Reasons why RBB is leaning towards Obama

1. Mitt Romney – Meg Whitman 2012

2. Convention Music—There was no rap music at Obama's convention. At the Dem convention, I heard Stevie Wonder and a good house band. The Republican convention used a Van Halen song as the theme, which was good as well. I’m sorry to break this to you RMB, but there is nothing wholesome about the country music industry.

3. Education—I don't get why Right-wingers hold Obama's education against him. Obama was an underprivileged kid, with no connections to military commanders or country club elitists. Obama excelled at Columbia and Harvard Law School. Whatever role affirmative action may have played in Obama's gaining entry to Columbia and Harvard Law School is irrelevant as his record indicates excellence. In contrast, McCain was lazy, insubordinate, and a problem kid at the Naval Academy. McCain has been spoon-fed every position he has held. I want someone in the Oval Office who reads, thinks, and can analyze. Leadership is not merely decisive action, but should be well-informed decisive action that produces the best result. The latter requires more brain power than McCain is capable.

4. The next few years are going to be an era centered around the drafting of new regulations and laws regarding the destructive, haphazard, and under-regulated mortgage industry. We need a president who can understand the legal principles contained in the regulations as the president is responsible for signing them in. This task is over McCain's head and perfect for someone who excelled in a legal career.

5. Character Issue—McCain has remarked that his years as a POW changed him. But when he returned, McCain took advantage of his fame, cheating on his wife with multiple women only to settle down when he found "the right one," who also happened to be an heiress to a large beer fortune and who was addicted to pain killers. What do the Brethren think of McCain's twenty years of infidelity or Cindy McCain's willingness to sleep with a married man and dependence on illegally prescribed drugs? Obama has been forthright about his experimentation with drugs as a teenager. I guess this is the difference between McCain and Obama: McCain has a forty-year history of poor character whereas Obama has a brief history of drug abuse in his teenage years and no evidence of infidelity. The Right shouldn't make arguments against Obama's character when McCain has proven to be just as immoral as Bill Clinton.

6. McCain’s VP selection was shortsighted. I like Palin and she would be a fine VP, but Meg Whitman would have been a better strategic selection. McCain chose Palin to electrify the conservative base, which Palin did. However, the conservative base did not need to be electried so much as the middle-of-the-road people needed to be won over. The fence-sitters will be won over by whomever sounds better on the economy. The McCain-Palin ticket has failed in convincing the middle class that they are the best economic choice. Had Meg Whitman been on the ticket, the republican party would’ve not only had generated the excitement that comes with selecting a woman but would’ve also had an economic authority not to be matched by either Biden, Obama, or any other person the Democratice party could’ve produced. The economy is the big issue in this election and the McCain campaign missed its opportunity.

7. Taxes and Spending—I like the sound of Obama’s tax proposal. I have no problem with increasing marginal tax rates for the top 5%. Executive compensation is ridiculous and often undeserved. The idea of an obliging nobility that will pass its wealth down to the working class is foolish. The spirit of capitalism has proven to abound even when the wealthy are taxed at higher rates than the middle and lower classes. Capitalism isn't going anywhere. At the same time, however, I don’t believe anyone can take Obama’s (or any candidate’s) tax promises seriously because tax revenues are a question secondary to government spending. The government proposes a budget and will adjust taxes based on what the budget calls for. We need a President who will cut spending by not signing in bills that will necessitate higher revenues. Some of the things that Obama has proposed (federal healthcare, federal energy initiative) will increase spending. Obama has proposed cutting spending on our war effort. McCain has not made solid proposals on taxes and spending other than he has promised to cut spending, which I believe he will do. Still, I believe the most fiscally conservative thing our country can do right now is to tax its wealthiest members. More on this later.

8. I believe that we have won in Iraq and should now scale back spending, redeploy troops back to the US borders, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. I cite the fact that there is an economic surplus, peace relative to what conditions were once like, and elections in Iraq--all courtesy of the US Government. Why can we not say, “We’ve done our job.” McCain claims there is more to do in Iraq. I disagree. I believe our security interests have been served there. Obama needs to admit this but hasn’t. So I agree with Obama’s end result, which is to redeploy to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and back to the U.S. but I disagree with Obama’s analysis that we’ve failed in Iraq. I support more covert operations against small Taliban militias in the mountains of Afghanistan and cities of Pakistan.

9 I want there to be a war tax. Bush signed the spending bill, proposed by Congress, which included borrowing billions from China in order to fund our war effort. The U.S. has sacrificed nothing in order to pay for our war. Bush should have vetoed the bill. I don’t know whether McCain or Obama voted on it, but I disagree with this fiscal policy. I support the “pay-as-you-go” system which the liberal Congress has attempted to implement in the face of executive politicians who claimed to be fiscal conservatives (i.e.: Bush). Bottom line, the most fiscally conservative thing for our country to do is to tax the rich as well as the middle class in order to pay for the money we've borrowed from foreign countries.

10. We need someone in the Whitehouse who gets the economy. I’m not saying Obama is better with it. I am saying it is above McCain’s head. The republican party should not have selected McCain. Romney was a superior choice. If McCain wins, there is little chance that Romney could run and win in 2012 because it would be the democrats turn, more than it is this election.