Kristyne McDaniel Opinion Blog

The 2008 presidential race just took a wonderful turn today with John McCain’s selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate. A poised, confident, well-spoken, earthy, known maverick politician, Sarah Palin adds an injection of youthful vigor to a ticket that was looking tired and old.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin is an outdoors-woman, mother of five, and married for 20 years to her high school sweetheart. She looks great, possibly due to the things she learned in beauty pageants on her way to becoming a Miss Alaska runner-up. Her winnings helped her fund her college education, in fact. The trimmings do tend to mask her ultra-conservative social views, and conservative policies all the way around. While I doubt her selection will entice many Hillary supporters to the Republican ticket, the choice nonetheless underlines the traits McCain is most proud of in himself.

Republicans that are pleased with George Bush will enjoy her pronunciation of the words “Iraq” and “nuclear”, as they are virtually the same as that of George Bush.

Unfortunately for me, my quick read of Sarah Palin’s positions show her to be against nearly every issue that is most important to me. The only thing I can agree with her on is her stands against superfluous projects like the bridge to nowhere.

In her first months as governor, she kicked out a number of cronies left over from the previous Republican administration, and for that I congratulate her. It shows that she does indeed have a spine. Her experiences in governing Alaska bode well for her ability to take over as president should something happen to John McCain. While her resume is a bit thin, I do believe that once she has spent some time as vice president that she could in fact handle the job. At a minimum, her experience is the right kind of experience, even though she has not held office very long at this point in time.

I”m looking forward to seeing more of Sarah Palin on the campaign trail, and to her debate against Joe Biden in the coming weeks.

The Obama acceptance speech was arguably the best speech I’ve ever heard - political or otherwise. He came off as strong, resolute, decisive, forward-looking, and pragmatic. As a Hillary supporter, I was pleased that my second choice selection for president was doing so well. It is becoming easier to support him for president as time goes by and events unfold. Read the text of Obama’s acceptance speech on MSNBC.com.

Memorable portions of Obama’s speech which I enjoyed most were:

Senator Barack Obama

• “America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.
• “We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.
• “Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. … But the record’s clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. … I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.
• “Now, I don’t believe that Senator McCain doesn’t care what’s going on in the lives of Americans. … It’s not because John McCain doesn’t care. It’s because John McCain doesn’t get it.
• “We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.
• “That’s the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper.
• “I’ll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I’ll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars.
• “We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don’t tell me that Democrats won’t defend this country.
• “I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. … I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease.
• “I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. … if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters.
• “America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future.”

I was so pleased with Obama’s speech that I listened to it once on the radio in the car coming home from an outing, watched it on our DVR once I got home, and then looked up and read the transcript on MSNBC.com. And then, of course, here I am blogging about it. I am proud of him, and pleased with the promise of positive changes that he represents.

Sen. Hillary Clinton

As an avid Hillary supporter, I was very pleased with the caliber of her Tuesday night speech at the Democratic National Convention. She made a great case for Barack Obama and against John McCain without going back on any of the things she had previously said about either of them.

The reality for me is that a person can support Barack Obama without necessarily believing that he is already up to speed on being the next president. For me, the moment I decided was the moment I realized that people rise to the occasion when it comes to them, and not necessarily before. One guidance that has been given to hiring managers has been that if they have a current employee that possesses at least half the expertise required for a job, that they can grow the other half and meet the challenge.

Obviously, Barack Obama will have a ramp-up time required to move into the White House. What each of us needs to consider is whether we believe he has the capability to do a cram course on it between election day and inauguration day or not. John McCain would also have a lot of learning to do, as he has been a senator, but has not run a corporation or a large department in government either. No matter which candidate we vote for, there will be a learning curve involved to step into the presidency. Each of us must evaluate which of them will grow into the job with the characteristics and goals we want in a president. For me, Barack Obama is closer to my ideal than John McCain. That realization is the reason behind my choice.

Like all Americans, I have a special place in my heart for those that have served our country by putting their life on the line. Soldiers who volunteered for service are a unique lot, especially during a time of war. John McCain was one of those soldiers who is deserving of high honor due to his courage, perseverance through extreme hardship, and his exhibition of character through  tough choices. Among the millions who have served, he is among the few that rose to political prominence in his life after military service.

Sen. John McCain

There has been a fair amount of humor in recent days about McCain’s response to a query about how many houses he and his wife own. He didn’t know. In many ways, I find it heart-warming that a man that was once a long-term guest of the Hanoi Hilton can be doing so well now that he does not know how many homes he and his wife own. While the lack of knowledge concerning the number of homes he owns sounds like he’s completely out of touch with financial issues, it is understandable due to the great wealth controlled by his wife.

I had already decided that I was not going to support John McCain for the presidency due to the fact that I feel our country needs better policies with respect to tax fairness and foreign policy. The great wealth of the McCain family really does not factor into my decision. Certainly the wealthy are able to manage finances better than an average family. McCain’s tax policy, though, favors the wealthy too much and makes it just that much harder to clear the debt this country incurred over the period of time George W. Bush has been in office.

McCain’s life has changed since being released from Hanoi in 1973. I hope that soon he will be able to put the POW experience behind him, and take a closer look at the financial experiences of today’s families. He needs more awareness of the millions losing their homes to foreclosure, the millions that have lost manufacturing jobs to outsourcing to other countries, and to the millions losing ground in the financial struggle to improve the lives of their children.

Perhaps after John McCain learns to get past his POW experience he’ll realize that he is not alone in his struggle. Millions of Americans are struggling hard under the hammer of financial difficulties caused by George W. Bush. I hope he will learn to recognize that struggle as being important too, so he will learn that he can leverage his experience to help our country’s citizens with theirs.

As I had said earlier, one of the things that I disliked about Obama’s primary win over Hillary is that it reminded me once again of being a woman overlooked in favor of younger, less experienced men. Joe Biden’s selection for the Vice Presidency in the Obama campaign is a great olive branch for people like me. Yes, Joe is not a woman. That is a strike against him in a small way. But the bigger pluses in knowing that the Obama folks do indeed respect age and wisdom and experience work very well on me.

Joe Biden

I had already made my decision to support Obama. But I didn’t send my first donation until today. The donation was very small, but it was in fact a donation from a brand new contributor so it does count as being a bit special. Many Hillary supporters have not yet donated any money at all to Obama.

I do like McCain’s experience. I don’t like where that experience has been taking him. It seems like all those years in the Navy have him blustering too much. I think he could be very harmful to our nation because making the wrong decision is the wrong decision whether you are experienced or not.

Biden wasn’t picked to make the Republicans quake in their boots.

I think he is an excellent choice to assist Obama with the connections and experience to cause the changes Obama talks about to actually happen.

I was worried about Obama’s lack of deep connections. But now Biden can play an LBJ role and get stuff through congress in the same way LBJ did it for Kennedy.

Biden is a great choice for being able to actually govern.

The Amtrak is a great connection between ordinary folks and Biden. I have been on a train commuting home from work so I could be with my spouse just like Biden. I am pleased that it was important enough to him to be home with his family that he did not create a residence in Washington. I looked up trains from Washington, CD to Wilmington, DE and discovered that Joe Biden has been commuting between the WIL station in Delaware and the WAS station in Washington’s union station — a commute requiring 3 hours on the train each day round trip. He also had to get to the train station on each side of the trip twice a day. Apparently, his children also felt the tremendous impact that the train ride had on them each day as well. One of Biden’s sons is an executive for Amtrak in Delaware!

Trains are a great way to commute. You get on the train and you have an uninterrupted portion of time that you can use for reading, making calls, and making notes. It creates some of the most productive time a person can have a reality, and saves fuel at the same time.

Even with the bonus of the commuting time being freed up by not having to drive, most people would probably at least rent an apartment in Washington so they wouldn’t have to spend so much time commuting. I know first hand, though, that being gone all week and only seeing your spouse and children on weekends is an unhappy way to live. I’m pleased to see Joe Biden shares my values, and keeps his family ties close. He illustrates with that one action that he realizes his responsibility to his family is important even though he must be in Washington so much.

What a good message to convey to the families all over America — that putting family first still matters.

Most people exert at least some effort trying to maintain a good credit rating. When things turn sour financially, though, the way is open to creating credit problems. Severe credit problems are not inevitable, though, even if a major event occurs such as a job loss, large medical bills, or disability.

1. Write a letter to each creditor, and send it by postal mail. In that letter, ask the creditor to refrain from calling you on the phone and to instead communicate only by postal mail. You can find a sample letter for this purpose here.
2. Send each creditor a second letter, confirming your debt and offering a payment plan you an actually afford. Most creditors employ people to call you up on the phone who don’t have the authority to make arrangements below a certain level. By sending a letter with an offer you can actually afford, however small it is, you have a better chance of making an affordable agreement with them. You can find a sample letter for this purpose here.
3. Once you have agreements in place, keep to those agreements.

Gaining a position of control in your dealings with creditors will ensure that you sleep better. Having your wits about you means you’ll be able to perform your job better, reduce strain on your family relationships, and give you a sense that no matter what any creditor thinks of you, you are doing all you can to responsibly resolve your debt problems.

I’ve been nervous about the idea of electing a president that does not have a lot of experience. At this point, though, having done more homework, I’ve decided that I do believe the experience issue is not going to be the deal-breaker I thought it was.

Sen. Barack Obama

Obama’s history is showing him to be a determined individual that does his homework so he can come up to speed on issues that are likely to impact us. I like knowing that he realized at one point that he was frittering away his life, that he lived an austere life at Columbia so that he could finally get a decent education, and that his early employers saw a young man that applied himself.

I’m so sick of good time party boys running the government that I can’t even describe my level of disgust.

As a 51 year old woman that is bothered by having her experience discounted in favor of youthful dreamers, I can see that I was wrong about Obama the Dreamer. Yes, he is inexperienced and is promoting ‘change’ without a lot of details. However, I do like the details I’ve seen so far. Now that I have confidence in his ability to hit the ground running I’m ready to sign on to the Obama ticket.

So what about the other guy? Well, McCain has not been impressing me lately. I had thought that because of his deeper resume that he might be a better pick even though I don’t like a lot of his politics. However, I believe now that I cannot overlook his politics. He does not appear to have the carefully cultivated superior judgment I am looking for in a president. He appears to be relying more on a shoot from the hip approach and gut feelings rather than on good research. We have lived through nearly 8 years of a president that “decides” without researching, and prior to that we lived through 8 years of a president that did in fact research issues.

I think we did a lot better with Clinton and his wonkish personality that is prone to well-researched decision making than we have done under the non-wonkish folks that rely on machismo and ‘gut’ decision making.

I’m ready to put my trust in a young man of promise over an old man of experience, and I’m surprised at myself for coming to that conclusion.

Steve and I have been going through a lot of the same problems that many others are going through right now. We have a large mortgage balance, credit card debt, owe money on our vehicles, and in general are feeling a pretty big pinch in the pocketbook. One of the biggest things I’ve been concerned about is the mortgage situation. I don’t want to be one of the casualties of the foreclosure explosion, and we’re in danger of becoming just such a casualty by virtue of the larger-than-expected interest payments coupled with the decline in our home’s appraised value.

Not that I’m trying to bellyache about our situation. We realize that our situation is the same for many others in this country right now, and we are no worse off than so many others. Still, we want to learn about what we can do if or when the time arrives.

There are a number of things an individual can do, and I’ve been doing some homework on it for our own sakes as well as to share. Briefly, the advice I’ve been reading indicates that executing a plan to pay down debt is the best way to gain some breathing room and reduce the fear over the mounting debts so many of us have. I’ll be sharing what I’ve been reading — as well as links to lots more information on the topic — in the next several blog posts.

Honestly, I am still not convinced about whether Barack Obama is the right choice for me. I’ve been an avid Hillary supporter since she appeared on the scene with Bill Clinton nearly 20 years ago. She was a good fit for me in many ways. On the one hand she married Bill while she was still young, and on the other hand she never entirely took a back seat in the marriage. For many years, she facilitated Bill’s dream of being the Governor of Arkansas by earning the majority of the family’s money.

I could relate to the way that Hillary supported Bill financially while Bill took the center stage in politics. That felt to me like an excellent partnership-style marriage. Nobody was subservient, and each was supportive of the other. That, to me is the way that marriages were meant to be.

There are actually some of the same things going on with the Obama’s that I liked so much about the Clintons. Both Obamas are very intelligent, with superior educations. I would have like to see more experience under Barack’s belt before running for president. However, even though his experience level is not what I’d like to see, his intellect is right up there with the best of our former presidents. He does not simply pop off with one or two word snappy answers, and instead is a thoughtful decider. Few events happen in the world without at least a few hours of warning, so there are seldom any occasions where a snap judgement is required from our leaders. Barack is well equipped to provide thoughtful responses to the problems our next president will face.

At this moment, I still can’t say whether it is certain that I will vote for Obama. I do think I am leaning in that direction, however. I’ll keep watching both of the major candidates before making a final decision.