Election '08: Idealism vs. Pragmatism

Up until now I have remained fairly silent about my specific thoughts on the upcoming election. I’ve done that for a couple of reasons. First, I am not terribly excited by any of the candidates we are choosing from this year. I am a social and fiscal conservative. I think the less government intrusion into our lives, the better. If I sign a bad loan, due to my unrealistic optimism or my naiveté, I believe it is my responsibility to deal with the consequences of my bad decision. I don’t want the government (read, taxpayers) to foot my medical bills or require that my children are in pre-k to better prepare them educationally, thank you very much. I don’t much care for the idea of farming out our brave young men and women to the four corners of the globe to build nations or force democracy down the throats of people who are not interested or won’t rise up and fight for it themselves. We can help, but I hate the idea of us being the ones to shed first blood and bear all the expense at the cost of our kids’ financial futures.

I realize and accept that compromise is necessary to get things done in politics, and I don’t even feel that there is anything inherently wrong with a politician being pragmatic. I do however, get fighting mad when the American people have made their position perfectly clear on an issue, like illegal immigration, and lawmakers choose to disregard us, assuming guardianship over a government that is supposed to be of, by, and for the people. All of these things and more will make it very hard for me to cast an enthusiastic vote on November 4th, 2008.

Nevertheless, if Barak Obama is the Democratic nominee, and that looks highly probable at this point, I will vote for Mr. McCain with no hesitation. In my opinion, the charismatic young Illinois senator is as close to a Communist in his views as any politician I’ve ever seen. And his ability to crouch his fascist beliefs in flowery rhetoric makes him even more dangerous. I must admit that I even enjoy this man’s oratory prowess. He’s mesmerizing, indeed. I’ve never heard anyone say nothing so well before! But let’s look past all the talk abut hope and moving forward, shall we? Where will his ‘move forward’ take our nation?

Before I am anything else politically, I am pro-life. Mr. Obama is adamantly opposed to the partial birth abortion ban, no matter the circumstances. I will spare you the details of this particular procedure here, but it’s safe to say that even among the most liberal senators, you can find more than a number of Democrats that find this procedure repulsive. What’s more, he is all for federal funding of organizations such as Planned Parenthood, who provide abortion services. I have no illusions about abortion being outlawed any time soon, but don’t dare ask me to help pay for it!

He is also proposing trillions of dollars in new government entitlements and programs. Where is this money supposed to come from? Why, you and I of course! There’s always this call for raising taxes only “on the rich”. And his definition of “rich” is one of the most narrow I’ve ever seen. While the husband and I are not chasing after more money and riches, the truth is that my DH is an extremely intelligent, resourceful, hardworking guy who is entirely capable of being a very wealthy man one day. Maybe even soon. So does that mean we should be punished for reaping the rewards of all the hard work sown? We would prefer to be able to continue to practice personal charity rather than having our government, if it could still be called OUR government, take our hard earned money and decide for us who deserved to be the benefactor of our charitable giving.

Hillary is not much better in my opinion, for the record. But for better or worse, we know her. She’s a socialist too, and couldn’t get my vote. But she has learned from her husband how to compromise politically when necessary. The Clintons are nothing else if not poll watchers. It’s just that in the case of Obama, there is still so much that we don’t know which in my opinion makes him more dangerous considering what we do know. And now the part of me that’s conflicted:

My dad was born during the Great Depression and was a young husband and father at the height of the civil rights movement. I have heard many, many stories from him, as well as aunts and uncles about the struggles, indignities, and injustices they faced. They never imagined a world in which a Black man could be president. I would be less than honest if I didn’t admit that part of me is very impressed with what Obama has been able to accomplish. While I have long believed that America’s days of racism are well behind us, it helps to have such a major event occur that gives credence to what I have long suspected. I get so sick of the professional race baiters who have made their fortunes by playing the race card at every turn and I am equally sick of the media who bring their cameras and legitimize these shysters by giving them an audience. While there are many instances of Black folk who are living the American dream, it’s slightly different in this case because Obama’s success is directly linked to the electorate (of all races) embracing and voting for him en masse. That’s exactly what has happened in the Democratic primary. So while I look forward to being able to move beyond discussions of race and begin talking more about personal responsibility, I don’t want to do so at the expense of my country’s soul.

And that’s where I stand right now. While I am no fan of the GOP frontrunner, John McCain, I do believe that this is a pivotal election and the very values that have made our nation great: faith, family, hard work, free markets and ingenuity are at risk if true conservatives don’t move beyond our distaste for Mr. McCain and vote (gag) pragmatically for the sake of our country’s very soul. Yes, I am implying that sometimes you have to vote AGAINST something rather than FOR what you really want, particularly when it’s clear that you’re not going to get what you want.