Barack Obama Vs. Sarah Palin ???

This election is beginning to border on the ridiculous. Is Sarah Palin running for President or is McCain? We have seen her be touted as a woman's woman (whatever that means!!), and a representative of us (who exactly are we???) so we should jump up in glee and rush to the polls and vote for McCain because he put a gun toting, NRA card carrying, Bible believing (still trying to see how much of that I believe), fundamentalist christian female on his ticket! What on earth is this election all about? Smoke and mirrors? What kind of nonsense is that?

For all those simple women who are voting for McCain because he has a woman on the ticket, and for no other reason than that, you are in for a rude awakening. You have just fallen for a trap and proved a stereotype that is going around saying that women are stupid and don't think! We do think, but some of you (note how I distance myself) are making it very difficult for people to believe this about us.

Why is it that McCain couldn't seem to get ahead until he added Palin to the ticket? Barack Obama is running for president of the United States and the best the Republicans can do is throw a female VP wannabe in to muddy the waters? Really sad that smoke, mirrors, and red herrings are the best they can do. I don't care that she is running for VP. I am more interested in what McCain, the man who has stood by Bush on a majority of issues, will do to make changes? You can't teach an old dog new tricks so let's see if he is set in his ways or still able to change.

I don't want to hear war stories. There are many veterans today who are living with the after effects of war. I haven't even heard him address how he will handle that, while veterans' hospitals struggle to remain open and deal with an overwhelming number of patients. Veterans are not being reoriented into society; instead many of them are being thrown aside. They are everyday heroes who have given limbs and minds for this country, and still we ignore them. We just focus on one man's story. McCain, step up and take care of the veterans. Don't keep telling us how we should just keep sending troops out. How will we handle the ones that come back?

As for Palin, she doesn't impress me at all! Although I am impressed that she can field dress a moose, it has no bearing on my life (unless she plans to provide meat for me to feed my family), and I suspect many Americans will not be affected by this skill either. Her attack on community leadership was in very poor taste. If the government had not cut so many programs because they cut taxes, community leaders would not be necessary. And Sarah, try getting things put together and then trying to fight a government that wants to close it for no good reason, and see how long you could work at that. And remember, community leaders sacrifice time AND money (many don't make a dime), trying to make a tangible difference in their neighborhoods. That is real America! That is what we Americans are! Don't knock us, or underestimate us. We care about our country, we care about our troops, and we care about who gets into office. No amount of silly games and dumb attacks will sway us. We are struggling to survive because of stupid policies that serve to help a handful. We live this reality everyday as we work at jobs that are struggling to stay open. We are choosing between healthcare and groceries; childcare and electricity, and there is no relief in sight.

The next time I hear another Republican talk about how we need to 'better ourselves and do what we need to do to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps' I will recruit another Obama voter. It is not easy to pull yourself up by your bootstraps when you have no boots and nobody wants to make them easy for you to buy(yes, buy...we are not looking for handouts!). Jon Stewart had a great take on the things said when Hilary Clinton was running, and now, since Sarah Palin was put on the ticket. Go Jon. I couldn't have said it better myself!