It seems that as the Presidential campaign is winding down, the personalities of both campaigners are coming to the forefront. Obama is pounding on his policies and talking about the country coming together behind the next President. McCain is talking about his opponent and trying to scare the public by representing, and misrepresenting what Obama’s policies will be. McCain is also talking about the fears of a Congress and Presidency held by the same party. Of course, the Republicans have been in that position in the past, and they weren’t really able to take advantage of that.
I continue to be sorely disappointed by the way the McCain camp has run their campaign. The McCain of 2000 was a maverick, the McCain of 2000 wasn’t afraid to go up against his own or the other party, he wasn’t afraid to tell the public what he thought. This was a man that I could vote for; I felt that he was actually putting his country first. What happened to that candidate? It seems that he had to sell his soul to get the nomination, and once he had the nomination, he needed to please so many segments of the country to even have a chance at victory, that he was hamstrung as far as being a real maverick. He had to nominate a VP candidate that wasn’t on any short list that had been put together, he wanted to nominate people that were closer to the middle, but then the Conservatives wouldn’t let that go down. This is obviously his last chance for the gold ring, and it’s a shame to see him fold to pressure rather than remaining his own man.
I really don’t believe, or hope that Palin is the future of the party. She seems poorly prepared and she seems very much the hard-line Conservative. I have to believe that as we move in to the future, the parties are going to be forced more to the middle, where they can reach across the aisle, and address the country’s problems. Palin wants to keep the party very much to the right, we’ll see how that works out in the future.
Obama may not be the greatest manager elected to the office of President, but I really feel that he has the temperament and the advisors that will help him to govern effectively. He seems more than willing to take a breath, listen to his advisors, and then come forward with a plan. That is totally different than the cowboy currently in power, and also different than McCain, who seems to continually want to show leadership, but then lurches from one side to the other as he reassesses the issue and tries to adjust his policies as the problem unfolds.
It seems that Biden will be in the background and probably helping with foreign policy. He may be a Cheney type VP, working in the administration giving advice, and staying out of the spotlight. We’ll see.
Tuesday will be interesting, and hopefully, a new President and administration will help the public be less fearful of the future.
GOOD LUCK
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