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Election 2008: the old devil we know versus the handsome devil we don't

McCain said he’d balance the budget by the end of the year, and Barack Obama said would bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians. I don’t know who not to believe.

That’s exactly the concern that should be facing Americans in an election year. To trust a politician’s promises is dangerous, because they are trying to be all things to all people during the campaign. Not everything that a candidate says during a campaign is a lie, but nothing that a candidate promises when he is campaigning can be taken at face value. Therefore, any attempt to become an educated voter necessitates a look into the records and histories of the candidates.

Now, I don’t know which I find more worthy of concern; That Americans may look at John McCain’s record in politics and deem him worthy, or that Americans may look at Barak Obama’s lack of a record in politics and deem him worthy.

Senator McCain’s record concerns me for many reasons. Let’s start with McCain-Feingold… and really, that should be more than enough. This man-who-would-be-President actually did say “I would rather have a clean government than one where quote ‘First Amendment rights’ are being respected that has become corrupt.”

But if we need more reasons, let’s look at his commitment to the Second Amendment… remember the McCain/Lieberman gun show bill? When the NRO says that the Republican candidate has a ”questionable commitment to Second Amendment rights”, that should be a little unsettling. Simply put, he is far too authoritarian for my tastes, (“We are fast becoming a nation of alienating individualists, unwilling to put the unifying values of patriotism ahead of our narrow self-interests,” he says. How is a libertarian to take that?)

Meanwhile, Senator Obama’s inexperience is legendary. Senator Clinton highlighted it in the 3 a.m. phone call ad and in many interviews during the primaries, and Chris Matthews highlighted it very nicely in this interview:

Even if we grant that Senator Obama inspires hope and is a great leader, he simply hasn’t been in national politics long enough for voters to judge him on his record, so we don’t know to where he would lead us. That’s dangerous, and I don’t imagine that Democrats would be so blasé about this fact if there were a young, charismatic Republican this close to getting elected with this skimpy resume. I hope none would be so boldly ridiculous as to assert otherwise.

Now, it’s true that some hard core Obama supporters (and opponents) may become familiar with his record in the Illinois state senate, where among other things he
- Voted to raise the minimum wage,
- Voted to end $300 million worth of tax breaks for businesses,
- Worked toward statewide universal health care system,
- Voted against giving tax credits to parents who send their children to private school,
- Voted against letting people attempt to argue self-defense in court when using a gun in their home,
- Voted against making gang members eligible for the death penalty if they kill someone to help their gang, and
- Sponsored limit of one handgun purchase per month.
(source)

But that’s simply not the reason he’s on the verge of becoming the President of the United States of America. It’s well known that he is currently successful for no reason other than the fact that he is brimming with platitudes and good looks – hell folks, that’s a punch line at this point. And people are acting like it's endearing. This is what the Democratic Party seems to have learned from the elections of 2000 and 2004: if your candidates of wood and stone (Gore and Kerry respectively) are defeated, then find one made of air. America loves pretty.

So that's where we are. Obama, like McCain, has big plans, big plans. And really, what presidential candidate doesn’t? Fred Thompson is the only one I can think of, but look where that got us.

So, which of these two guys is more worthy of concern? The answer is, Whichever one of them will play most nicely with the Democrat-controlled Congress. Gridlock is good, and considering that John McCain has co-sponsored more legislation with Democrats than Obama has, well, we don’t have a libertarian option. Either one of these men can be expected to be more concerned with doing great things than with leaving us alone so we, the People can do great things.