Okay, so I've watched the conventions (the parts I could stay awake for), I've read Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope" (all of it!) and I've stayed pretty up to date on the election through Google News and my print subscription to the Wall Street Journal. So here a few of my thoughts on Obama and McCain:
My first issue: Obama's terrible friends.
Obama has responded to his relationship with Rev. Wright. You can read it here.
That's a good response. This was the most important part of his article: "He has never been my political advisor; he's been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn."
I think I remember McCain even saying that he took Obama at his word that his pastor's political views were inconsistent with Obama's political views.
The thing is that Wright isn't the only problem. Obama has a long list of friends that put a new definition on the word "shady." The long list includes: Rev. Wright (we know what he did), Louis Farrakhan (a loud anti-semite), Bill Ayers (proud domestic terrorist who participated in the bombings of New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, the Capitol building in 1971, and the Pentagon in 1972), Tony Rezko (Obama's friend who through an illegal deal helped Obama get a huge discount on his Chicago house), Kwame Kilpatrick (corrupt Detroit mayor who had an affair, lied, and used taxpayer money to fund vacations and wild parties), and others. If anybody hasn't already, do some research on these men, their beliefs and actions are alarming. And that Obama has held very close relationships with each of them (excepting maybe Kilpatrick) is equally alarming.
I think the old saying that you can tell a lot about a man by who his friends are is still true. With Obama, there are huge personal character questions that remain a profound mystery. There is no excuse for being closely associated with an admitted terrorist. The fundamental problem, and the reason I am still skeptical of Obama, is because his actions do not align with his words. He can give a wonderful speech about patriotism and love for country (and he can write a nice book about it too - "The Audacity of Hope"), but after a critical analysis of his actions, all his words become empty and meaningless.
With McCain, even if you disagree with him, you know exactly who he is and what he stands for. Even though he may not sound as pretty as Obama when giving a speech on his love for this country, you can critically examine his record and notice immediately that his actions show clear as day that he loves this country to the core and that he has the personal characteristics of an outstanding leader.
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4 comments:
I agree. I totally disagree with people who say people you associate with do not matter. They do. And Obama has had some real "winners".
After watching the convention speeches of the candidates I can see why Obama is popular. He has a lot of energy and can appeal to a person's emotions (by wanting to see something new and exciting-like the first African American President).
But I was also so impressed with John McCain's speech at the RNC. The beginning of his speech was a little dull but by the end it was great. He was so passionate and I believed that is how he really feels about the country. I am convinced he loves the USA and he has had a lifetime of proof to back that up.
I can't say I believe the same thing about Obama. It just seems like there is so much we don't know about him. And his actions don't match up to what he says. I am just not willing to take a gamble on that.
Great post! Well worded and to the point. Too many questions loom about Obama which are alarming for me to consider voting for him.
Don't you think the same could be said about John McCain? Do the lobbyists and special interests that have a more predominant spot in his campaign matter?
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