Tomorrow's the Big Day

God willing, we'll have an end to this election by tomorrow night.
Who'll win? John McCain, a moderate Republican with a stellar reputation (recent slurs from the left not withstanding) of service to our country? Or Barack Obama, a person with no record of service to our country?

Before the Obama fans start screaming, I'll concede that Obama does indeed have a record of service...service to Chicago, to the Chicago political machine, to the Reverend Wright, to ACORN, and to his radical friends. Still...all that service doesn't really measure up to John McCain's record, does it? But I wonder if it will matter? Will people vote for the person with a plan or will they vote for the person with the misty promises of "hope" and "change"? What will the future bring us here in America? It's no secret to anyone who reads my blog...I, personally, dread the thought of an ObamaNation. But I know there are those of you who dream of that possibility.

Strange how our political views divide us here in Blogland. I thought to open dialogues and discussions when I first took to writing about politics. I wanted to understand the draw to Obama. When I didn't hear anything to convince me of his worth, I started posting about why it is that his views concern me and why it is that I don't think he should be elected. I contrasted the differing views on abortion, as well as the support of women's rights. I talked about ACORN and the massive voter fraud and the extended effects of voter registration fraud. I talked about the media bias and the brutal treatment of Sarah Palin by the media. I hi-lighted the Obamas' apparent lack of pride in our country...to me, it seems like they only feel proud if Barack is in charge. I talked about all manner of things in this election that interested me and, I hoped, would interest any readers of this blog. I thought a dialogue would be productive. In retrospect, I think I may have been wrong. It's a funny phenomenon in this country (and maybe worldwide, for all I know), that the more we talk about our differences in politics, the more set some of us become in our ways. I may have been somewhat snarky at times in some of my writings about my lack of understanding for why people support Obama. Mainly because I could never get an answer to some of my questions. I'd ask about this or that and the response would be "I want change" or something equally as intangible. I thought there would be more "meat" out there to explain the support for the man. And when I didn't find any meat, I questioned the reasons for the support. It simply did not make sense and still doesn't.

This has been an interesting "journey", if you will. The back and forth between me and those who have left comments has been quite revealing. Since I started writing political posts, I've been called a racist (among other not-so-nice names), I've been sniped at by those I thought were my friends, I've been called a lover of the rich and a hater of the poor...and not one of the people who has said and done these ugly, hateful things has ever asked me about why I support John McCain. No one has ever said, "Kari, look at McCain's record. How can you vote for someone like that?". No one has ever said anything even remotely in that vein. Rather, the only concern has been that I have had the audacity to question the viability of The One. To those of you who have felt the need to call me names and put labels on me, to you I say this: You are damn right I question the viability of Barack Obama. I am an American and that is my right. It was your right to respond, if you so chose. And for those of you who chose to respond with hateful and pissy comments, I believe it speaks volumes about your fears and your attitudes and your inability to articulate any coherent arguments for your candidate. I wanted to hear your views, your opinions, and your thoughts on the candidates because the discussion of politics matters to me. Instead, some of you felt the need to give me your views, opinions, and thoughts on me. I was saddened whenever I received a comment that was tinged with spite and I'm equally saddened to know that I've lost friendships by openly stating my feelings about something such as politics. It brought to mind the realization that some friendships, like politics, are measured not by the differences we can bring to each other, but rather the sameness we can use to shore up our beliefs that we are "right". But, as sad as it was to realize this, it's still good to know for it has been a very valuable lesson to have learned.

Now that the end of the election is in sight, I'd like to say happy voting, America. Let's let the chips fall where they may, eh?