Marty Durens last blog post..Taking a Break

I don’t watch Glenn Beck. I don’t have the time, I’m afraid.

Steve,

I don’t think he would lose every election. There are plenty of people behind him and in certain states where the electorate is concentrated in larger cities (which trend Democratic) I think he would win in a cakewalk.

I know a lot of Republicans who are very afraid of him winning and a number of others who seem to be resigned to that fact, which is dangerous for them. If Republicans think its a done deal, they are likely not to turn out and the sentiment becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

However, I have said before privately and now say publicly, that one should never underestimate the racism of America.

I am against racism – it is rank sin.

Commenting objectively, though, Obama is going to have to overcome old white people who will come out of the woodworks just to keep a black man from becoming President. On top of that, the accusations that he has Islamic ties/heritage will be a hurdle for a completely different section of society.

McCain, on the other hand, will have to cross a generation gap and negative emotions against the war, which he has supported and has not promised to bring troops home right away the way Obama did right away.

Bringing the troops home right away is, in my opinion, terrible foreign policy and will open the floodgates for extremists to make Iraq their home state, but emotional negativity about the war – whether we should even be in the war – will not worry about the long term future. Just the short term past.

Frankly, I think it is a toss up, at this point. We’ll see.

In the spirit of the last paragraph of your comment number 5, let me say that I completely agree with your post and my vote this year will NOT be in favor of any candidate; it will be in complete opposition to a certain candidate. In that manner, I am voting my convictions as well.

I think we are on the same page.

I noted in reading background for this post that those justices came from “conservative” Presidents.

I did a poor job of not “siding” with a candidate, but since you have openly called for Obama votes and since I did such a bad job of hiding my under girding predispositions, let me say that my confidence is not in McCain. The whole point of this article is that I have NO CONFIDENCE in Obama, and will, therefore, happily vote for McCain and I believe that such is voting my conscience.

But, let’s please leave it there. I have no desire to turn this into a candidate specific tet-a-tet. :)

All four Justices were nominated by conservative Republican Presidents. All four Justices have voted on multiple occasions to uphold Roe v. Wade and voted in favor of gay rights. All four have played key roles in drafting decisions like Casey that gave the right to have an abortion a more or less permanent place in American society.

You seem to have a great amount of confidence that McCain the Maverick, the guy who lead the Gang of 14, will nominate a Justice in the mold of John Roberts who will restore what is often called conservative values.

Reagan and Bush I made those same promises. Look what they gave America.

In regards to the claim of “legislating from the bench”

I’ve reached the conclusion that the accusation of “legislating from the bench” says less about the Justice’s judicial philosophy and more about accusers disagreement with the decision being handed down. Liberals and conservatives both make claims that Justices legislate from the bench. “Legislating from the bench” is not a disease that has infected only liberals. Just over a week ago I read an article by E.J. Dionne who was lamenting that the conservative justices were “legislating from the bench” in the recent DC Gun ruling. Constitutional lawyers, journalists, and analysts will always make these arguments regardless of the Court’s makeup.

I do think that all Christians should vote their convictions and be active participants in the democratic process and in the public square. I also think that Christians can express their faith-informed convictions by voting third-party as well. My Nader friends always annoyed me but I had respect for them and their sincerely held belief that the two-party system is broken.

On election day, I hope to see more of my fellow evangelicals cast their vote with me for Obama! :-)

Bob, I tried to write impartially, but I’m afraid the concluding paragraphs failed. Still, thanks for the encouragement.

Debbie Kaufmans last blog post..Battles Among Christians Part 2

Well done.

Bob Clevelands last blog post..Proverbs 3:5-6, Live Version