The 2008 presidential election is turning out to be the most complicated in my life. I've always been a strong supporter of traditional and conservative values, and none of the current bunch really impresses me. I hate to say it, but it's true.
I think it's become complex for me, and others like me, because I have a pretty good idea of what direction I want this country to head in, and what I think needs to be done to get there, and I want to make sure this next president will be the one to lead us in that direction. But there seems to be no clear cut and obvious candidate here.
It appeared that President Bush was the ideal conservative candidate when I voted for him twice, but then he wavered. He did approve tax cuts that stimulated the economy, but he failed to make them permanent. Likewise, while he cut taxes, he failed to use his veto pen and disapprove of any spending cuts and pork filled bills until recently.
Fighting the war on terror is the right thing to do. And going into Iraq I think was the right thing to do. However, I think George Bush was a terrible communicator, and therefore the media controlled world opinion on the War in Iraq. Yes, Bush made many mistakes in the war, like not sending in enough troops right away, and letting too many of Saddam's soldiers walk free during the initial war.
One of the Big flaws of Bush, I think, was that he did things he thought would garnish votes for himself and his fellow republicans, as opposed to doing what was right. Instead of pushing for a program that would give parents a choice where to send their kids to school, he decided to continue with the current government run schools via his no kid left behind act, which was written by liberal Ted Kennedy.
Bush signed this bill because, as polls show, almost 80% of parents believe more money should be allocated to education. So he doubled the amount of money going to education. Has it helped his popularity? No. Has education improved? No. The fact is, as many experts will contend, the No Child Left Behind Act has had minimal positive results on our educational system: it is still lagging.
Which is funny, because while 80% of Americans support closing our borders to make it harder for illegal aliens to sneak in, Bush has been an ardent supporter of Amnesty. He wants to make things easier for these illegal aliens, while legal aliens still have to wait in line. Why? Because he wants to establish the Spanish-American vote. He's more concerned with the Spanish-American vote than he is middle class Americans.
In the past I have voted to the person I thought had the best chance of winning the office of the president. This year, however, I have no choice but to think different. I want to vote for a person who will do what he says he will do, as opposed to simply giving us middle-class voters a line of what we want to hear.
Clinton pretended to be a moderate when he ran, but when he was elected he was a liberal president. Bush ran as a conservative, but he was almost too liberal as president, as my examples show. Liberalism, as history has shown, has failed every time it has been tried, and that is why Bush is not very popular.All you have to do is check the polls to see what I mean.
I was called to participate in a poll today, and I had no choice that to say I do not approve of his Presidency, and my opinion had nothing to do with the war.
So, this type of thinking has made my decision a bit of a challenge. And, I may decide to vote for someone in the primaries of whom stands little chance of winning the nomination. I'm going to vote for the person I truly think is right. And, if my candidate doesn't get nominated, I'll know I stuck to my principals.
However, when it comes to the presidential election, there will be no such problem for me. While I would have no problem voting for a democrat if the candidate were of the John F. Kennedy mode, but the current batch have nothing to offer me but more taxes and more government programs.
I will make a final decision tonight, and I'll let you know tomorrow who I will vote for in the 2008 presidential primary in my state, and why I made my decision.
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