My Two Cents on the Upcoming Election

[phillymama25]

Disclaimer*- There are just my thoughts. Agree or disagree. Either way, I don't really care. You have your beliefs and I have mine. The beauty of our great nation is that we are all entitled to our opinions no matter what and can voice them freely.

    To begin, yes, I actually watched the debate the other night. Honestly, I've seen better debates between high schoolers. I've had better debates with my friends. In my opinion, neither one said anything substantial. No one really would have swayed my vote had I been undecided. In fact, I was so bored by the lack of substance, that halfway through I went and had some ice cream. I did go back and watch the rest  though. I was just getting sick of all the numbers. Not everything can be looked at with numbers or monetary value.

     I've heard a lot about the words and facial expressions of the night. I've heard so much about how McCain hadn't looked at Obama. Quite honestly, I can't blame him. There is something about him that I truly can't stomach myself. Don't get me wrong, the man is educated, a great orator and definetly shines well in the spotlight, BUT, I think it's that I see past that fake smile on his face and see someone out for power but has other motives up his sleeve. Perhaps the lack of eye contact (with anyone mind you) on McCain's part is from his experiences in his lifetime. The body heals and time takes away pain that occurs in life but traumatic events (like being a POW, which none of us know what it's like), can have lasting effects that can sneak up in ways that come across as rude, distasteful, etc. What I hear no one commenting on were the smug looks on Obama's face all night long. Some of the expressions on his face looked downright disrespectful. The man walks around with an "I've got this in the bag" attitude. I'm already tired of seeing his face.

    Lately, I've read and heard that on Election Day that voters can not wear shirts, buttons, etc. endorsing their candidate to the polls. Obama supporters are up in arms about this. Why? This is nothing new. It's a law that's been in effect for quite some time. It's NOT (despite how some feel) something new that came about to distract Obama supporters from coming out to vote. Honestly, if that's what would keep you from voting, you're not intellectually mature enough to handle voting anyway.

    In saying all of this, I'm not going to say that I 100% agree with either candidate is saying or not saying. In fact, I agree with Obama on the issue of education. I believe that we should increase Head Start and Early Head Start. What we need to do however is increase knowledge and ability in our teachers. Increasing these programs will only work if those that lead and run the programs don't become greedy, neglectful of the purpose or lack good intelligence and training. We don't need to assume that tenured teachers are the best either because these older teachers aren't always aware of the best practices for today's children.

    Talking about children, this is where I have to side with McCain and Palin. I'v stated plenty of times my feelings ..ion. I am 100% Pro-Life. No excuses. No exceptions. This is reason enough for me to vote one way or another. You can not make lawas on how I, or anyone else, should live their life when you don't understand the importance of life to begin with. I also will side with them because I see more being done in the way of special education with Palin in office. She knows what us mothers deal with having these extra special children, having one herself.

       On the terms of war, I don't believe we should have been there in the first place; however, I believe now that we've gone over, we have to finish what we started. Pulling back now shows failure and defeat. We are borrowing money from other countries to fund this war but how many times have we bailed out other countries? Having our troops there is benefitting the rest of the world. We're fighting to keep as many safe as we can. The war may not be over soon, but in the 7 years since 9/11, we've been safe here at home. The fighting is over there and our troops are doing a hell of a job.

          People have been commenting on the age of John McCain. to me, with age comes experience and certain levels of wisdom. If something happens to him in office, I believe that Palin can do a damn good job. She just needs to be given a chance. Obama and Biden won't do as well I think. Obama's already had attempts made on his life and when someone succeeds in bumping him off, we'll have yet another old, white male running the country!

         I don't claim to know a lot about politics but this election has really made me look at my beliefs and priorities. I have been told that I'm a Bible-beating, gun-toting, ultra-conservative Republican with no wavering of my views and opinions. If this is what some want to call me, then so be it. I have no problems with being labeled. No one is going to fulfill all of my hopes but my thoughts tell me to go with my first instinct. I intend to fully continue watching the debates and following the coverage and making an informed decision on November 4th. I think it'll be funny to see how many people who have been afraid to be labeled or afraid to openly deviate from the supposed majority actually wind up voting for McCain in the end.

    As I said in the beginning, this is only my opinion and thoughts. I honestly don't care who agrees and who doesn't.