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| Time to Step Up |
| 2008-11-03 |
| by Steve White It is the day before the election. Usually presidential elections are billed as "the most important election in our history." Sometimes those who say that are right. Ronald Reagan's election in 1980 turned our country away from 'stagflation' and malaise and found us, a decade later, as victors in the Cold War. George Bush's reelection in 2004 ensured that our country would stay the course in Iraq. But some elections are less important. I don't know that Clinton versus Dole in 1996 would have had a profound impact on our country, though gratefully we would have learned nothing about a blue dress. Eisenhower versus Stevenson would have made little difference in 1956. Tomorrow it appears that the election truly will be important, and most people who read Rantburg know why. We have a dramatic choice in front of us. We could choose a man who originally campaigned on 'hope' and 'change'. It turns out that Senator Barack Obama is a much more traditional politician than he first presented himself to be, since he's a progressive, liberal, big-city machine Democrat. He's made clear that he's going to 'spread the wealth' in various ways, from tax credits to new spending to new social programs. While he won't say it, we can be pretty sure that he'll cut the military substantially. His original promise to remove us from Iraq doesn't quite have the punch it had a year ago since our country is on the verge of victory there. That is an irony that must be appreciated: Barack Obama might win the election not because Iraq has fallen apart but because it has pulled itself together. Standing against him is a man who says he'll put the country first. Senator John McCain has walked that walk in the past in his own, iconoclastic, 'maverick' way. He's been tested in ways few other men would consider without blanching. He's a social conservative in some ways, an economic moderate and populist in other ways, and sometimes difficult to pin down. But what we do know about him is that world leaders understand him and find him predictable. That means no challenges early in 2009 to test his mettle. John McCain is a conservative in a traditional way, standing for values that these days seem to come from another time and another world. Our country is evenly divided between these two men, and that means tomorrow, each of our votes matter. The Democratic campaign has done its level best to persuade us that the election is over. It isn't and won't be until the polls close. Our votes matter, even if we're in the bluest neighborhoods in the bluest states. There are choices to make, and we must make them. Margaret Thatcher once counseled George H. W. Bush just after Saddam invaded Kuwait: "this is no time to go wobbly." Tomorrow too is no time to go wobbly. Tomorrow is a time to make a choice. It is time to step up. Go to the polls tomorrow and vote. Don't listen to the media. Vote. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 And wouldn't it be funny if they were wrong? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-11-03 19:09 |
| #3 Gotta make 'em prove it. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-11-03 19:08 |
| #2 Jack, personally I agree with you. We don't know a lot about Obama, and what we do know troubles me. I was writing the op-ed piece (more difficult to do than I first supposed) to encourage people to vote, as opposed to just trashing Obama. Rantburg is an Eeyore-free zone, and I want everyone to vote tomorrow. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2008-11-03 09:51 |
| #1 Steve, with all due respect (don't you just love that turn of phrase), you are being too polite to Obama and his inclinations. For me he is a true empty suit. There is only about 1% of him and his mind that we know. I think he is a very sophisticated plant by the MoveOn folks coupled with extreme leftists from the 60's and 70's as well as possible Mid-east Islamic connections. You don't raise that kind of money from donations smaller than $200 and you know it. There is just too much we don't know and what we do know is scary as hell in its own right. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2008-11-03 07:25 |