…especially since these people are actually WORKING.
6. Government-run healthcare - I do not think that having the government run/sponsored healthcare will help most Americans. I think it will lessen my healthcare options as a patient and put my personal health at risk. I do not agree that more government helps healthcare. There is a reason people with the most serious medical conditions leave their own country (many of which provide “free” healthcare) and come to the U.S. for treatment. The U.S. has the best healthcare in the world and government involvement will make it worse.
7. Lack of experience - I also have to say that I am quite impressed with McCain’s life story and leadership experience. John McCain has far more foreign policy experience and experience with economic policy than Barack Obama. There is a lot to be said for experience. I know from teaching that if you can find an experienced teacher who also is also current on best practices, he/she will outperform a fresh-out-of-college, idealistic teacher every time. There are just some things that you learn through years of experience that cannot be learned by reading it in a book or simply hearing it from someone else. You simply must have had the experiences for yourself.
Obviously, Obama picked Joe Biden as his running mate to make up for his complete lack of foreign policy experience. I think Joe Biden was an excellent choice for VP for Obama. Actually, I would be far more comfortable with Joe Biden as President than Barack Obama. Unfortunately, the people most qualified for an elected position rarely get elected (or run for the office for that matter).
I feel that John McCain is the man who is best qualified to lead this nation. I am saddened that Americans have been so taken with Obama’s charm and charisma. I can see how many have fallen for him. I for one, look beyond the charm and into his policies. I do not like what I see. As a matter of fact, I am terrified by what I see in Obama!
Vote McCain/Palin on Nov. 4!
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