The Mud Sticks to Obama

The Obama campaign has hit some rather big potholes of late, and the candidate is finding himself plastered with a bit of mud.

Two problems have surfaced for Obama that have had an immediate negative impact on his polling. The extreme rhetoric of his Pastor and mentor, Jeremiah Wright, has been widely played. Obama's close ties to Tony Rezko have also surfaced to suggest the candidate isn't the scandal and corruption free leader he has tried to portray.

The questions are rightly asked of Obama, does he subscribe to the racial grievances expressed by Reverend Wright? Was he involved with, or knowledgeable about, the illegal and corrupt activities by his friend Rezko?

We all know Hillary's got more than her share of mud left over from her years with Bill in the White House. Many of Hillary's issues would have landed someone else in jail, but somehow she managed to escape scrutiny. Even a casual reading of Hillary's resume would lead to the conclusion that her overwhelming ambition will bulldoze over anything standing in her way. The law for Hillary is nothing but an inconvenience.

John McCain has less skeletons in his closet, and they're all pretty old and moldy. His involvement in the Keating Five, back in the days of the Savings & Loan scandals, is probably his most embarrassing gaffe. But one could reasonably see his involvement with Frank Keating as similar to Obama's more recent associations with Tony Rezko. McCain's also guilty of adultery, which broke up his first marriage, but again it happened a long time ago.

So nobody's squeaky clean. So how about we put that aside for the moment and consider the bigger questions of the upcoming presidential election?

It's a stark choice between two very different paths, neither of which most of us will find palatable.

McCain can be reasonably seen as a guy who will mostly continue Bush's policies. For the rather large segment of Bush haters, that's not very good news. Here's what I think is McCain's bottom line:

• He will finish the job in Iraq. McCain promises to be a stronger and more decisive Commander-in-Chief, and is claiming credit for pushing the president to implement the Surge.
• He will try to keep Bush's tax cuts, but also demand spending restraints from congress - something Bush hasn't done. Can he enforce that restraint on congress when pretty much no president in our era has been able to do so? Doesn't seem likely.
• He's a free trader. Not much of substance would change over Bush's pro-business and free trade policies.
• He favors market-based solutions to healthcare. He'd focus on policies aimed at lowering costs and granting tax credits to people that help them buy the insurance they need. He would permit companies to create nationwide clinics and healthcare chains and push for lower prescription drug costs.
• He's a traditional Republican on most social issues. Pro Life, against gay marriage, for school choice, etc. But he's not pushing hard on those issues because he hopes to attract moderates and independents who might be ambivalent or believe otherwise on those issues. I don't see him being a strong advocate on these issues as President, one way or the other.
• He's bad on illegal immigration. Sure, he claims to have seen the light and promises to do what Bush has steadfastly refused to do; enforce the borders. But I'm skeptical.
• He doesn't seem to have a clue on solving the current economic downturns. We'll just have to wait and see.
• He may be the strongest candidate to address the overall issue of security and terrorism.
  

Whether it's Hillary or Barack on the Dem side, we can be assured of the polar opposite of McCain on most everything:

• Out of Iraq: Both promise to withdraw troops quickly. But Hillary especially seems to hedge her bets by indicating she wouldn't beat a hasty retreat that caused disaster in the region. Since a hasty retreat is certain to do just that, she'll probably keep the troops there and blame Bush. She'll claim that she had no idea what a mess Iraq was, and unfortunately she's going to have to leave troops there awhile longer to clean up Bush's mess.
• Dismantle the military and redirect tax money to social programs: That's what Bill tried to do throughout his presidency, and certain to be Hillary's policy as well. She hates the military, and will do whatever she can to dismantle it. All indications are that Obama would do the same.
  
• Both claim to desire putting the brakes on free trade, at least to some degree. Both would also "punish" big oil by tagging the companies with confiscatory taxes.
• Neither has a clue about how to solve the current economic problem. Unless you consider higher taxes across the board a solution.
• Both are liberals on social issues. They're both pro choice, don't see why anybody has a problem with gay marriage, and have a selective view of free speech for religion that says it's OK for churches to be politically active only when they support Democrats.
• Both claim a top priority to universal healthcare. They simply envision a federal government run and taxpayer funded system that guarantees coverage for everyone. Hillary would criminalize people who refuse to participate in her idealized national healthcare system.
• Of course, both are terrible on illegal immigration. At least McCain's promising to do something about the problem; Clinton and Obama embrace illegals and would open the borders even wider.
• Both will certainly weaken our country's ability to protect its citizens against terrorists.

If you're like me, and not very happy with any of the choices, the only way to go is the lesser of the evils. So I'll go cast an unenthusiastic vote for McCain.