Racist?

Recently I was called a racist (tongue in cheek, I think) because I support a white candidate for president and not a black candidate. All joking aside, I thought this was a pretty serious issue. I support a candidate based on his or her stance on the issues. I would never vote for someone based on the color of his or her skin. I think that the racists are those who do vote for someone based on skin color. And anyone who would vote for someone just because they are a man or a woman is a sexist.


But I want to get beyond the name calling. The bigger issue here is THE ISSUES. People need to think through the issues and choose an appropriate candidate. I wish the perfect candidate existed. No one person has a platform with which I completely agree. I'm completely behind McCain when it comes to abortion. And I like his suggestion that the governement should get out of the banking industry once the economy has stabilized. But do I really think that he will do that? Even if he does, it's a bit like shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted.

When it comes to Obama's health care plan, I'm completely against it. But I don't think McCain's plan is very good, either. Paying for the $5000 credit by counting the employer's contribution to health insurance as taxable income doesn't seem like it will end up helping people to pay for health care. In the end, it's as socialist as Barack Obama's 'Spread the Wealth Around' mantra. The people with higher incomes that include the money paid by their employers will be funding the hand-out, uh, I mean tax credit, from the government.

So in the end, I'm left to make my decision based on what I think is the most important responsibilty of governement: to protect it's people. Especially those who can't protect themselves.