Thoughts on the Final Weekend

I have had a number of generally reliable conservative or libertarian friends who are flirting with voting for Obama in what I think is the ultimate victory of hope over experience. Some are deeply upset over Sarah Palin. As you mull it over I'd like you to consider the following- I'll keep it short and simple.

1. While many conservatives, myself included, probably feel MORE comfortable with Governor Palin than Senator McCain, you are voting for the TOP of the ticket. And John McCain will be 72 in January 2009. Ronald Reagan was 74 when he started his second term.

2. While Senator Obama's lack of serious experience is troubling, we should actually be more worried about his JUDGMENT. Someone who is inexperienced but smart could surround himself with good advisers. Bad judgment is another case entirely. Two examples: The surge in Iraq where Obama will not admit he was wrong. He harps on the mistake of the Iraq War but would have compounded it tremendously by precipitously withdrawing. I would cite Cambodia, 1975 as a lesson.

3. Who do you trust? McCain has a long history of being a maverick with plenty of spine. His family has served this republic honorably and long for four generations. When allies like Israel, Taiwan or perhaps Poland are threatened who would you trust to make the right decision? The only thing we can trust Senator Obama to do is talk and look for a UN mandate.

4. Jeremiah Wright. By his own words "a virtual father and someone he could not condemn any more than his white mother or grandparents"...UNTIL HE HAD TO THROW WRIGHT UNDER THE BUS FOR POLITICAL REASONS. Obama was in this man's congregation FOR YEARS and listened to the hateful invective in which Wright attacked the United States. Would you sit through years of sermons like that unless you agreed??

5. Economically Obama would look to redistribute wealth via taxes. Taxes should not be a means to redistribute wealth, taxes should fund the common defense, necessary services and a basic social safety net and that's it.

6. In 1992 conservatives unenamored of George HW Bush argued that putting a Democrat in office would 'renew' the conservative roots of the GOP. We got eight years of Bill Clinton's fecklessness as a result. Whether or not you love McCain (or Palin) you know what you will get with Obama.

Zogby, a left-leaning pollster, has the race in a dead heat in his latest single-day tracking poll. It's still a long shot with McCain in uphill battles in Pennsylvania and Virginia and a host of other swing states but it's close. By the grace of God and Divine Providence...