Palin at the RNC

Man, I'm watching streaming video of Palin at the RNC. She has every bit of Obama's charisma. And she's going to whip the conservative American's into a churning frizzy. Every moderate vote that McCain is going to lose, or may lose by putting her on the ticket will be made up two fold with ultra-conservatives.

I hate this election. We had two candidates who spent their life working for the country: Hillary and McCain. Now the election is going to be about two candidates with little experience and tons of charisma.

I don't like Palin. The more I learn about her, the worse it gets. I want to like her, but I don't.

I don't trust Obama. He's like an excited puppy telling everyone want they want to hear. And people love him for it. But there is almost nothing before his run for president to judge him by, and on some instinctual level I just don't trust him. I want like him, but I don't.

I'm not the only with Obama issues. Dawn and I had dinner with one of her friends this weekend. She's just like us: young, gay, professional. And when the talk turned to politics and Obama she said, "You know I just don't trust him." None of us can really put our finger on it, but there it is.

The notorious story of the him not putting his hand over his heart during the national anthem came up as well. I'm not the type to support flag burning amendments or anything. But not putting your hand on your heart during the anthem? Seriously?



And Michelle Obama's gaffe, "I'm proud of my country for the first time," doesn't help either. She's not running for office, but it just pisses me off.

Of course, Mom and Tom are already voting one way, minds made up a long time ago. Most of my friends are voting the other way, minds made up a long time ago. But the folks I know locally are actually talking quite a bit about who will best lead.

Dawn and I came up with a triad to judge candidates by:

1) What they themselves really want to do.
2) What they're actually willing to do.
3) What they might be able to accomplish.

I have no idea what Obama really wants to do, is willing to fight for, or what he could accomplish. For example, he says he's for same-sex rights, but does he really care about the issue? More importantly, is he willing to fight for the issue? And last, can he actually make anything happen, get someone in Congress to sponsor a bill, rally folks around it, etcetera?

On the same topic, McCain voted "no" against the ridiculous protection of marriage amendment (as did Obama to be fair), he did it against his own party because he thought it was right, and he whenever someone tries to bring it up, he waives the idea of an amendment saying "it's a states issue." Going back to our triangle, I feel McCain cares, and I think he's willing to fight for it.

We don't have tough test like that to measure Obama with. I'd like to see him stand up for nuclear power -- something that would be unpopular, but I think in the national and global best interest. I'm really pro nuclear. I'm, like, crazy-girl pro nuclear. It's what we have available to us right now.

I like that nuclear is a central part of McCain's plan. (Though it's certainly not Palin's preference. --Did I mentioned I really don't like her on the issues?)

And what about Obama on health care? Hell, even http://www.alternet.org has an article criticizing Obama's plan.

So anyway, I didn't mean to write another political entry, but the Palin speech got me chatty. I hate this election. If McCain dies in office and Palin becomes president, it would be bad for the country and the world. If Obama gets elected, we might get our bag full of promised candy, but we might just end up with a bad tummy ache and tooth decay too.

I have a lot more work to do on my issues spreadsheet. And as far as voting record in this congress, it's hard to tell McCain and Obama apart unless it's about Iraq.

We really need a three party system, with a run-off election. The far-right can have a candidate, the far-left can have a candidate, and we can have a moderate like McCain without him having to suck up to the devil.