First of all I'd like to start off by saying that no one ever gets to vote for their ideal candidate. We can talk all day about what the ideal candidate would do, but on voting day, you only get to vote for the people on the ballot. I think that's worth keeping in mind as you read the rest of this.
Second, I'd like to stress that a vote in the presidential general election doesn't mean much. It certainly doesn't mean nearly as much as the mainstream media would like us to think it does. This whole charade is really nothing more than a distraction to keep our attention while the man behind the curtain takes care of what really matters. The President doesn't get to write laws. Only the Congress can do that. The Congress decides what programs get money, what regulations exist, and ultimately they decide where and if our troops get deployed. If there is any hope for this country, it lies with overtaking Congress, not the White House. Also, voting doesn't change much. Contributing does. Campaigns run on contributions. Money buys votes. Most of America votes for whomever ran the most ads in their market. Like it or not, that's the way it works.
Now, on to my point. A lot of people here, myself included, have talked about how dumb it is to vote for the lesser of two evils. It's a terrible thing to do to your country to hold your nose and vote for a candidate you don't really like just to keep another guy whom you dislike even more out of office. And that's a great argument *against* voting for any of the third party candidates!
I can't stand Barr. He wrote the Defense of Marriage Act. (aka "we hate gays") He voted for a Patriot Act. (aka "take away all your civil rights") and he's been a fierce proponent of the War on Drugs. (aka "The War on Americans"). He refused to show up for the third party debates, which makes him no better than the Republicrats who try to keep all other voices silent.
I can't stand Chuck Baldwin. He supports keeping the ten commandments posted outside every court house. He thinks homosexuality is a moral perversion. He compiled a booklet entitled "What Every Christian Should Know About Islam", which sounds a lot to me like a call for holy war.
Ralph Nader's a socialist, and so are everyone in the Green Party, so they're immediately unqualified for my vote.
I definitely don't like Obama, because he's a socialist. He probably wants to send our troops into Sudan and Pakistan, risking nuclear war with the latter. He probably wants to cede American sovereignty to the United Nations.
I'm not a huge fan of McCain, either. He probably wants to start a war with Iran. He reversed his position on brining the troops home which he held when we had our troops occupying Somalia. He reversed his position advocating more deregulation. He's done a piss poor job of making his case. He says he wants less government, but I'm not sure he believes it.
Oh, and write-in votes don't count.
So, now I find myself in the position of having to make a choice between the lesser of six evils.
Now, McCain does have a few good policy positions. He's in favor of school choice. I personally believe that improving the quality of our education system, particularily in the area of math, is the only way to improve the state of our country in the long run. People need to understand math so that they can understand economics. Only then will they demand that our government really enforce property rights. McCain has done a terrible job of advocating his position on school choice. If I were him, I'd be sure an mention it during every debate. but he hasn't. McCain has also said he'll take a hatchet to the federal budget, and he's stood by that position even in the face of criticism from Obama. We need a fiscal conservative in the White House now more than ever, and between the two of them, McCain talks a better game.
McCain has run a terrible campaign. He hasn't stood by his positions. He's told the American people what he thinks that want to hear rather than try to explain to them why he's right. He's caved in to the media, and he's reduced the Republican party to the status of "Democrats Lite".
However, from among the choices on the ballot, McCain is the best one. He's not the path to a libertarian sociaty. That lies in other candidates like BJ Lawson. I didn't contribute to McCain's campaign. I did contribute to Lawson's. I'm voting for McCain, and I'm really hoping that Lawson wins.
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