Is this a political blog now?

No, this blog isn't turning into a political blog. In fact, November 5th, it'll go back to normal silly random postings.

I'm the last one that has ever really cared about politics. I even figured I would be ignoring this years election, as I have quite a bit in the past. I never understood why people felt so passionate about the presidential pick.

Eight years ago, I was a young and crazy 25. I decided that would be the year I wold go out and vote. I didn't spend too much time researching candidates, I just went with who I thought was a safe pick at the time. I stood in line in the rain at 6:30 in the morning waiting to cast my vote. I voted for Bush.

Over the past eight years, even more so in the last couple years, we've all watched the economy go to crap. Jobs lost, housing market decline, auto industry taking a dive, gas prices souring, etc. I never jumped on the "blame Bush" bandwagon, but I continued to hear it over and over again.
It really hit home when the company I work for started experiencing the effects of the economy. Consumers were spending less with local businesses, so the local businesses cut back on advertising. The past couple years have been pretty rough in our industry, and it's far from being resolved.

With all that said, I really paid attention and did a lot of reading this election. At the beginning, I didn't have a clue who I was going to vote for. I did, however know which way I leaned in beliefs. I've always leaned toward the liberal side of things when I'd take those "who to vote for" tests on the internet. The more I listened to the candidates and read article after article, the more I knew McCain wasn't my guy. In fact, the Republican party hasn't really impressed me.

Again, I'm not even going to pretend I'm an expert on political parties and who is better. But, what I do believe is: We should spend less money on foreign affairs (war), and more on our own country. We should spend more money on the development of technology (China has taken this over, which means a ton more money moving into that country). I don't agree with tax breaks that benefit the wealthy. I disagree with shipping jobs to another country and giving tax breaks to companies doing it. I disagree with funding another countries (Iraq) healthcare system, yet when a uniform system is suggested for our country, it's socialism. I agree whole heartedly with developing alternative fuel methods (something I've only recently heard McCain mention).

The list goes on, but the real thing that matters to me most in the up and coming years is the economy. John McCain readily admits he's better at military and foreign policy, than he is at economics (that and he doesn't use a computer! boooo!). What really stood out to me was Obama was constantly talking about his plan for the economy, while McCain and Palin took turns poking jabs at Obama for his lack of experience, for his ties to militents, for this and that. It really got old. I don't want dirt on either candidate, I want facts on how the economy is going to be fixed! In fact, and many conservatives actually agree, the core beliefs aren't even a big factor in this years election (those of you fretting about abortion and gay marriages).

Last night I watched Obama's 30 minute commercial. He spent quite a bit of the program discussing his plans for the future. To be fair, I watched an interview with John McCain on Larry King Live. I wanted to hear McCain discuss his plans for the future. What did we get instead? McCain complaining about Obama's campaign funds. McCain trying to explain the tension between him and Palin. McCain discussing Obama's ties to militents. He did however admit he did not think Obama was a socialist, but he did say he thought his ideas are of socialist nature. Needless to say, I was once again disappointed.

I'm definitely not an expert on politics, but I can honestly agree that the last 8 years haven't been good. Will Obama fix everything? No, probably not. But I just can't see another 4 or 8 years of the same thing. With a guy that voted 95% of the time, the same as Bush, you better believe things aren't going to change much.

And there you have it. My first and probably last political rant... maybe. :)