i was asked to write up my thoughts on the current political climate/process/presidential brouhaha by a friend, so that’s what i’m going to do.  now let me say i have a hard time really putting my feelings about politics in to words.  i generally go with my gut, as it were, in politics.  what feels right to me is what i tend to stand for and stick with.

lately i’ve been reading the agitator a lot, which i guess is technically a libertarian blog.  what i tend to like about it is the author (radley balko) covers government waste, police state, and general stupidity on both sides of the spectrum (dem and repub) pretty equally.  granted, it has more of a liberal slant because libertarianism is definitely more left than right on a lot of issues, especially social issues.

i’ve always identified myself as an economic conservative and a social liberal.  i tend to find value in government social programs but at the same time like the idea of lower taxes and less government intervention in business.  i don’t really know where this puts me, but generally i lean more left when voting.  in the recent primaries i voted republican, moreso because i thought the dems had a better handle on their candidates than the repbus.  (i wanted ron paul, for what it’s worth)

i’ll freely admit i’m not an obama freak.  i don’t see too much in his policy to scream out “OH MY GOD THIS MAN IS JESUS” like a lot of other people.  i like some of his ideas (a renewed interest in science and technology, especially related to alternative fuels) but really dislike his complete disregard for new oil drilling (yes, even in the ANWAR) and his stance on no new nuclear power.  as far as him as a person, i think he’s just like any other politician, albeit a much more polished and better orator than we’ve seen for quite some time.  he’s probably better than clinton (billy, not wifey) in the speech giving realm even.

mccain on the other hand…. well, i would’ve voted for him 8 years ago when he seemed like more of a maverick and less of a rank and file republican.  i don’t find his support of the iraq war very comforting, and his selection of sarah palin really screams desperation to me (although it seems to be working, based on the latest polls).  on the subject of sarah palin, i think she’s exactly what mccain says we don’t need in obama; inexperienced, shady, and overall just a weak leader.  granted, she’s pretty hot, so there’s that i guess.  beyond that, i find the republican view of less freedom = more security very scary and something that i think needs to be avoided completely if we are to really keep america great.  i don’t think i need to get into the recent republican love of religious conservatism and their staunch opposition to abortion and gay marriage.

so who am i going to vote for?  right now i’m leaning towards obama.  not because i feel so great about his candidacy, but rather because i feel not so great about mccain’s.  i’d rather give the democrats a few years to fuck it up in new ways than let the republicans continue their current course of fuckary.

but yeah, politics is like religion.  everyone has an opinion, and they always think their opinion is the only one that’s correct or matters.  i guess i’m no different, sadly…