Alright... Time for some politics...

Yes, politics causes sparks to fly, but that's fun sometimes :)

Over the next few days before the election, I'm hoping to throw a quick blurb up about how I feel about the races I have to vote for, and perhaps some other ones (Bachmann comes to mind...)

Let's start with the big one. The President. Then again, this changes every freakin day. Sorta.

McCain/Palin: McCain is too old. He'll prolly have some sort of heart failure or something within the first year, and Palin, the hick from Alaska would have to take over. Fuck. Palin has international experience because she can see Russia and borders Canada? They're not even a real country anyway! :P Srsly?! I swear, 50% of the people voting McCain are doing so because they're scared of Obama cuz they think he's a terrorist or cuz he's black, and 30% more just because Palin's female. The other 20%... Who knows :P

Obama/Biden: From the get-go, Obama has given the feel that he's in touch with the youth of America, who ultimately decides every election (see the Ventura election...), which is important to me because, well, I'm young (or so I think... at least I did til the last concert I went to...). The only thing I'm not liking about Obama... well, I signed up for e-mail updates from his campaign. Yeah, I was really thinking that day :P Anyway, for a couple weeks there, I felt kinda abused - they e-mailed me like 3 times a day some days... Slightly rediculous :P Also, part of the reason people like Obama is that he's not republican :P We don't need more of the same old same old in Washington. now, McCain thinks he's an agent of change as well. I think McCain is on crack.

In years past, I've been able to name 3rd party candidates. This year, well, nobody comes to mind. I still think that's half the problem with the political system - if you're red, you vote red. If you're blue, you vote blue. Very few vote based solely on the issues. Let's get rid of the political parties and make every candidate fend for themselves, and circulate an excel spreadsheet listing how every candidate feels about each hot topic :P

Let's oversimplify some stands on topics, based on http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/03/obama_mccain_on_the_issues/

Abortion Rights. McCain opposes them, Obama favors them. Point to Obama.

Campaign Finance: McCain wrote the book (well, the law actually) about campaign finance - and he took the public financing with spending limits. Obama said he would, then decided "Nah, I can raise more on my own" after McCain locked in his decision. Point to McCain.

Cuba: If Cuba makes steps toward democracy, both candidates are willing to ease restrictions.

Death Penalty: They both support it, when the circumstances are right. Obama has helped author laws to make sure innocent people don't get killed. For that, I'll give a point to Obama.

Education. McCain: Parental choice, vouchers for private schools, and more money for community colleges. Obama: Encourage preschool, get better teachers, and fix No Child Left Behind. Don't get me started. Hard to give a point here, both are good plans.

Gay Marriage: Both candidates oppose a constitutional amendment to ban it. You'd lose too many votes if you said otherwise :P McCain says same-sex couples should be allowed to enter into legal agreements for insurance and similar benefits. Obama supports civil unions, says states should decide about marriage. Personally, I believe... if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, IT'S A GODDAMN DUCK! Call it marriage and be done with it! No points.

Global Warming: Both realize something needs to be done. Blah blah blah.

Gun control: McCain loves the second amendment (as all gun-loving republicans do), hell Palin loves moose hunting. Obama supported a ban on all semiautomatic weapons in Illinois. Personally, the only people who should have semi-automatic weapons are the freakin military - you don't need anything that strong for hunting. Point Obama.

Health Care: Both candidates have good ideas, helping people get insurance coverage. McCain offers a tax credit, Obama offers a way to get the same health insurance the government has, and pays for it by taxing the wealthy. Since I'm not wealthy, I'm all about that. Then again, McCain is throwing real numbers out there. Then again, if there was a $2500 credit for health insurance, rates will just keep going up. Time for a REAL SOLUTION people. No points.

Immigration: Build a fence, learn English, pay your back taxes and fines - follow the program, Welcome to America. Sounds good to me. Wait, both candidates agree :P Points for everyone!

Iran: McCain "We don't negotiate with terrorists", while Obama thinks along the lines of if we start talking to them, perhaps we can find some sort of agreement. You know, so they don't terrorize us.

Iraq: McCain opposes a timetable for withdrawl, and wants a permanent "peacekeeping force" in Iraq, which means we ain't goin anywhere. Obama previously said a timetable for withdrawl would be irresponsible, but now he caved to political pressure and says end of 2009 for COMPLETE withdrawl. Personally, I agree it's irresponsible... but a permanent peacekeeping force isn't right either. No points.

Stem Cells: Let's do it. Both candidates. w00t.

Social Security: Both candidates realize something needs to be done, but neither have ideas on what to do, besides "minor adjustments", meaning it'll be long gone by the time I retire.

Taxes: McCain "NO NEW TAXES!", and we see how well this worked for Pawlenty (see falling bridges and underfunded schools, causing property tax increases). He talks about a LOT of tax cuts too. And balance the budget. Meaning he's gonna slash everything. Meaning more falling bridges, and still no money for education. Idiot. Obama wants to be Robin Hood. Tax the rich, cut taxes for the poor. Wait a second.... the poor have lower taxes... because they have low income...

'Course it doesn't really matter who wins... This is all the political talk we hear every year, then when push comes to shove, it doesn't happen (see Bush's State of the Union when he came to Fargo afterwards... and wanted to privatize Social Security... and a week later he had been laughed at so hard he gave up.)

Sure, I had to handle the big one the first night I decided to do this. Regardless, fairly obvious, Obama gets my vote. Your vote may vary.

But regardless of how you choose to vote.... GO VOTE! And for the love of God, please don't use this entirely one-sided view of the candidates as your only source of information - Google them! :)