So, once again, just like every other non-American with too much time on his hands, I’ve been trying to follow the elections over there, or as Jon Stewart refers to it, INDECISION 2008. And wow, just when you thought the elections in Zimbabwe were as bad as they got. Thanks to the McCain-Palin campaign, the elections have descended into little more than a mudslinging contest.
A few months back, I was quite undecided on who I thought would be a better choice – but overall I leaned towards McCain for his policies, for less tax cuts and also for his support for nuclear energy. To me, nuclear was the way to go and as close to a panacea for the world energy problem as anything we’ve got. Then everything changed with one word – Palin. Even without knowing a thing about the woman, McCain’s selection of his running mate gave me a worse feeling that I would have got had Obama chosen Hillary Clinton as his. Clearly, he was trying to win people over using superficialities – trying to win over disappointed Hillary-supporting feminists with a woman, as well as conservative evangelicals. (And hey, her evangelical background showed as she incited increasingly angry crowds with tenuous claims that Obama was a terrorist) Well, if she turned out to be an able candidate, my views would have changed, but she’s proven herself to be quite the opposite.
I don’t want to go on talking about her inadequacies, most can be seen for yourself by searching “Sarah Palin Katie Couric” on YouTube, as well as watching the (very biased but still enlightening) Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I also don’t know if any Americans even read my blog such that it’ll actually make a difference, but hey, if I wanted a Joe Sixpack or a Hockey Mum to be elected into one of the most powerful offices in the world, I’d vote myself in. What I do want is an educated, articulate individual who has the brains and leadership ability to make the right decisions. I don’t want a person with virtually zero knowledge of the workings of the financial system (see: Couric interview), who repeatedly claims to be a “maverick” without any facts or actions to back it up, who will abuse her powers of office as she wishes, and who will stop at nothing to get her way. Quite simply, Sarah Palin cannot be allowed anywhere near the White House, and therefore for me there can only be one winner by default.
(also, read this)
