Updated thoughts of US Election

Well, I can finally give a decent update now that both parties are set with their candidates. I just thought I would share a few thoughts.

1) I continue support Barack Obama, as I feel, for several reasons, he is the best choice in this election.

2) I can't seem to understand why the polls are so close. This should be in the bag for Obama. The Republican party should be in shambles after a disasterous 8 years with an extremely unpopular president, and a candidate not known for his conservative values (cornerstone of the Republican Party). It's a Catch-22 with the Republican Party. Half of the Republicans still like Bush; half hate him. Yet both halves seem to rally behind McCain; inexplicably, McCain simultaneously seems to be distancing himself from Bush AND tying himself to him. It'll be very interesting to see the roles of Bush and Cheny at the RNC next week. But I still don't get why this is such a close election.

3) At first I was disappointed by Obama's selection of Biden. After all the media hype, it seemed the poliically correct choice would have been Hilary Clinton, given all the votes she won in the primary. Biden was at that time a relative no name- just an obscure John Doe who, in my thoughts, would do little for Obama's campaign. Now, I feel totally different. Biden is a great compliment to Obama. He's decades of experience balance Obama's relative lack of experience greatly, while he stands out as dinstinguished from other members of Senate. He is one of the ppoorest Senators who still puts his family first. He just seems like a very cool guy.

4) I can't figure out why evangelical voters support McCain so much. Ok, maybe I can understand in 2004 why they would support Bush, in their twisted political mindset. But, McCain is not a roll model of morality. He's crude; he's divorced, and remarried a young, rich woman. Obama has a model family.

5) The Democrats engineered a brilliant convention. Every minute of it. Michelle Obama's speech on Monday painted a very personaable picture of Barack. Hiliary and Bill Clinton's speeches on Tuesday and Wednesday resoundingly supported Obama. But, Thursday topped them all. Obama opened up Mile High Stadium to whomever wanted to go and gave a brilliant speech. One of the most striking parts of his speech was when he attempted to tackle social issues as few democrats tend to do. What he did was really smart... he attempted to find middle ground in a lot of polarising social issues. On abortion, instead of pro-choice/pro-life, we should reduce unwanted pregnancies. On gay marriage, we should agree to work for the rights of gay ppl to visit loved ones in the hospital. Obama tackled every single issue, did it with finesse and flair. Millions of people watched this spectacle, and I think Obama did a great job of putting the fire back into his campaign.

6) John McCain showed a bit of class on Thursday. He chose not to announce his running mate beacuse it was "barack's special night". He even ran an ad in which he congratulated Obama. All he said was "job well done". It was a classy thing to do, and very smart for his campaign.

7) John McCain has chosen his running mate. It is a woman named Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska. This is a very interesting and bold selection. From one point of view, it was a very good selection. She is different, and has the repuation of a reformer, which works well with McCain's "maverick" image. She is social conservative, which works well for evangelical voters. And, she's a woman, which works well for embittered "hilary democrats". But, overall, I think it's a foolish and hypocritical choice. Firstly, I get the impression that McCain is trying to take the historical aspect away from Obama's campign, by getting a woman. Given the fact that she's an obscure governor from Alasaka, if she weren't a woman, she probably wouldn't have been chosen. It seems to me to be a desperate attempt to grab Hilliary-McCain voters. Most importantly is the issue of experience. The biggest criticism of Obama by the McCain people is that Obama is young and inexperienced. Well, what about Palin? She is younger than Obama and has less relevant experience. She has been the governor only two years, of an obscure and politically unimportant state (Alaska). McCain, who is 72 and in poor health, clearly did not choose someone who is the most qualified to step in as president. Obama chose someone who is ready to be president. McCain didn't. This is especially an issue because McCain is relatively more likely to be unable to serve, AND because McCain has made such an issue of Obama's experience.

We'll have to see what happens at the RNC.