No Way for McCain

Recent studies have shown that the McCain/Palin ticket has had a bounce in the polls. This of course being a result of the recent Republican Convention. While the McCain camp is celebrating and strategising their next move that will put them even further ahead of his oponent Barrack Obama, there are reasons why this nation cannot afford nor survive another four yrs. of a Republican regime.

 Further domestic and foreign instability. Whether AMericans realize it or not, other world governments pay very close attention to our elections. Due to the recent administrations unpopular war in Iraq, many nations that used to be our allies keep a cool distance from us. The Bush administration has managed to alienate America from those that held us in the highest trust.  America is not a nation or an island all unto itself. World opinion does matter, and if the President of the United States is viewed as someone who will “shoot first and ask questions later,” our credibility with the rest of the people that share the planet goes completely out the window and so does the trust factor.  If America continues to fight wars on two fronts and looks to start another one, how are we going to afford them? If our allies do not help us, than the economic burden will continue to fall on American tax payers. More and more American troops will come back needing jobs, some needing rehabilitation due to injuries and PTSD, while job opportunities will continue to dwindle and the economy will after much stress, bottom out. We will continue to be alone in the world with very little to no assistance in fighting the ongoing wars, and the middle class will continue to hang on by a thread, further undermining our basic national security not to mention the increase of disillusionment and discontent among the people.  Another Republican administration will not win us friends overseas. Foreign governments have a lukewarm attitude toward us already.  That is why Obama was greeted warmly when he toured Europe. He is poised to have all parties sit down at the table and to weigh all the options on the table.  Military intervention would only be used as a last resort. A McCain/Palin administration they would view as suspect  and would approach with caution.  An Obama administration  they would see as a welcome relief. A leader they could talk with and one of whom they could be reassured that his word was his bond.

 The Republicans party as a whole has never been the party that has introduced nor encouraged the creation or implementation of policies to help the poor and the disenfrancised. Yes, a few progressive Republicans have signed on and endorsed some progressive programs but the party as long as I have been living has never believed that the government has any real responsibility to help those that for different reasons are not able to help themselves.  They believe that the local churches, temples and synagogues should pick up the slack when it comes to feeding the hungry, giving shelter to the homeless etc. While it is a given that local religious organizations should do all these things, it does not get  the federal government off the hook.  How much sense does it make for the most powerful nation in the world to still have such an inordinate amount of people living either at or below the poverty level and barely being able to eat, afford shelter, or to pay their bills…how do those in power justify the growing number of unemployed, those without health insurance, and the growing gap between rich and poor and the disappearance of the middle class? All this in the wake of eight years of a Republican administration.

If the Republicans gain another four years, Sarah Palin or no Sarah Palin, watch the cost of living continue to rise. Your salary even then will still not be able to keep pace. The Republicans are hoping that by strategically putting a powerful woman in the VP position, that they will woo Hillary Clinton’s constituency to vote for the McCain/Palin ticket.  While she is capable and formidable, she is not Hillary Clinton, nor are they the same idealogically. Palin represents a party whose philosophy has exhibited a cold and some say even “mean spirtited” approach to dealing with the dilemma of those who suffer from the injustices of inequity and poverty. When the Republicans back corporations by allowing them more tax cuts and the levity to to disrespect their American work force by closing plants and moving jobs overseas, this shows little care for the plight of American working families who are  subsequently abandoned, to get by any way they can. 

Under eight yrs. of the Clinton administration in contrast, we had record job growth, and the economy was booming. By the time the Clinton’s left office, there was no longer a national debt, we were in the black. It took the same amount of time under the present administration, to put the nation back in the red again and now, some are looking to keep us there by continuing to support another Republican regime.

The working man and woman will continue to loose ground under a McCain/Palin ticket. Bush has continously failed the middle class and the working poor by looking to give more economic relief to millionaires than tax breaks for those who work hard everyday.  The tax rebates that were distributed last Spring were more like a slap in the face to American families continuing to struggle under a slowing economy, while oil companies were making record breaking profits. While oil and food prices as well as everything else has contined to go up in price, the Bush administration does little to nothing.  He has a blatant disregard for the people that he governs, and rules more like an autocratic despot than the President of a democratic republic.

McCain has gone along with over 90% of the Bush administrations policies and decisions. Does this not indicate where his own administration will go?

While Palin is a media star right now, the truth of the matter is that if the McCain/Palin ticket are elected to the White House, the public will see very little of Palin, nor will you hear much from her after that. She will not be President.  Her addition to the ticket while clever will not in the end make much of a difference when it comes to McCains own view of where he wants to take the nation. If it is the traditional Republican edict than we as Americans had better be concerned.  American citizens continue to loose ground and many people’s economic futures remain questionable. McCain wants to privatize social security.  Do Americans want their retirement pensions toyed with by wealthy politicians who can afford the best health care and the best retirement pensions?  I don’t believe we do. 

Are Americans progressive? Much of the rest of the world hopes so. If not, than a McCain/Palin administration will fail to bring the nation into the 21st century.  An Obama administration will attempt to take the nation forward. Much like the Kennedy administration in the early 60s, the American public was encouraged to dream about a brave new world where space exploration would open up millions of possibilities for the furtherance of human endeavor and economy.  Under an Obama administration the American public will be included in the forward going of a nation that has lost it’s way. We will be participants in the democratic process instead of spectators.  A vote for McCain/Palin would be a vote for business as usual. A continued downward spiral that will further create an economic and political climate that is hostile to the poor, and working class. Big business and those in power will be able to continue to exploit Americans that find themselves out of work, disabled, economically strapped, under educated, and disadvantaged for a litany of other legitimate reasons. 

I am one of millions that do not have healthcare. I do not trust a Republican administration to care nor to implement policies that will enable me, nor millions of others to be covered. I do trust an Obama administration that will at least make an attempt to make sure that all Americans can have access to healthcare.  Just the attempt in and of itself says a lot about the candidate and whether or not he thinks more of the people that he is potentially being set up to govern.  Americans must choose, and choose wisely.  Do you want a nation where all have an equal chance to succeed, or will we be a nation that where there will only be two classes, the very rich and the very poor?  Can we afford another four years of a party that in power that cares more about the top two percentile than the American people as a whole?

Under Obama it is “Every Man, Every Woman.”  Everyone counts, not just the rich and the powerful.