Where's McCain?

There has been broad speculation over why John McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his running mate. The consensus holds that she was tapped in a “Hail Mary” effort to bolster a flagging campaign. Now, in the aftermath, “anonymous” GOP campaign staffers are leaking garbage about her over an asinine clothing issue. Talk about a double standard – would anything like this have been dredged up had the candidate been a man? Is this what the GOP has degenerated into – a basket-full of backbiting vipers? Take a good look guys, while you conduct your post-mortem, consider this: "You have met the enemy and he is you!"

And where is McCain? He picked her to run; she flew the mission and did a creditable job. Now, with the election lost, she’s limping home, taking hits and he’s nowhere to be found. As a former fighter pilot, he above all others knows this dictum: “You never leave your wingman.” That’s almost as old as aviation. Why isn’t he rolling in to defend her?

It would be the classy thing to do - the right thing to do. Could it be, perhaps, that the best man actually did win after all?

It's Over

It’s over. We have to live with the result. Been sitting here since last Tuesday night’s blowout in a state of shock, trying to write something – anything about the outcome.

My fiercely liberal in-laws have been sending smug emails regarding the election result, trumpeting the claim that a triumphant Obama will now lead us out of this current economic and political morass into the Promised Land.

I take small comfort in what I told them before the election: This new President and his Congress will be out to make sweeping changes. They will be coming after your wallet in short order. You won’t like the outcome. The difference between us will be that you voted for what's coming, and I, against it.

Voted tonight.

Filled out my mail-in ballot tonight. Hate to admit that it was not a very satisfying experience. Once again, I was holding my nose, filling in a block – not in support of a candidate I truly believed in, but voting instead against someone who’s worse; someone who I’m convinced if elected will cause my country irreparable harm. I’m deeply afraid that if Obama is elected, he’ll be the worst disaster to hit this nation since Jimmy Carter. His presidency will drive this nation so far left, it will take decades to repair the damage.

As a fellow former Navy pilot, I stand in awe of John McCain’s military record, especially while captive in North Vietnam. But sadly, on a political basis, he just doesn’t speak to me or for me. Ann Coulter considers him the worst possible choice as a GOP candidate and I’m not that far behind her. Surely, the Republican Party could have done better?

If McCain does manage to win next week, it won’t be because of his wit, charisma, leadership or magnetism. It will be because enough voters realized at the last minute that what Obama has in store for America in terms of “change” isn’t what they envisioned

I’ll be glad when this enervating election cycle is finally over. It’s gone on far too long and become too irritating. It’s now so polarized, that I don’t even want to discuss politics anymore with certain members of the extended family. Everybody just gets angry. Some of them consider Obama to be the “second coming”, while McCain is looked upon as the anti-christ.

C’mon Tuesday! Let’s just get this mess over with!