Barack Obama Vs John McCain, an Independent Consideration...

You know I have to say I’m a bit “Surprised” that more writers haven’t taken a look at this Political discussion that seems to almost cover every corner of the news and topic of conversation. Many of us call ourselves “independent voters” or “undecided” as if to almost hint that we don’t have any bias or belief in a certain party or candidate. I can honestly say as a young proud American that I am an independent voter as this is an independent nation and our job as voters is to consider the best candidate for the most prestigious job in the nation. I have been keeping a close eye of the debates, in which I have watched all of them, and I have also been carefully watching the different news channels (CBS, CNN, and FOX) for coverage, constructive journalism, and attitudes towards candidates.

I felt compelled to write something as I dislike when people are discouraged to vote, and make comments such as: “It doesn’t matter…” And what upsets me is I understand the frustration that we all face as Americans, it sometimes feels like it doesn’t make a difference, but I refuse to believe that our ancestors fought and died for our right to vote in vain… Let me be the first to tell you coming from a fully Democratic state such as Illinois that it almost doesn’t matter because all of my elector votes will go to the Democratic Party no matter what, so yes it is sometimes difficult; however my congressional representatives will always get a fair fight within my district or county.

Generally
I always snicker when people exclaim “Why won’t they just work together!” Because knowing all to well that when the political parties agree on something it usually means more spending of our hard earned tax dollars and higher taxes… I could care less if these people worked together, truth be told it is really in our best interest if they spend all their time fighting amongst themselves so they do not have time to pass more laws or raise our taxes. However it would be nice to hear some common sense laws or procedures be passed that could help our great nation excel into the future.

Leadership
There are three basic qualities I look for when going to the polls: Honesty, integrity, and a record of hardworking backgrounds to public service. I also value the human life, want less government, lower taxes for the people, and always look out for the best interest of Americans not leaders of other countries that don’t like us very much. In addition I have similar beliefs of our founding fathers, such as George Washington whom hinted at making temporary alliances, don’t become over involved, and act as a role model in which the rest of the world should follow. “Throughout his presidency, Washington tried to keep the country peaceful, while attaining stability at home.” I also believe in state laws/rights, and keeping the federal government from becoming overly involved. In addition I always respect and support our men and women in armed forces, not only for the duties they fulfill but the sacrifices both they and their families make to our Democracy. Keeping in mind this is just a generalization of some of my thoughts on how I judge voting for each candidate.

Illinois Politics
As I mentioned earlier it doesn’t matter how I vote in this state because the Democratic Machine with the charge of Public Official “A” Governor Rod R. Blagojevich, King Richard Daley’s Dynasty, and the Nepotism policies of Todd Stroger Cook County Board Official along with a 10.25% sales tax on the good people within the county (highest in the nation) control the outcome of the laws passed within our great state. I’m sure many of us have seen the news about the Tony Resco trials which our great govern has been brought up on numerous occasions. Looking around the current democrats like Mayor Kilpatrick of Detroit: “Kilpatrick's tenure as mayor was plagued with controversies which included allegations (not all against Kilpatrick himself) of marital infidelity, conspiracy, perjury, and murder. Kilpatrick is the only mayor in the history of Detroit to be charged with a felony while in office. On September 4, 2008, Kilpatrick announced his resignation as mayor, which became effective on September 18, as part of a plea bargain where he also pled guilty to two felonies for obstruction of justice.” Or take a look at the Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer and his prostitution ring. These types of activities make me wonder about the ethics of this party in general.

Truthfully our state has a 7.3% unemployment rate, and I have heard higher figures reported as of recent on the radio. (The unemployment rates from http://www.bls.gov/LAU) or the top 5 highest in the nation. In addition we have slowly declining population as show in the U.S. census figures websites over the last decade. Again the party is quick to blame the president for these problems and corruption without looking at the rest of the nation’s figures and facts. Our great state is in dire need of reform both politically and economically. Our Current Governor promised that he would fight corruption, not add to it, and I feel he should be held accountable for his epic failures. To add to the mess our so called “Republican Party” has done nothing to help its situation by offering viable candidates since Govern Ryan’s driver’s license for bribes scandal. (I’ve seen Jim Oberwise run unsuccessfully in almost every type of political position within Illinois)

The Candidates
Let’s face it George W. Bush is not a Social Conservative, he spent a lot of our tax dollars foolishly, along with increased the size of government by 40%, and well I’m sure there’s plenty of other examples of failures you can think of. However it seems that some of the current candidate’s ideas and plans do not really undermine this careless spending nor do they address the issue of our insanely growing budget crises and size of government.

McCain has pledged his fight against this corruption and centered this in several debates; his voting record does show that of saving the taxpayers money and usually voting in good interest to the tax payer dollar. However will it be business as usual? My main concern with McCain is the poor policies going to continue in the direction they have for the last few years. We do need new direction and he has pledge this throughout his campaign. I do however give him great respect for his military and political service to our great nation; I am thinking we need someone to take the role of president very serious along with understanding this task with some type of experience, which is a plus for McCain. Briefly touching on his running mate Sara Palin, I actually find her interesting and did a bit of research how she has overall reduced corruption, taxes, and government spending within Alaska. Actually before she was announced as his running mate, and the media had a chance to drag her threw the mud, I researched her and found a good deal of positive things about her.

I’m always curious how Obama is going to pay for his Health Care plan, or his education plan, some problems to me cannot be fixed by throwing more money at it. Also Senator Obama currently represents the state I live in and I have not seen these “changes” he so calls working towards within the state itself, such as improved healthcare, education, and government reform, so I am a bit shaky about the action he will take during a full Presidency in terms of “Walking the Walk.” It currently seems like a ton of empty promises, as if to try and get into the white house and then makes excuses as to why these plans were not fulfilled.

Obama has seemly promised everyone that his campaign is going to fix all these “problems” in one fell swoop, but I fail to see logically how it can be done coming into this presidency in such a deficit along with little experience and clout with the other members of our Legislative Branch. I almost feel like a lot of his campaign is getting people to vote for “I hate George Bush and so do you, vote for me.” I see a lot of pandering in his speeches to the middle class, but how does the tax hikes in Illinois to the highest in the nation help the average Joe? I like what I hear in his speeches, but he reminds me of a used car salesmen and a typical Illinois Politician. Also I feel that much of the media watching networks like CNN and CBS tend to sweep constructive journalism aside when it comes to Obama, I feel that as a viable candidate for President of the United States of America he should be scrutinized as equally as all candidates. It almost seems like there is something in the works to hide things from the public’s eye and that they are desperate to get this man elected to office by any means necessary. This holds true to the Jeremiah Wright situation, which left a bad taste in my mouth because if someone like McCain was associated with a White Supremist or ideology he career would be over. I just don’t see how everything is a double standard in this country are we not all equal???

My Fellow Americans
We fought long and hard for freedoms also traveled great distances to rid ourselves from tyranny, dictatorships, and over taxations. I truly believe this is the greatest country in the world, and that our government should become accustomed to the beliefs our forefathers adapted for us to prosper as a great nation. Join me in continuing this tradition; also expect nothing but honesty, respect, accountability, and greatness from our leaders so our wonderful nation can flourish once again.

I hope putting this together was not in vain and that it helps many of you as I have been pondering this extremely important election myself for many days now.

Thank you for reading & God bless America,

Jeffrey D. DeRango

I found this Constructive Journalism interesting: http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/video.aspx?RsrcID=2036