Call me crazy, but I am truly beginning to feel a level of genuine concern regarding the Republican nominees and how some individuals seem to be approaching this election as more of some sort of Prom court election than a Presidential election. This concern is directly related to my own stance on certain issues and how, if elected, these nominees could affect my daily personal life and what consequences stand to occur if they succeed.
First of all, I am a very pro-choice person - I am not pro-abortion. Pro-choice involves the belief that women all over this nation should have the freedom to make the very personal choice to terminate a pregnancy if they so choose, the belief that women should be allowed fair and affordable access to birth control and that adequate and correct sex education courses be allowed to be taught in schools. Being pro-choice has a lot to do with preemptive measures being allowed to prevent unwanted pregnancies so that getting or not getting an abortion doesn’t even have to be an issue. Unfortunately, when you have individuals running the government who are fanatically pro-life they oftentimes want to squash all movements that are in direct correlation to sex and sex education. These individuals would rather that their and the nation’s children live in ignorance of the potential side effects that they could suffer should they engage in unprotected sex and would rather play Russian roulette in hoping that “abstinence only” programs actually succeed in some form. Never mind the overwhelming scientific analysis that such programs fail miserably because the Christian thing to do is wait until you’re married to have sex; never mind that the whole nation isn’t Christian or that teens have been having sex since the dawn of time. Anti-choice constituents, such as McCain and Palin, would apparently rather that underage kids be forced into becoming teenage parents and suffer the pain and embarrassment from contracting an STI or STD then protecting them by giving them the information that they need. I think it’s become painfully apparent that using the cop out of not utilizing sex education because that responsibility should rely solely on the parent is not working. A great number of parents are uncomfortable discussing sex with their children and rely on schools to give them this information. If neither party is giving children this information then they are not going to get it anywhere, except from television, the internet, and friends – all highly unreliable sources…
The point being that I don’t want any political leader in such a powerful position to dictate this sort of forced ignorance on society as a whole. This will only serve the country in a negative way. I believe that it is most important not to focus on personal tabloid dribble, but on the issues that we all hold to be important.
On that note, I have noticed that in regards to the presidential race the discussion of how relatable or unrelatable Governor Palin is to the everywoman has become a large topic for discussion and debate. How is this even relevant? How much or little this woman can be found relatable to a mother in the Midwest who hauls her kids to soccer practice every day or how a woman may be able to relate to her having a gun collection is more than irrelevant to how well this woman’s capabilities are in running a country. When it comes down to dealing with foreign policy issues, dealings with Iran and other aggressive countries, the economy, the environment and civil liberties, how cool you think she might be to hang out with and hold a Tupperware party with is entirely moot. Her abilities as a leader will be tested in the office of Vice President, not how well she can play a basketball game or whether or not she has a special needs child. I do not care about how many children she has, if one of them is pregnant or any other nonsensical personal garbage about this woman or about any other candidate. That stuff has no impact on my personal life or anyone else’s.
That being said, I think that it is very relevant that some personal things be taken into account. What a person believes and how they act in their day-to-day lives can say a great deal about how they will potentially act in office. For example, those with extremist Evangelical religious beliefs may press more extreme bills and laws in regards to birth control, homosexuality and the separation of church and state in the educational system. Those of any extremist religious persuasion are more likely to try and make into law certain aspects of what they believe to be right and wrong because they believe everyone should behave the “right” way, ignoring the fact that not everyone believes as they do. People such as this would only be harmful to the nation as a whole because it restricts personal freedom and the civil liberties we all enjoy.
While Senator McCain may be a very conservative man, Governor Palin is an extremist right-wing Evangelical conservative who believes that Alaska will serve an important role when the Rapture comes. To me, such extremist beliefs as the aforementioned could be a dangerous thing if exercised wantonly and used to restrict the rights of people who are the “other”, those individuals who are possibly in opposition to your religious beliefs. If government is ever allowed to exercise a reward and punishment system based on an individual’s religious and spiritual beliefs, then we stop performing as a democracy but instead start to behave as a theocracy. Religious fundamentalism as a form of government is never a positive thing so I strongly oppose the possibility of this nation heading in that direction. I’m not insinuating that Gov. Palin would do such a thing, but I do feel that her religious conviction could serve to influence her governing in a more harmful way in regards to this country and its people.
Being a good Christian with good Christian morals is not the most important aspect of being an effective leader; neither is being a hockey-mom with five kids or just simply being male or female. I can only hope that the people of this nation come November 4th can separate the important issues regarding the impact on their own lives and the future of this country from personal biases that hold no relevance in this election. I can only hope that people will vote with their heads and not with their hockey stick. Too much is at stake.
