100 Reasons I’m Voting For Mac, And Not Obama

One of this blog’s most popular posts ever was one I put out on election day four years ago.  Entitled “100 Reasons I’m Voting For Bush, Not Kerry“, it spelled out my thought process for my vote in 100 easy steps.

I figured this election deserves at least as much.

  1. Because Mac, whatever you wanna say about him, is the genuine article -warts and all.  Does he have a foul temper at times?  So what?  So do I. 
  2. So do you. 
  3. So will Barack Obama, a couple of days into this job, if he’s elected. 
  4. Because in a culture that overuses the word “hero” (among many others) pretty gratuitously, Mac is the real thing.
  5. Mac can keep things in perspective.  Age’ll give you perspective. 
  6. So will five and a half years in the Hanoi Hilton.
  7. Because the various tyrants of the world see Barack Obama, and they think “How Sweet.  Fresh Meat”.
  8. Because France, Canada and Germany have both elected more-conservative leaders since 2004; for once, they have a point. 
  9. I’m not going to say “Bin Laden Endorses Obama” – but when Bin Laden goes to sleep at night, who do you think he dreams will have his head stuffed and mounted above the fireplace in the East Wing? 
  10. Even if Bin Laden doesn’t think Mac’ll do it, he’s gotta have visions of Sarah, Todd and Track Palin snowshoeing across the Hindu Kush, finding, shooting and stuffing him.
  11. Because while abortion has never been the sine qua non of politics for me, it matters.
  12. And at the end of the day, Obama is pro-choice.
  13. And Biden is worse – a pro-choice Catholic.
  14. Because partial-birth abortion is inexcusable, and still Obama excuses it (and I’ve heard Biden say not a thing about it).
  15. Because as bad as Bush was on spending, Obama will be much, much worse…
  16. …and “balancing the budget” with tax hikes is economic suicide.
  17. For the good of the party, the GOP needs to return to fiscal conservatism.  Whatever Mac’s other sins, he’s got a much better claim to that than does Obama. 
  18. Or Bush, for that matter.
  19. What I said in 17 about “the good of the party”?  The same goes tenfold for the nation.
  20. Because the words “Chicago Democrat” mean something.
  21. Because that something is worse than “Minnesota Liberal”, which itself is a horror to behold.
  22. Because I work hard for my money.
  23. Raising taxes kills jobs. Including mine.
  24. Because Hollywood is getting the vapors for Obama.
  25. Because a lot of bigots and racists want to think I’m a bigot and racist for not voting for Obama.
  26. Because the 3AM Phone Call is a real thing – moreso in our world today than fifteen years ago, even. 
  27. And Obama has shown us no evidence that he’s ready to take that call…
  28. …or do much of anything else.
  29. Because Obama has voted “Present” in the Senate over 100 times.
  30. Because Obama has spent less time in the Senate…
  31. …than Mac spent in the Hanoi Hilton.  Yes, Mr. Messiah, sir, experience counts.
  32. Because while I believe Obama isn’t a bad person, his presidency will grant sweeping power to the Pelosi/Reid Congress, perhaps the most depraved pack of hacks ever to wield political power in the history of this country.
  33. No, I mean the most depraved pack of hacks, just like I wrote it.  The post-Watergate Democrats were at least largely people with their nation’s best interests at heart; many were WWII and Korea veterans, people for whom the flag meant something.  If you’re to the right of Jane Fonda, the Reid-Pelosi Axis of Weasels should make your skin crawl. 
  34. Because Sarah Palin, as relatively new to politics as she may be, is vastly more qualified to lead the most powerful nation on earth than Barack Obama is.
  35. Because having Joe Biden a heartbeat away from the presidency scares me a lot more than having Sarah Palin there. 
  36. Because having Joe Biden a heartbeat away from the presidency scares me more than having Courtney Love, Lindsay Lohan or Crispin Glover there.
  37. Because Mac will extend the Bush Tax Cuts.  Because…
  38. …tax cuts are always good. Always. There are no exceptions.  Especially if they force you to cut spending.
  39. Mac may not cut spending – but he will be not nearly the spendthrift Bush was…
  40. …and a year into an Obama administration, Bush will seem like a miser.
  41. Because hundreds of union goons can’t be right.
  42. Because, unlike millions of “people” registered by ACORN and the like, I exist, and someone needs to stand up for all of us actual humans.
  43. Because all of the fictional “people” that sent anonymous (and illegal) contributions to Obama’s donations will be rendered moot by everyone who repudiates their fraud. 
  44. Because every vote against The One is a finger in the eye of MoveOn, George Soros (and his paid minions), Democrats.com, Media Matters, and on, and on, and on.
  45. Because Mac has a lifetime A from the NRA…
  46. …and Obama was for gun control, before he was against it…
  47. …before, given the company he keeps (and the chits he owes), he will no doubt be for it again
  48. Because too many of Obama’s supporters have been just too insufferably triumphalistic.
  49. Because just enough of Obama’s supporters have pledged to do crappy, unamerican things if Obama loses…
  50. …and an Obama loss will be a wonderful way to flush out what truly must be called “Unamerican” – the rejection of the votes of ones’ fellow citizens.  Let us get them out into the open – indeed, let them “McCarthy-ize” themselves – so we can do something about them.
  51. Because Obama will make Jimmy Carter look like a wise, cool-headed, competent statesman. 
  52. Because it’ll give Keith Olberman a stroke.
  53. Because Chris Matthews’ leg will finally stop tingling. 
  54. Because I’m dying to see Katie Couric’s face the morning after.
  55. Because P. Diddy and Sam I Am will stroke out.
  56. Because Mac is old enough not to give a rat’s ass what people think about him…
  57. …and Obama seems to need approval.
  58. Because Mac blows up at people and the press…
  59. …but hasn’t ever kicked anyone off his plane.
  60. In spite of Because Palin is such a lightning rod for the paranoia and misogyny of the institutional left.
  61. Because Sarah Palin has teenagers who’ve made her life difficult…
  62. …and an infant whose very existence upholds the value of life…
  63. …a fact that makes the Orthodox Left purple with rage.
  64. Because while Obama might have a bracelet from a soldier whose name he can’t remember, Mac has two sons who are veterans…
  65. …and a son who’s an enlisted Marine serving overseas…
  66. …where Track Palin is right now.  Yes, I do  think having an investment in the issue will make for better, saner leadership – and certainly less palaver about, say, invading Pakistan.
  67. Because while I’ve been a conservative for over 20 years, I grew up a Democrat, around enough Democrats to care what happens to the party. John F. Kennedy and Harry Truman would puke if they saw what Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi and Michaal Moore had done with their party. If you’re a responsible Democrat, so should you. Help your party re-discover its real legacy by sending Reid, Pelosi and Obama back to Palookaville.
  68. Because Jimmy Carter endorses Obama.
  69. Because the only evidence I’ve seen about Obama’s performance under pressure – his response to Georgia – makes Jimmy Carter look pretty good in comparison.
  70. Also Neville Chamberlain. 
  71. Because I love my country more than I love the UN.
  72. Because the GOP embodies confidence in this nation – something the Democrats do not.  Belief that the US could be a good nation if we adopted their platform in toto, perhaps, but not confidence.
  73. Also exceptionalism.  America is the shining city…
  74. …which is a notion that makes Obama’s most-vital supporters nauseous. 
  75. Because Obama, like Kerry and Algore and Carter, consistently mistakes “plans” and “summits” and “negotiation” for productive action.
  76. Because as we saw in the wake of the market meltdown, Mac will put “doing the right thing” ahead of political expediency.
  77. Obama wouldn’t know how.  Like with Kerry and Gore, “the right thing” changes depending on the audience he’s talking with.
  78. Because I’m a “bitter, gun-clinging Jesus Freak”, and damn proud of it.
  79. Because I am Joe The Plumber.  I don’t want to tie my destiny to one company, one employer, one line of work forever.  I’ve been in a union – but there’s an entrepreneur in there somewhere.  He’s like an opportunity one of these days.
  80. Because I value freedom of speech – everyone’s speech, including speech I disagree with – and an Obama Administration (and a Congress under the unfettered control of the Tics) will start with imposing the “Fairness Doctrine” to strangle conservative talk radio by fiat, and start working its way down.
  81. Because you know people by their friends.  And Obama’s friends include the Teachers’ Union…
  82. …and the AFL-CIO…
  83. …and AFSCME…
  84. …and his “Mentor” Jeremiah Wright…
  85. …and Bill Ayers.
  86. Because Mac has one genuine skeleton in his closet – being part of the Keating Five, albeit its least consequent member – and he’s owned up to and made amends for it.
  87. Becasue I survived the Carter years…
  88. …and I don’t want my kids to have to do the same.  Indeed, I’ve spent my entire adult life dedicated to trying to prevent that.
  89. Because this nation’s “soul” is in fine shape, and doesn’t need any politician to fix it. 
  90. Because, as I noted (presciently?) four years ago:  this country is a better place with Republicans in charge. Lower taxes, lower spending, smaller government…oops. Yeah, we conservatives have to take our party back. Guess what? It’s easier to do when you’re in office.
  91. Because the Media deserves a huge, stinging rebuke for having been in the tank for the left for the past 30 years. They deserve it more now than they did four and eight years ago.  Every year, I’m more convinced that this nation’s well-being, even survival, depends on bringing the mainstream media down to size.
  92. Because I supported Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson until there was nothing more to support.  Mac had to earn my support. 
  93. And he did. 
  94. Because Mac is not from the coast.
  95. Because Sarah Palin oozes “flyover land”.  America’s “flyover land” is not only this country’s heart and soul; it’s this world’s best hope.
  96. Because liberalism’s track record for setting economies on the right path is 0 wins, hundreds of losses, and (with the New Deal) one weak tie.  And we need better than that.
  97. Mac hasn’t forgotten the hard lessons of war.
  98. Obama would have no reason to have known them…
  99. …and most of his supporters actively repudiate them.
  100. Because we’re at war. And Barack Obama is not only not a serious leader for a nation at war – he is indeed a criminally trivial choice. And with two kids that will both be of military age by 2012, I don’t want to learn how to co-exist with this war – I want it over.

See you at the polls.

25 thoughts on “100 Reasons I’m Voting For Mac, And Not Obama

  1. “Because Mac is not from the coast.

    Because Sarah Palin oozes “flyover land”. America’s “flyover land” is not only this country’s heart and soul; it’s this world’s best hope.”

    Once again with the sentimental, small-town self-congratulation that elected a phony Texas cowboy because of – not in spite of – his inability to utter a coherent thought. “We’re jes’ folks, like you backward traiiler-dwelling dorks.”

    And Chicago ain’t the coast either, Mitch, if you get all fancy and look at a map. Unless you count the Great Lakes. I guess you’d similarly oppose a candidate from cosmopolitan Duluth?

    And if Washington ain’t the coast, I guess it’ll have to do. Cause that’s McCain’s home. Or at least the most important of nine or so homes.

    People with talent in “flyover land” move away, if they have any ambition, to places like Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, L.A. Sarah P. can’t wait to shake the Wasilla snow off her boots and start a political career in Washington or maybe a media career in New York or L.A.

  2. Because I survived the Carter years…

    …and I don’t want my kids to have to do the same. Indeed, I’ve spent my entire adult life dedicated to trying to prevent that.

    That’s it right there. But at least Carter wasn’t the product of a corrupt political machine. Obama comes from Chicago. I’ve lived in Chicago and have seen what its politics are like. We don’t need those mores going national.

  3. “Because I am Joe The Plumber.”

    Gee, I thought you were a fancy college edjycated right-wing blogger/radio personality with a job in a high-tech industry.

    Though I guess the blogger/radio personality gigs keep you up to your elbows in shit.

  4. “…and an infant whose very existence upholds the value of life… ”

    Read a stat yesterday, but found this hard to believe. That 90% of the babies with Downs are aborted. Having to close friends with children with Downs, that really disturbs me.

  5. Mr Shirt, correct. He is no more Kansas then I am Norwiegan. He lived most of the first 11 years of his life in Indonesia, then grow up on the mean beaches of Hawaii while going to elite private schools.

  6. The Palin choice cost McCain more than he knew at the time. It was hubris. I think he knows now. He’s no dummy, but his off-the-cuff seemingly “maverick” choice has bit McCain good.

    It was a choice he didn’t have to make. Play to your Conservative Christian base, Anti-abortion, etc… OR play to female undecideds (the most likely demo of undecideds to vote) and pick a woman who was qualified. He picked a pretty face, who had some softball interviews on Faux. Without giving it a lot of thought. (Seems Obama didn’t give much thought to his choice, either. THAT is Blowhard Central.)

    Christy Todd Whitman would have eaten Biden’s lunch. She is smarter, more knowledgable on almost every subject, and a better speaker. But, she’s pro-choice. And she knows more about energy than any VP candidate ever.

    McCain made the mistake of thinking the CC bunch would not support a pro-choice VP. He was wrong. They had no choice. They would have fallen in line, he would have gotten his share of independents, a VP debate winner, and this race would have probably been his.

  7. Christy Todd Whitman would have eaten Biden’s lunch. She is smarter, more knowledgable on almost every subject, and a better speaker.

    She’d also sew up voters that McCain would win already – moderate Republicans.

  8. A lot of casual voters are really fired up about Palin. I really don’t think anyone anticapated the nasty sexism of the Democrat party and Big Media.

  9. I don’t agree, jackscrow. The Jesus freaks would have bolted. They simply will not countenance a pro-choice candidate on the ticket. They were suspicious of McCain anyway. Tom Ridge, Christy Whitman or Joe Lieberman would have been a bridge too far for the current crop of hard-right Republican activists.

  10. Where would they go? The CC leaders are pragmatic. The people would follow.

    In the end McCain would have gotten their vote, and their protestations would have brought attention and votes from undecideds.

    They wouldn’t have been left with a choice, they aren’t going to pull a Dem ’04 and Naderize by going to the Constitutional “Party”.

  11. I don’t know that Palin was “the” right choice, but angryclown is right that the religious right would have been pretty tempted to bail with a choice like Whitman. After “Most Children Left Behind”, “McCain-Lenin-Feingold Campaign Finance Deform,” and such things, evangelicals and fundamentalists are finding less and less to like about the GOP. A turn by the Constitution or Libertarian parties to sanity could radically change American politics, I think.

  12. It will be a sight to see. Finally the Republican Party is forced to address the split between the normal people who vote for the party on economic and defense issues and the snake handlers, like Palin, who go all jihadi when some poor family wants to get an abortion or pull the plug on a brain-dead loved one.

    In the short run, you have a real structural problem in the party that will make it hard to elect a Republican to the White House. McCain, a conservative, couldn’t win the enthusiasm of the party’s wacky, extremist base with kowtowing to the religious right – effectively killing his “maverick” appeal to independents and Democrats. And if he’d moved toward the center, the God-botherers would have stayed home.

    The lesson you wackos will take from all this is exactly the wrong one: that you need to return to your wacky conservative “ideas” instead of taking the party in a more moderate direction. You’ll nominate Palin or some other nut and get creamed by Obama a second time. For a parallel, look to 1960. The next election will be 1964.

  13. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day: the Republican Party does have a real structural problem that makes it hard for a candidate who can win to get through the process. Bush making it through was both a legacy and a fluke; McCain, an incredible fluke.

    The only good news is that, messianic candidates aside, the Democrats have a similar problem.

  14. I don’t know about that, joelr. Angryclown would rather have the Democrats’ problem at this particular historical moment than the Republicans’. Hard-left Democrats aren’t nearly as immune to compromise as the religious Republican right. Understandably so – some of their biggest issues – abortion and gay marriage, for example – don’t lend themselves to an intellectually honest compromise. Either you allow ’em or you don’t. Unfortunately for your party, most of the voters are in the squishy middle. Democrats can be vague and temporize, tolerant of policy variations among politicians with different constituencies – liberal in San Francisco and New York, relatively conservative in North Carolina and Montana. You guys lack that flexibilty. And that will continue until your party has been out in the wilderness long enough that it decides to bury its internal differences and nominate a winner, without crippling him or her in the nomination process. 2016 maybe?

  15. My wife couldn’t care less about politics, never has. And she never talks to pollsters. But I made a point of watching Sarah Palin address the GOP convention and hearing her speak was enough – the Republicans gained one vote today.

    Won’t matter, of course, since I live in the People’s Republic of Minnesota, which hasn’t gone for a Republican for President since Eisenhower. But if the same effect was felt in other, closer states . . . .

  16. nate remembered: “But I made a point of watching Sarah Palin address the GOP convention and hearing her speak was enough – the Republicans gained one vote today.”

    And lost two.

  17. No wonder your fond of claiming “you pulled that out of your ass”, it seems to be your main source of information. That & your bigotry.

  18. Mitch, I respect you for voting for McCain if you believe he’s the right man at this moment to govern the nation. I don’t quite understand how anyone who pays attention to what she says and does can believe that Sarah Palin is “vastly more qualified to lead the most powerful nation on earth than Barack Obama is,” but okay, that’s subjective, so I’ll leave that alone.

    But I will disagree with you on one substantive point in particular: I have great respect for genuine, small-government conservatives, and I agree that it’s time for you to take the Republican Party back. I vehemently disagree, though, that winning another presidential election will enable you to do it.

    I think that perhaps the best thing that could ever happen to the GOP would be to lose today’s election, then have to fight through the inevitable blame game in order to figure out what it really stands for. Nation-building? Erosion of constitutional rights? Enormous deficits? Reckless, rather than sensible, deregulation? Imposition of religious doctrine? To my mind, a loss today has the potential to start the GOP down a path of repudiating those things and focusing on where it really wants to be.

    Even I might be able to get behind a GOP that ditched its worst baggage.

    In any event, my best wishes to you on this night, which – one way or another – will be historic.

  19. “I don`t understand…. How anyone can believe that Palin is vastly more qualified…..than Obama.” Palin`s not running for President, McCain is.

  20. I didn’t say she was running for president. I was repeating what Mitch said, and questioning how anybody could believe it. Try to keep up.

  21. Pingback: 100 Reasons I’m Voting For Tom Emmer | Shot in the Dark

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