Bad News – Big Time Endorsement for McCain

McCain received the endorsment of Dick Cheney Today.

I’d like to congratulate Senator McCain on this endorsement because he really earned it. That endorsement didn’t come easy. Senator McCain had to vote 90 percent of the time with George Bush and Dick Cheney to get it. He served as Washington’s biggest cheerleader for going to war in Iraq, and supports economic policies that are no different from the last eight years. So Senator McCain worked hard to get Dick Cheney’s support.

But here’s my question for you, Colorado: do you think Dick Cheney is delighted to support John McCain because he thinks John McCain’s going to bring change? Do you think John McCain and Dick Cheney have been talking about how to shake things up, and get rid of the lobbyists and the old boys club in Washington.

Ok, just having a little fun with it (as was Obama).   But seriously, does Dick Cheney want McCain to lose.  Are Republicans such as Bush, Cheney, and Palin so dillusional about what the rest of the Country thinks of them?  This might play to the base, but enough of that with Palin.  This just drives home the point of linking the current administration with McCain.

Respected Economics/World Magazine Endorses Obama

The Economist, one of the most influential and important magazine about economics (and Conservative leaning), as well as politics, had this to say today:

For all the shortcomings of the campaign, both John McCain and Barack Obama offer hope of national redemption. Now America has to choose between them. The Economistdoes not have a vote, but if it did, it would cast it for Mr Obama. We do so wholeheartedly: the Democratic candidate has clearly shown that he offers the better chance of restoring America’s self-confidence.

But their rationale was one of the most powerful arguments I’ve ever heard for making the choice:

Yet there are also longer-term challenges, worth stressing if only because they have been so ignored on the campaign. Jump forward to 2017, when the next president will hope to relinquish office. A combination of demography and the rising costs of America’s huge entitlement programmes—Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid—will be starting to bankrupt the country. Abroad a greater task is already evident: welding the new emerging powers to the West. That is not just a matter of handling the rise of India and China, drawing them into global efforts, such as curbs on climate change; it means reselling economic and political freedom to a world that too quickly associates American capitalism with Lehman Brothers and American justice with Guantánamo Bay. This will take patience, fortitude, salesmanship and strategy…Mr McCain has his faults: he is an instinctive politician, quick to judge and with a sharp temper. And his age has long been a concern (how many global companies in distress would bring in a new 72-year-old boss?).

Added to that, the Economist goes on to say:

Is Mr Obama any better? Most of the hoopla about him has been about what he is, rather than what he would do. His identity is not as irrelevant as it sounds. Merely by becoming president, he would dispel many of the myths built up about America: it would be far harder for the spreaders of hate in the Islamic world to denounce the Great Satan if it were led by a black man whose middle name is Hussein; and far harder for autocrats around the world to claim that American democracy is a sham. America’s allies would rally to him: the global electoral college on our website shows a landslide in his favour. At home he would salve, if not close, the ugly racial wound left by America’s history and lessen the tendency of American blacks to blame all their problems on racism.

While middle America may not read the Economist (and I don’t make it a regular habit as much as I should), their opinion matters.  Their reputation is beyond reproach.  But what struck me about their endorsement was the clear illustration of why we need a man like Barack Obama in the White House.   Every election we talk about how this election is the most important of our lifetime.  This one truly has that impact.  No more talk about this being important because an undefined reason like “who should lead us in to the 21st Century?”  Our problems are huge – an economy teetering on the brink of a world-wide collapse the world has never seen, very evident examples of global warming, an extremely low opinion around the world for being an aggressor, terrorists taking aim at our people, and dwindling natural resources.

Think very carefuly about how you make your decision for president.  Do you want a 72 year old man who is living very much in the past and has shown no real acceptance to 21st century technology and ideals? Or do you want a 47 year old president who has taken advantage of every technology to push his campaign and agenda forward?  Someone who is willing to consider out of the box thinking to get the job done?

The Economist was right.  McCain may have been the right President eight years ago to lead us into the 21 century when we were the kings of the world.  We now need a president who is pragmatic to solve our problems, but inspirational to uplift our spirits that have been trampled over the last eight years.