I remember eight years ago when I was asked a tough question by a friend. They wanted to know who I thought they should vote for, McCain or Obama. They were very confused about the whole thing and wanted to know what I thought. I do follow politics and have very strong opinions, but I usually don’t share them with anyone other than my husband and child. And not always with both of them.
I knew that the person asking was WAY more conservative than I am, but most people are! I didn’t want to start an argument. I didn’t want to share all that I thought, but I always try to answer people honestly when asked about anything.
My answer to this person was as follows. When an election rolls around we have to listen to the person more deeply than just about the issues at hand. The issues of today will not be the issues in a year or four years or eight years. The issues will shift and change. Things will evolve and unforeseen things will occur. Just as I always told my son to never make a decision based on money alone, I don’t think you should vote for someone on just one issue.
A person’s character, their heart, their demeanor is what I try to look for between the issues and the mud slinging and the politics. Because when a new issue arises and I don’t know that politician’s stand, I need to know that they at least have good common sense and a heart to do what is right.
I told her that with all of the checks and balances built into our country’s government, the country can work its way through most things and come out alright. I told her that in the instance of Obama and McCain I thought that we would probably be OK either way and that she had to start paying more attention and make that call for herself. I never told her who to vote for or who I intended to vote for.
One of the jobs of the president as I see it, is to be an ambassador from the US to other parts of the world. To represent us and to be a positive role model to the world. Again, I felt either of those men could do that in a way that would be favorable.
So here it is 8 years later and I no longer feel that way. I worry that the checks and balances aren’t working very well if the people in government aren’t willing to work together and do their jobs. One whole part of the three branches of government is wounded to the point of being totally ineffective because another one of the branches refuses to do what they are supposed to. So I have to discount the check and balances thing for the time being.
I also think that we have someone running who doesn’t know how any of this works. That there are supposed to be checks and balances. That they are a good thing. I heard someone say on TV that having a businessman in charge would be great. This may be true if the job was to run the economy only. Even then I have my doubts, but I could see their point more if that was it. But that is a tiny part of the overall job.
The heads of large businesses tend to rule more autonomously. After all, if it is your business, you run it the way you see fit. You make decisions on your own and you are the boss. Sometimes you have a board to answer to, but not always. and sometimes those boards are kind of “in name only” since you, as the boss, are the major shareholder. Once you have been “the boss” it is difficult to let others tell you what to do. I know this from experience.
But what about the other parts of the equation- the heart of the person.? The ability to represent yourself and us, the ability to be the face of our country, the ability to keep their head in a crisis, to be thoughtful and discreet.
For all of the politics and fighting, the one thing I feel is that our current president has carried himself with class. With all that has been said about him, all of the lack of cooperation he has endured, all of the bigotry he has seen, he has continued to be someone I admire. I have never seen him do anything I thought distasteful and I feel he and his family have been a positive first family.
I hope that the people who read my blog will go out and vote. But I hope that you will take the time between now and November to really study these candidates and think about what I have said. I believe we are at an important crossroads for our country and our world. Take the time to know what you are doing and don’t be dazzled by the showbiz of it all. I love some good theatre, but that is not what I plan to vote for.
