One Brick Short

I have a vote and it’s up for grabs.

It always has been up for grabs and, in fact, has been nabbed some of the least likely candidates. Gerald Ford in 1976, John Anderson in 1980, Walter Mondale in 1984, Michael Dukakis in 1988, Bill Clinton in 1992, John Hagelin in 1996, Ralph Nader, 2000 and George W. Bush in 2004.

I voted for John McCain in the 2000 Republican primary because I really believed in him.

I voted for Howard Deane in the 2004 Democratic primary because I really believed in him.

I am fiscally conservative and socially responsible. I believe in a tight budget but giving people a hand who really need it. I believe in government sponsoring daycare so mothers and fathers and families on the edge can work for a living. I believe in government taking a backseat, getting out of my bedroom and letting my family decide whether to have an abortion or pull the plug.

I want to be able to own a gun and protect myself if I feel it necessary. I don’t want to be told how to pray.

I believe in capitalism. I believe in free enterprise. I believe in labor unions. I believe the large corporations have screwed the people. I believe the gas price crises cannot be controlled by government or by off-shore drilling. I want a tax break but I think we need to raise taxes.

I believe we should not have gone to war in Iraq. I believe that, now, we have no choice but to make sure that country is stable and secure before we abandon it to people who like to videotape the beheading of Christian peace activists and then show the gruesome deed on the Internet while bragging about it. I believe that, if we don’t beat them in Iraq, the terrorists will eventually wind up in our shopping malls, killing us at home.

I do not care for rhetoric. I don’t want to hear how good things can be if I vote for a candidate. I don’t want to hear how scary a candidate is. I want to hear what they plan to do so I can decide who I can support.

John Anderson had a plan. John Hagelin was not owned by special interests. Ralph Nadar’s campaign was not bought and paid for by large corporations and he had impacted my life more than either Bush or Gore, until Bush got elected.

I had hoped that someone in the Bush administration actually had a plan for the war in Iraq, being as no one gave me one during the 2004 election. Unfortunately, they were making it up as they went along.

The new McCain ain’t the old McCain. Obama is hope for a change and change for a hope, but I don’t really know what that means. I am quickly becoming disillusioned with the candidates—again. Yeah, McCain has experience. Yeah, Obama’s different. Next.

I know there are people out there with their minds made up, some even based on facts. Help me out, here, throw me a line. My vote is up for grabs.