Entry tags:

politics

It is truly depressing to contemplate how few politicians are hanged
One of Sullivan's readers writes:

I am right-wing policy wonk, and pro-war at that, but what is going on transcends partisan politics.

I hear people call the comparisons to Camelot romanticized, but are they? Obama doesn't cheat on his wife with movie stars, nor did he come from any familial wealth, especially that gained by (the equivalent of) drug dealing. It would seem an improvement over JFK, or more appropriately, a real human being that can match up to the image of the martyr JFK became.

The main reason I am voting Obama: maybe, if he is elected, people could go back to talking to each other about things that matter; and it might even be socially acceptable for people to change their mind upon reflection.

Regarding the Kennedy comparison... ohhh snap! Conservatives for Obama has to be one of the strangest political phenomenon ever. I dislike Senator Barack "Kill 'em twice" Obama for a pretty obvious reason: he's more pro-abortion than Planned Parenthood. Regardless of whatever other virtues he may possess, I cannot vote for him. I could not and would not vote for a candidate who was pro-abortion even if I agreed with him on everything else. If that makes me a "single issue" voter, then so be it. Catholic social doctrine is the first filter through which I screen candidates for office. Some issues are weightier than others - good lay Catholics can disagree on things like socialized medicine or even capital punishment. There can be no compromise with abortion since it is an intrinsically evil act. Likewise with torture. Even if Mitt "Mitt" Romney were trustworthy, I can't vote for him after that "double Guantanamo" line.

But I understand that not all political conservatives are Catholic. I understand that for many abortion is either a non-issue or, God forgive them, something the government ought not to interfere with at all. That's why "conservatives for Obama" is so weird. He's actually to the left of Hillary. I read his second book, The Audacity of Hope. On every issue that matters he's a conventional liberal. I hate to say it but if he were a white guy named Barry, no one would consider him presidential material, at least not this soon.

That line about "socially acceptable to change their mind" got to me. I don't have a problem at all with someone who honestly changes their mind. I've changed my mind about many things over the past few years. Try reading some of my earliest entries; I sound like a totally different person. There are some people whom I dearly wish would change their minds. Obstinacy in the face of unpleasant facts or irrefutable arguments is no virtue. It can get people killed when it manifests in our leaders. The problem comes when people change their minds simply because their position is unpopular, or worse, to curry favor. That's the vibe I've always gotten from Mitt Romney. What makes that trait doubly irritating is how Romney portrays himself as "More conservative than thou" and questions his opponents' conservative credentials on issues where he only very recently came to religion himself.

So, Florida today. All the polls say it's a statistical tie between McCain and Romney. My perfect record for picking first place winners will surely be broken today. I say Romney by a very narrow margin, say two to three points. McCain second, Giuliani third, followed by Giuliani's dropping out shortly thereafter. I can see Huckabee and Rudy hanging in there through Super Tuesday, but now it seems to be a two man race between McCain and Romney. Joy.