Nominee

I started this blog as a place to write my thoughts on politics. Then it got taken over by my desire to chronicle my kid's lives. But something has been niggling at my brain for a few days and I thought I would get it out there.

For a long time, I've been saying that I could never vote for John McCain. Mostly this was due to his support for the McCain-Feingold assault on free speech (but I don't really mind his being a "Maverick" since I believe in principles over party, it's just that his principles don't line up with mine... at all). For most of that time it was pretty much academic because he was languishing nicely on the bottom of the Republican pile.

Unfortunately, he seems poised to get the nomination (unless the remainder of the Republican voters show some sense). This has gotten me thinking about who I vote for in case of a McCain nomination.

Even though how I vote doesn't impact the outcome much but it important to me, personally. I have to vote my concise. The way I see it, I have three options:

1. Vote for McCain anyway. It's a long time until the election. The Democratic nominee could suggest something so heinous that I have to vote against them. This is pretty much why I voted Bush the second time round (because Kerry was/is that bad). I really don't think this is an option. The only good thing that came out of having a liberal with a Republican affiliation in the white house was his supreme court nominations. Another "Republican" liberal isn't going to be any better. It is just demoralizing to conservatives.

2. Vote third party or abstain. Ideally a good third party candidate comes out (ie not Bloomberg). This would give me something to do with my vote. The only down side to this is that I feel like I would be shirking my responsibilities to help decide the election. I really shouldn't just take a pass.

3. Vote for the Democrat. Sadly, this is actually an option, especially if/when the Democrat nominee starts to tack right during the general election (as to not scare independents). Taking this option feels more like owning up to the situation.

What I finally do depends largely on who the Democratic nominee is. If it is Mrs. Clinton, I probably go option 2 (third party or no vote) because I don't really want to contribute to any perceived "mandates".

If Mr. Obama takes the nomination, I could potentially vote for him. Even though he is a big liberal (and when I saw him talk he said something like "I know Iowan's are fiercely independent but you expect a good job and a college education and blah blah" without noticing the cognitive dissonance involved in being "fiercely independent and yet needing the government to help with every facet of your life), I don't think he has the experience to allow him to do much damage. Basically, I think he will be ineffectual.

It should definitely be an interesting moral quandary. Maybe I'll get lucky and Romney will solve this problem for me.

mwz