Our former columnist raises the question, which I am compelled to answer:
Just curious: do you have the same level of conviction in your endorsement that you had when you made it, or has it lessened (or increased)? I would also be curious if you would phrase your endorsement the same way or would you make different arguments or emphasize different policies? And has Obama done anything to disappoint you since you made your endorsement? (And for the record and to be fair, although I will be voting for McCain for pocketbook reasons, he has done nothing but disappoint me since the date of your endorsement.)
Two major events have occurred since I wrote my endorsement: (1) McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin, and (2) the financial collapse. My thoughts on both after the jump:
On the financial crisis, Obama’s response and his proposed plan underscore my judgment of him as prudent and thoughtful. McCain’s response was that of a jet fighter pilot’s: a quick zig, an immediate zag, and, in this case, a final poof. Temperament is a huge issue in a president, and each candidate’s reactions to the crisis gave an ample demonstration of his. Judgment is not McCain’s strong point, and that is amply demonstrated in the first point, the selection of Palin to be a potential President of the United States. It was cynical — and disasterous. And it was made in one hour. It will, and should, cost him the election.
As to your pocketbook, Marty, how’s your portfolio? Eight years of fiscal mismanagement — and skyrocketing borrowing to pay for it — are chickens that will come home to roost. How any conservative, or any businessman, could abide that is beyond me. Like you, I fall into the top tier and will pay higher taxes under Obama. I am more than willing to pay them to restore our economy and to restore fiscal sanity to our government. Joe Biden was right. It is a matter of patriotism. We have lost all sense of how the real world operates if we think government can borrow to pay for wars, to pay for increased entitlements, and to pay for its normal operations. Unfortunately, now we’ll need higher deficits to pump the economy. It is a burden that will take years to pay down. Face it: the Democrats have been right, and we — or those who claimed to represent the conservative philosophy — have been wrong.
Marty, gird up your loins. Do the right thing. Vote Obama. Pay the taxes. Help straighten up the mess we Republicans caused.
