Sometimes I'm Happy To Be Wrong

Sometimes I'm Happy To Be Wrong

Four years ago, after George W. Bush was reelected, I told everyone who would listen that John McCain would be the next President of the United States. I believed it for four reasons. The first was that our country is a center-right nation and McCain was perfectly center-right. Second, after he lost the primary race to Bush in 2000, McCain played the part of a good Republican, for the most part, allowing the President to lead and supporting him. The third reason is that after eight years of that right-wing nut-job George W. Bush, people would end up wanting desperately to elect a centrist. And finally, the Democrats usually find a way to lose.

Well, we are nine and a half days away from the opening of the polls on Election Day. It looks like John McCain is going to lose and I will be proven wrong. (I sure hope so!) Barack Obama has an average eight point lead, with the non-partisan national polls, one is +4 and another is +13 with many in-between.

It must be said that the McCain I thought would win no longer exists. If he is not elected, he only has himself to blame. He made the classic mistake of changing his positions to pander for votes. First he went to the right to get the Republican base, which he didn't need to do because the base would have rallied against any Liberal Democrat anyway, then he swung back to the left near the end of the campaign, sounding like a Democrat on many issues, and finally, all the while he continually attacked his opponent's character and values instead of his position on issues. Most of the electorate hate the character attacks and many have abandoned him for just that reason. Okay, I'll say it, Palin was a mistake too. If he had just stuck to his 2000 campaign talking points and picked a running mate, like Romney, who was qualified to be President, then HE would have the eight point lead now, even with the bad economy.

Please do not misunderstand me when I say good things about McCain, I am totally for Obama, but I feel like I could have lived with the 2000 McCain as my President in 2008. This 2008 version of McCain is a major disappointment. And after the election, if McCain loses, he will be vilified by his own people. Unfortunately for him, he deserves it.

Meanwhile, there was Barack Hussein Obama, on message, a man of hope with an unwavering and consistent direction with a plan for success. The same positive message over and over. In the end, people go for someone they can believe in, someone who knows what he wants. The American People want to be followers. They want a President who they can respect even if they don't agree with everything they say. They want a man who says he loves this country and knows what's best and lays it out and sticks with it. That's a leader. Obama's a leader.

Right now I'm just wishing Election Day was tomorrow! I heard a talking-head on TV say something about Democrats and the way they feel about their chances of winning this election. "Democrats aren't cocky." he said, "They think they'll probably win, but they are afraid to be sure. All they can do is hold their breath and hope nothing bad happens." That sums it up for me. I'm holding my breath! Nine and a half days... YIKES!

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