In Summation: Final thoughts on candidate Obama

Win or lose next Tuesday, the candidacy and campaign of Barack Obama will be studied and emulated by future Presidential aspirants. His campaign's masterful handling and use of the mass media, along with it's deft use of the new frontier of political fundraising, the Internet, will be analyzed by political scientists for years to come. For better or worse, we have seen the future of American national political campaigning, and the ill spoken and poorly financed need not apply. It is only the weight of John McCain's life story of real political and personal accomplishment and challenges that has kept this race as close as it is. For perspective, McCain received a total of 84 million dollars to conduct his general election campaign. Obama made 150 million dollars in September alone.

Honestly ask yourself if you can name anything Obama has done on the national stage prior to his Presidential campaign. Oppose the Iraq war? That makes him just as qualified to govern as my good friends Bob Wilhelms and Chris Garcia who also oppose the war for their own good reasons. While liberal democrats Ted Kennedy and Russ Feingold found enough common ground with McCain to co-author bills on campaign finance and illegal immigration, can you name the highest ranking Republican Obama has worked with?

Lacking a record, what source do we have to rely on in order to make an informed judgement on Obama the candidate? For most of us, it is the words of Obama himself. As a responsible consumer, would you rely solely on a salesman's pitch on a shiny, new car or computer? No, most of us would do some background research as well. Does the product have a solid history of performance? Is it dependable? Has it been rigorously tested? Compared to Barack Obama, we have more in-depth information on the perspective performance of a 2008 Dodge or an Apple laptop.

Obama is a man of fascinating contrasts. Professing himself to be a friend of Israel, Obama has dined with and feted a former member of the PLO terrorist organization, and has told the Palestinians that the future of Jerusalem, the sovereign capitol of Israel, should be up for discussion. Obama has lambasted the unilateral tilt of the Bush Administration, but he has told crowds in Ohio that he will tear up the trade treaty NAFTA, over the objections of our neighbors Canada and Mexico. Obama says he will end the war in Iraq, but his campaign has committed itself to leaving tens of thousands of US troops there for years to come.

Obama has also lied twice to John McCain. McCain approached Obama over legislation on Congressional ethics reform, to which Obama agreed to cooperate with McCain on. However, Obama, feeling pressure from fellow Democrats decided to back out of the agreement. Obama also reneged on a promise he made that, if McCain accepted, Obama too would take public financing. That was before Obama started making money by the tens of millions, mostly by small donors he refuses to track and document.

Obama has been a master practitioner of political expedience. The Democratic Party is about to sweep the congressional and senatorial elections. Obama has proven himself to be a purely partisan politician, never standing up to the Democratic Party.

In contrast, John McCain has been tested in ways none of us can imagine. He has also put national interest before his party on tough issues, such as Big Tobacco, the environment, and the initial strategies used in Iraq. McCain is the only option to ensure responsible balance in the government.

Should Obama win, attaining the Presidency will obviously be the greatest accomplishment of his political career. His second greatest accomplishment? Running for the Presidency. These challenging and dangerous times demand proven leadership, not expert campaigning. Please join me in voting for a tough,tested, bi-partisan reformer. Please join me in voting for John McCain.