Decisions, Decisions
1 comment October 26th, 2008
At last week’s Voter’s Panel meeting, I surprised a fellow member. At the end of every meeting, we take a straw poll as to who each of the members will probably vote for in the coming election. People’s choices have changed from meeting to meeting. After indicating my choice, Dyanna Chandler expressed surprise at my choice, saying it was opposite of what she had expected.
I have struggled a great deal with my choice over these many weeks. I have always considered myself a moderate Republican – fiscally conservative, but somewhat liberal on certain social issues. Basically, I find myself right in the middle, along with most of the rest of the country. For the most part, I want the government to take care of certain things for the safety and betterment of all, but then leave me alone and not tell me how I should live my life.
In considering the two candidates, I do believe that either Sen. Obama or Sen. McCain could be a good president. Both are very intelligent, well-read, and believe strongly in the opportunities our country offers. From what I’ve seen in the debates and watching the election coverage, Sen. Obama is thoughtful and tends to look at multiple sides of an issue. Sen. McCain seems much more likely to act first and think later. His reaction to the economic crisis, where he suspended his campaign to rush back to Washington to show he was concerned, then was back on the trail the next day, is a case in point. Sen. Obama, on the other hand, remained on the trail, but monitored what was going on and gave input when necessary.
Sen. Obama’s stand on certain issues, especially universal health care, concerns me. (Disclosure – I work for an insurance company that sells health insurance.) The government has never been particularly good at creating efficiencies, and putting it in charge of health care at a time when Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security have serious funding issues just doesn’t make sense. I have to believe that the current economic situation will seriously temper the move toward universal health care. There are a number of better options out there, but it will take serious changes in all areas – limiting punitive damages, curtailing frivolous lawsuits by moving toward a system where the loser pays court costs, setting a minimum basic coverage standard for health insurance policies that’s affordable without a lot of extra coverages that drive up costs, and instituting some form of cost/benefit analysis on extraordinary treatments for dying patients – among other things. We have to realize, too, that doctors are not infallible. Sometimes people die for no reason and there’s nothing we can do to change it. We also have to start taking responsibility for our own health by quitting smoking, eating right, wearing seat belts, etc.
Sen. McCain concerns me, too, but from a judgement standpoint. His choice of Sarah Palin as running mate floored me. I would much rather have seen Joe Leiberman as his running mate. I could support that, but Sarah Palin just doesn’t do it for me. It looks like a bald play to court the religious right, which was having trouble supporting McCain. Jonathan Alter, in the October 20 issue of Newsweek, hit the nail right on the head said that picking Palin “was a confession that McCain could not, by himself, wrest control of the Republican Party.” He had a chance to move the Party back toward the middle, but couldn’t get it done.
The other big concern I have with Sen. Obama is that he would have both houses of Congress in his party. I may be able to trust him, but I’m not so sure about them. I can only hope and pray that they would recognize that the economy trumps all and deal with that as opposed to trying to pass some of their pet programs. Things always seem to work better when differing Parties are in charge because they have to compromise to get anything done. That’s always good.
As I said earlier, I consider myself a moderate Republican. In recent years, though, I’ve found it increasingly hard to align myself with the Republicans as they trend further and further to the right on many issues. That’s just not me. I’m much more to the center, and I try to take a common sense approach with things. For instance, I can support an individual’s right to own a gun AND support a ban on individual ownership of assault weapons. Who really needs an assault weapon anyway?
So back to the issue of the election. My gut tells me that Barack Obama will be a better President than John McCain. Sen. Obama just comes across as more Presidential to me than Sen. McCain. So that’s who I’m voting for on November 4, which is why Dyanna was surprised. If I’m right, maybe he can straighten out the economy and raise our standing in the world among the other countries. If I’m wrong, well, it’s only two years until the next Congressional election and we can hope the Republicans come to their senses and get some good people running. If nothing else, it will be an interesting time!
Gary Tiffany
