I'm struggling and completely conflicted in light of the impending election. Here's why. At the very onset of choosing a political candidate, I took the abortion issue off the table. I vowed not to allow that to be the deciding factor in who I choose this coming Tuesday. I personally believe that abortion is wrong; further, that partial birth and late term abortions are evidence of a level of brutality that I'm ashamed to admit is part of our human existence.
Granted, there are gray areas. Incest, rape and danger to the mother are all cause for rethinking that, and I'd like to think that each of those situations would allow for the life of both. However, if it's not the case, the life of the mother should be of primary concern. Those are just my thoughts and though I don't agree with abortion, I ain't the judge. Am I for the overturning of Roe v. Wade? I'm not sure that I am, to be honest. But that's not what this post is about; cause I took abortion off the table.
I vowed to do my best to make an informed decision not based on what FAUX News or any other media outlet spoon fed me. So I started looking into both Obama and McCain and their previous voting records. I looked at what Obama did at the state level and what they both did at the Senate level. I looked at bills they supported, those they voted "present" on and why that might have been the case. I FactChecked stuff they said and stuff that each said the other one said. I looked at both platforms and what they claim to represent. I looked at the proposed economic policies and comments on war in Iraq, Afghanistan and, possibly Iran. I scoured un-affiliated websites looking for balanced insight into what their claims were. I read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to see what it is these guys are supposed to be protecting and fighting for. Needless to say, I feel like I've done more than most to take this seriously.
Where did I end up?
Well after all that I strongly feel that Obama is the far superior candidate to turn this country out of its current state of affairs. Now I'm going to get some major flack from that. I live in Georgia which is dyed in the wool republican. My family's republican, and so was I until this election. Honestly, I can say that I'm an independent looking for the best choice. People will ask how can I vote for Obama when he's promoting Socialist ideas. Let me say that socialism is a lot more than just increasing income taxes on those that make an adjusted gross income over $250M and promoting the thought of government aided health care. Many European union countries provide national health care and tax at higher rates, but aren't considered socialist, while many other countries like Columbia and Venezuela leave the poor and middle class to fend for themselves, while the "capitalists" enjoy the fruits of their endeavors. I doubt that the US strives for either of these two positions exactly so the likelihood that this country will ever be led by a "socialist" regime is a little ridiculous to me. I think the Obama=socialism moniker is trumped up. Both JFK and FDR were accused of the same thing.
Personally, I'm a recipient of a social program. Because of Elliot's condition, he qualifies for Medicaid. I can honestly say that this has had a tremendous impact on our one income family. Are there people out there that game the system? Sure there are. Will a nationally sponsored health care have its downside? You betcha. However, I have seen some pretty ugly things when it comes to private insurance and medical coverage. I've got great insurance; I consider myself to have an above-average education; but we have had to fight for coverage in several instances and, would we not have continually pressed our case, we would have been deemed responsible for tens of thousands in medical bills that insurance was responsible for.
Having said all that... I can't vote for Obama. I'm kind of ashamed to say that it comes back to his stance on abortion. His voting record at the state level on partial birth abortion and the Born Alive Infant Protection Act left me with the feeling that he was getting a little to "legal" in the view of infants and moms. Granted, there are a lot of lines and some pretty foggy areas in that whole arena, but I would prefer that we err on the side of protecting life rather than looking for how far we can push the envelope on when a baby/fetus is qualified for the same rights as any other human. Reading through some of his comments made it sound like we were back in the days of Clinton and we were trying to find out what the definition of "is" is.
Where does that leave me now?
Because of our electoral system I have been presented with an option of only one of two candidates being considered for the White House. One I will not vote for and one that I want to, but can't. Fortunately or unfortunately it's taken me about nine months of research to get to this point of indecision. I'm not sure there's a purpose to this post other than to assuage my conscience, if my vote is ultimately not to vote. If that's the case, then I have come to that decision with as much knowledge and soul-searching as I could muster. I guess I should really be more concerned with my local officials, but heck...I don't have another nine months to dedicate to those guys.
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