Actually, this year it DOES matter. We have a balance of 4 liberals, 4 conservatives and 1 moderate on the Supreme Court. If abortion were to come before the Supreme Court today, Roe would probably be upheld. BUT, in the next 4 years, there is a more than 50% chance that one or more of those liberal/moderate members will retire.
John McCain has said he would like to outlaw Roe v. Wade, in no uncertain terms. He has also said he would use the George W Bush model for appointing judges. Bottom line, there’s more than a 50% chance that if McCain is elected, the Supreme Court will tilt more conservative and would favor an overturn of Roe v. Wade should a challenge make its way to the courts.
In 2006 I believe, or maybe it was 2007, South Dakota, in direct defiance of Roe v. Wade, outlawed abortion. This is being challenged in the courts as we speak, and would make it to the Supreme Court at some point after the court were tilted to an anti-abortion mindset. At best, our laws would change to make it a state by state issue, and at worst, the entire practice would be outlawed.
If you care about this issue at all and you’re pro-life, McCain is the right choice, if you’re pro-choice, Obama is the right choice. That’s just one issue where it is important, I wouldn’t understate the importance of it.
More important is the flagrant ignorance about economic issues illustrated by the McCain camp. Obama says one way we can reduce energy consumption right now is by keeping proper tire pressure. So, McCain mocks Obama by printing up tire gagues w/ “Obama’s energy plan” written on them. Yet he’s forced to admit that yes, this would indeed save 3 – 4% on gas consumption.
McCain has said economics isn’t his strong suit. Indeed, the only suit he claims to be strong in is military matters, and by the way, what about getting caught while fighting in a war makes you an expert? I’d sooner trust someone who had enough skills to evade capture, wouldn’t you?
I think a lot of people, and I know OldHippie is one of them, are worried about Obama’s relative lack of experience, particularly since we are just coming off a Presidency of someone without experience. But I’ve argued and will continue to argue that vision is a more important quality than experience, because I would rather have an inexperienced person pursuing my same goals, than an experienced person pursuing goals that were counter to my own, because the experienced person would move the ball even farther away from my goal.
And I know there is a worry about handing foreign policy to a person with no foreign policy experience, but again, consider that W didn’t get us blown up and he’d never been out of the country before being elected, not even to Canada or Mexico! Obama actually LIVED in a foreign country for a while. I’d say 99.99% of foreign policy is in your ability to talk to people….McCain can’t even remember what many countries are called these days, Obama is always articulate and respectful and less likely to make a blunder.
I simply don’t see how anyone with a liberal mindset or agenda could find McCain to be perferable. I appreciate the experience problem, but I say it’s the least of our worries. And besides, maybe we actually need a President who will focus on domestic issues? It’s a novel idea, but it did work for FDR.
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