The Exasperated Iraqi American: 2008

I've always been into politics but these last few months I've transitioned from being moderately interested in politics to being completely obsessed. I have CNN, MSNBC, and FOX all on my "favorited" channels and I watch them interchangeably for hours trying to get the news from all sides. I spend the vast majority of my "news watching" time on the elections because I'm genuinely concerned about the future of the United States. I'm sooooooooooooooo sick and tired of the way things have been for the past 8 years, I CANT TAKE 4 MORE YEARS of this bullshit. Thus, I Shant Vote for John Mccain.

When the presidential race first started I was open to all of the candidates but when John Edwards visited my campus and I listened to him explain his position on various important issues, he won me over. Unfortunately, he didn't last then he had that weird sex scandal thing...so I decided to look into Obama, Hilary, and McCain.

Hilary was the most appealing because she had several years of experience, she's traveled to various global "hot spots" and she was the only candidate who was completely committed to 2 very important things: diplomacy and equality. Sadly, a large chunk of Americans are still sexist and decided that because Hilary was a woman there was no way that she could lead this country. As a result, Hilary is not the democratic nominee.

So all that was left was Obama and McCain. Obama is ok. His tax plan is excellent unless you're one of the 2% of Americanos who earns more than 250,000 a year which most of us are not. Obama is also more inclined towards using defensive military strategies and setting a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Obama also wants to fix the various aspects of our country that were completely ruined by Republicans. The one thing that makes me a little reluctant to vote for Obama is the fact that he wont clearly state some of his opinions, he likes to go around in aimless circles when it comes to certain issues. Not too long ago, there was a big controversy surrounding Obama's religious faith; McCain's camp essentially accused Obama of being Muslim. Obama denied being a Muslim and said that he was tired of being "smeared." I was really disappointed with Obama because he should have been bold enough to remind people in our country that it is not a crime to not be Christian or Jewish. But I guess I understand that Obama really wants to win this election and there is no way that the conservative far right will let him if he is somehow associated with Islam. So I understand. The fact that Joe Biden is his running mate also reassures me that Obama will have the correct guidance should he become the next President so he's won my vote.

McCain on the other hand has not. He is a really interesting political figure and I think that he's a true war hero but I don't think that qualifies him to be the next president of the United States. Although I respect the fact that McCain is brave enough to state his opinions in a straightforward manner, I cannot stand the narrow-minded attitude he has. He's pro-life even in cases of rape/incest, he has stated on several occasions that he would never want a Muslim to be president of the U.S., and his slash and burn political tactics make me question his decision making skills. His entire republican convention speech was a rant against Obama; he didn't utter a single word about our failing economy, our war in Iraq/Afghanistan, or his future plans to run this country. The fact that he paraded Palin as the next Hilary Clinton makes me want to vomit. Anyone who has a basic sense of logic and is familiar with Hilary Clinton's position on key issues knows that Palin is EXACT OPPOSITE of Hilary on EVERY issue. There is no way that I would vote for McCain: he's a religious extremist whose voting record reveals that he is essentially an older version of George Bush.