Posturing - a necessary political vice?

I really don't like politics. No matter how good and moral a candidate for the presidency may be, there's always a bit of truth-stretching, ethic-bending, and bait-and-switching inherent in "the process." I actually like John McCain. He's gone a bit far to the right in recent years in order to secure his party's nomination; but he has deserved major respect for his life's work, not only in service to our country but the personal trauma he endured as a prisoner of war. He has much more experience than Obama. But I do believe his policies are inconsistent with the change this country must, must undergo in order to have a shot at continued world leadership. I worry for Nick's future. George Bush has made a mess that frankly no one man on his own can ever clean up.

I also really like Hillary Clinton and thought she fought a good fight. If McCain had chosen her as a running mate, or Condoleeza Rice, I would have felt like he selected a running mate first, and a woman second. But to choose Sarah Palin, whom he met only once before choosing her and asking her to take on The Job, screams sexism. It screams tokenism. It screams desperation. He wanted a pro-life woman with state leadership experience. Okay. Was she the only one he could find? Adding a woman to the ticket just for the sake of doing so, for the remote possibility of luring Hillary voters to his side by counting on their stupidity, is to be honest the most offensive move I've seen any politician make in my lifetime.

For Obama-Biden supporters, there are of course some perks to the McCain-Palin ticket. It undercuts any potential arguments the McCain camp or anyone else may make at the Republican Convention about Obama's lack of experience. As one reporter suggested today, Palin makes Obama look like John Adams. More to the point, McCain is no spring chicken, and Palin is in no position to run this country.

I'm sorry, John McCain. You've had my unyielding respect until today. Now I feel like you're counting on the entire population of moderate and right-leaning women to be narrow-minded, as well as short-sighted, and vote for you just because you've got a woman on your ticket. We're a lot smarter than you give us credit for, "my friend." And if there was even a slight chance you would have had my vote before, well, count me out for good. I bet I'm not the only one!

**Note to the reader: I'm someone who fits into a tax bracket that would be rewarded by a McCain win, and will be additionally taxed by an Obama win. In case my interests in working against McCain might seem self-serving, I am willing to pay more taxes to avoid other ramifications of his administration especially in light of recent developments.