Election 2008 - Continued

          So, I’m sure you all know by now that Barack Obama has won the Democratic nomination.  I wish to go on record to say that this will still not keep the Democrats from imploding during this election season.  I believe their only chance is for Mr. Obama to choose Hillary Clinton as his running mate, because those two have polarized and divided that party’s supporters so deeply.  Hillary has said that she will consider it, but that decision now rests on the shoulders of Barack and most experts do not believe that he will choose Hillary.

            We’ll see what happens during the Democratic convention, but I believe firmly that the only way Barack will sway enough voters in the red states is to choose the former first lady as the V.P. candidate.   Many Clinton supporters have said in public forums over the past couple of weeks that they will vote for McCain before they vote for Barack, so how can Barack swing enough of the votes, popular or electoral, without Hillary on the ticket?  The other question to ask right now is, if not Hillary, then who?  John Edwards, Al Gore, Howard Dean, John Kerry?  All of them except Gore are proven national losers, but if Barack has a chance outside of Hillary, Gore may be the only one who can give him that shot.  Just who will Barack choose?  This may be the choice for a running mate that impacts the Presidential race greater than any V.P. choice ever, certainly in my lifetime.

            It won’t make a difference to me personally, as I’m already pretty certain that I’m not voting for the Dems this year.  I can’t stand the idea of another 4 years of anyone trying to expand the role of the federal government in any way, fashion, or form.

          Of course, the question still remains as to who John McCain will choose as a running mate also.  I think the best choice would be either Condoleeza Rice or Elizabeth Dole.  Besides the glaringly obvious reason that they are both women, they are both also more moderate than most Republicans and are proven great leaders.  Condi has been an incredible feather in Bush’s hat, and Elizabeth Dole almost single-handedly saved The American Red Cross.  Both of them appeal to people like me that are stranded in political limbo.  While they have both declared that they will not run for president, we haven’t heard too much from either in regards to the nation’s second highest office.  Personally, I would love to see Condi run with John McCain. She’s smart, she’s dedicated, she’s a strong, intelligent woman with her finger on the current international pulse.  And, she, like Dole is not as strong a right winger as the rest of her Bush administration compadres.  I’m not sure either one of these people are likely to be chosen, but I would love to see it be Condi or Libby to put another woman in the contest.  Other than those two, who does John McCain choose?  Mitt Romney,  Mike Huckabee, Charlie Crist?  Romney and Huckabee are further to the right than McCain historically and that may actually help him win the more conservative Republican base, but that is not something that I personally want to see.  While Crist appears to be a little more moderate than even McCain himself, he is wrong on certain issues like making the DEA an even stronger and more intrusive organization than it already is.

          Bob Barr has secured the nomination for the Libertarian party and may be our strongest candidate ever.  I may have spoken too soon a couple of days ago when I called Mr. Barr a Republican-In-Disguise.  I’ve been reading over his platform and it seems the man has had an honest conversion to the right way of looking at things, the Libertarian way.  I believe at this point, he is the choice that lines up with my own beliefs the closest and barring any horrible misstep, I will probably be voting for Bob Barr.  Nice pun, huh?  Click here to see how Bob Barr stands on the issues and why I will probably be voting for him.

          Whoever wins, what I really wish is that he will at least plug the hole that has developed in the bucket that holds the federal spending dollars and put an end to all the pork that’s been stampeding out of D. C. for the last eight years.  Maybe, just maybe he will use the veto stamp for something other than that which favors big brother and big business.

            Don’t get me wrong here, I love capitalism and business just as much as my hard right wing brothers and sisters, but the last few times, what am I saying, the ONLY few times George Bush has used or threaten to use the veto stamp it’s been for things like bills that would bring consumers gas price relief, or bills that would limit how much the feds can intrude on the privacy of the every day citizen.

            I promised that I would not just complain in this blog, but would offer solutions. Here’s my first offering for fixing the broken system.  The place to start is to put an end to any and all political contributions from CAP programs, special interest groups, and lobbyists.  Why?  We need to level the playing field to allow the common ordinary man or woman to run for the highest office in the land once again.  With the current system, only someone with access to multiple millions of dollars can even stand a chance.  If a person wishes to run and they don’t have the money, the current system promotes cronyism by allowing CAPs, special interest groups, and lobbyist firms to fund the race for them.  They then owe a debt to those groups for getting them elected in the first place.  So, my first solution is the immediate dissolution of these programs, as I for one, would like to see the common middle-class every day citizen have the same opportunity to run and be elected as is currently afforded those who “play” politics.

Stumble it!