Yellerdog

I realize that Bleedyellow.com is a tech site, but I'm gonna discuss some  politics anyway. To give you some context, I am a Republican and consider myself a conservative. I also am really unhappy with the current administration and believe that civil liberties must be preserved.

So here are some random thoughts on the candidates.

Hillary Clinton

First off, how can she say she's experienced? Yes, she has spent 30+ years in public life, but her presence in the public sector was a result of her marriage to Bill Clinton, not a result of her winning elections. Rosalynn Carter did that too.

Her key achievement as First Lady was the failed health-care plan. She also managed to embarrass herself and her husband several times by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Then she got a lot of sympathy for the Lewinsky affair.

Once she and her husband were forced to move from Pennsyvania Avenue, she really did accomplish something, winning the open New York Senate seat. And by all reports she's ben an effective senator.

But I don't consider her career one that qualifies her to be President. She's never been chief executive of anything. Six years in the Senate does not a good chief executive make. She has a good understanding of capitalism and the law, having worked as a lawyer and made good money through her work and investments. But she still seems to think it is the government's job to create jobs. Lousy idea. I think she might, perhaps, make a good cabinet-level staffer, as policy and politics are her strong points.

But I can't see her as qualified to represent the US to, say, China, or to make the best decisions for us in energy policy. I'd like to see some Senate chairmanships, some sponsoring of significant legislation, and perhaps a better understanding of how taxes really effect the economy.

Barak Obama

OK, I understand he's popular and different. And he speaks well. But the guy's a paper tiger, and one with bad judgment to boot.

He has less time in the Senate than Clinton, and fewer accomplishments.

While an Illinois representative, he basically did nothing.

His three most prominent acquanitances are Rev. Jeremiah Wright (a flatly ant-American, divisive preacher who promulgates a polically motivated distortion of Christianity), Tony Rezko (a Chicago political manipulator/real estate developer currently on trial), and Bill Ayers (a terrorist who made bombs in Greenwich Village).

He has no grasp of the realities of international politics. He has never been chief executive of anything. He does not understand most of America, as he has never spent any time living, working, or governing anywhere except in wealthy enclaves. He thinks he can change things with words alone. Ideas and actions are needed, and much better decision-making than this young man has shown.

I doubt he has any significant grasp of economics. His policies, to date, are not significantly different from those the Democrats have offered over the years. The last time we had Democratic economic policies in the White House (the Carter administration - Clinton was an economic moderate who mostly ride the doc-com boom to prosperity), we had double-digit inflation and a withering economy. Those ideas don't work.

Frankly, I'd like to see much better judgment and a hell of a lot more experience in a candidate for mayor, much less for President.

John McCain

McCain can knock the experience ball out of the park, as a long-term Senator with a record of military service.

He also has significant Senate accomplishments, some of which I really admire. McCain-Feingold was an OK attempt to tackle a thorny issue. His key role in the Gang of 14 broke a terrible Senate logjam.

His vocal (and, to date, correct) positions on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars show that he has both the judgment and experience to be an effective commander-in-chief, a key requirement at this point in history.

I'd like to see a better grasp of economics, and I suspect he is working on it. I like his center-right positions, and I think a McCain administration would, for the first time in years, result in a truly smaller, more effective government.  I disagree with his tax plans, and I suspect, if he is elected, he'll have to contend with a very Democratic legislature.

Summary

Truth be known, I voted for Rodolph Giuliani in the Florida primary. I am not truly excited about McCain, but I think he is the only qualified candidate left in the field. Neither a former first lady nor a one-term junior senator have the experience, the clout, or the judgment to be President, so McCain is my choice.

Happy Memorial Day!

 Are you one of those "bitter" people that Barak Obama seems to so deeply mis-understand?