Thursday, September 04, 2008

An open letter to Obama and McCain

An open letter to the Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin camps:

Congratulations to both of you for wrapping up your respective parties’ national conventions. To use a football analogy, we’re now headed into the fourth quarter with the game very much in doubt.

I’m sure both sides feel you got a lot accomplished with speeches that raised the same old talking points. However, as a disaffected centrist, I’ve got a few things for both of you to chew on.

I’m sick and tired. Namely, I’m sick and tired of fighting a war we had no business starting in Iraq. I may be one of the few people who spoke out against the war when President Bush started the drumbeat for the march to combat. The years American and coalition lives wasted there have proven that I’m right, not President Bush, and certainly not Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

I’m also sick and tired of negative campaigning. I’m sick and tired of the McCain camp attacking Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and treating him as if he were nothing more than a cult of personality. I’m sick and tired of demonizing Republicans as spawns of the devil. I’m sick and tired of has-been politicians such as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani attacking Obama by even insinuating that Obama is Muslim. And what did that whole “Islamic terrorists” thing mean, Rudy? Did you mean to suggest that all of those who practice that faith are terrorists or subscribe to the beliefs of the radical extreme? If not, you sure could have fooled me.

I’m also sick and tired of the lack of specifics from both parties. Sen. Obama, you had every opportunity to provide specific solutions to America’s problems on Aug. 28. Yet, you chose to give us a speech full of catch phrases rather than specific solutions. You’ve done the forensic equivalent of providing us a dinner with plenty of appetizers and side dishes, but little real substance.

I’m also sick and tired of both sides forgetting who’s really in charge here. It’s not the President. It’s not Congress. It’s not the Supreme Court. It’s the American people. It seems as though both sides are doing too much shouting at each other. They’re not doing enough listening to the American people. We want real energy independence, but we don’t want it at the expense of the environment. We don’t want to continue fighting an unjust war, but we also don’t want to shun the troops who fight it. We want our lawmakers to talk about the issues that really affect our lives every day. We don’t want to waste time arguing over same-sex marriage or other non-issues that certain extremists act as though the world will swallow us whole if we allow them. We want real solutions to the foreclosure crisis before it becomes the 21st century’s Great Depression. Neither of you have given us enough of a plan to get us out of this economic mess.

I’m also sick and tired of both sides beating us over the head by saying a presidential candidate or his running mate isn’t experienced enough to lead. Sarah Palin may have only been governor of Alaska for two years. Sen. Obama may have only been a U.S. Senator for three years. Well guess what? Neither of you have a whole lot of experience, so stop attacking each other for not having enough.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Well, our country is perilously close to dividing against itself, not by north and south. Not by east and west. The divisions between so-called red states and blue states threaten us in a way that few other divisions have. We the people demand pragmatic solutions to our problems, not more talking points and partisan politics. Neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party has shown enough leadership to put aside the political bluster long enough to remember who their real bosses are.

It’s great that an African-American and a woman are both running for the highest offices in the land. It’s great that a woman was in contention for the White House until the last state counted its primary votes. But it’s time for us to stop talking history. It’s time to start talking about what we need to do to get this country headed in the right direction. I implore both sides in this election to start now.

A Disaffected Centrist