What Are MY Options

Here we go. The stage is set for our traditional dual party run-off. The negative ad campaigns have begun and the rhetoric on talk radio and with the talking heads has launched into new levels of biased-ness. However, at this point, I think the American populace needs to take a step back from the democratic process and ask ourselves, "Is this what the founding fathers had in mind?" My dear patriot heart hopes not.

The democratic process has sadly become a mockery. The suspense Obama tried to elicit by withholding the announcement of his running mate took me back to the days of my student government campaigns when Billy said "this" and "wait till you see what we are going to" were winning campaign strategies. Today, McCain un-climatically announces a mostly no-named beauty queen to be the commander-in-chief heir in the unbelievable, possible tragedy of his 71-year old demise. Where does this leave the American Democratic Process and the hopes for our nation?

Lets take a look at our possibilities of the Obama Camp winning. The Obama/Biden ticket at this point, on paper, looks like our best option; however, consider this. Obama chose a VP candidate that has an awesome foreign policy background, decent domestic experience garnered while on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and even served as the Senate Foreign Policy Committee Chair. Foreign Policy and Domestic Legislative experience-check. However, popularity wise, pork wise, and standing to his guns are not necessarily Biden's strengths. He flip flopped in his campaign and essentially attacked Obama as a know-nothing, inexperienced freshman Senator. I think we can all agree with that sentiment; however, now Obama is wise enough to be Biden's boss and Biden can sing no praises loud enough to warrant Obama's credentials as our man to call at three in the morning. I find the prospect of facing three or four years under the tutelage of a bumbling professional politician daunting. I find the last eight years were enough...now Obama wants to subject us to the same possibilities. Nevertheless, wait, Obama's healthy, right?

Yes, Obama, besides his pesky little smoking habit, appears healthy. However, reports are the first assassination attempt on his life may already be under investigation. Four individuals were arrested in Aurora, Colorado today and are claiming they visited Denver to assassinate the Democratic National Presidential Nominee. Obama has not even realized the election yet and the loonies are already knocking on the door. What happens if he is elected? What happens if an attempt is successful? Does the nation really need a Biden directed executive branch?

Stealing a phrase from a major news outlet, for fair and unbiased reporting, I will take my turn on the venerable Senator McCain. What is he doing? He is a 71-year-old man. He has lived a very intense and stressful lifestyle, habituated a POW camp for (x) number of years, and he has had a few 'growths' removed from his skin. McCain's medical folder is not one I can claim to be the picture of perfect health-but what do I know, I am not a doctor just a man with a keyboard. So what does he do, chooses a nationally unknown beauty queen from Alaska with no foreign or domestic policy experience and little legislative acumen outside of governing the most sparsely inhabited state in the union. Did I miss something in high school government? Isn't the VP supposed to be someone that can carry a nation on his or her back in the case the commander-in-chief is incapacitated, or worse yet, dead?

Now imagine a situation where Senator McCain passes on to greener fields. Can we survive and endure an executive that is so grossly unqualified to lead our nation as Ms. Palin? Okay, I will concede we survived the last eight years with an inept executive but look where that has gotten us. I am sure Mr. Dukakis, you remember him from the eighties smiling Mad Magazine like over the 50 caliber of an M1-A1 tank, is finally relieved someone has overtaken his much publicized gaffe and has done something as asinine as his. Senator McCain did that here. However, McCain has had some experience himself in bad timing political gaffes when he walked down a Baghdad street sporting the latest 2006 spring fashion body armor surrounded by machine gun armed Special Forces and claiming Baghdad was as safe as walking down an American street.

We rest on a historical epoch of firsts. Come this November 4^th, a first will be elected to the highest two offices in the land. We will get our first black, or hyphenated, president. We might even get the first female, not the one political destiny had expected, executive officer in office. However, just because they are first does not make it right. We really need to take a gut check and ask ourselves if either party has placed forth the best candidates and running mates for the job. I only hope the damage that is done by electing either one of these factions is repairable by the time my newborn reaches voting age.