The following is an editorial point of view offered by one of our most experienced writers, Bill Willard, as part of our “Issue of the Week” series. Below is Bill’s opinion on a hot topic of interest to many of us. What’s your opinion? Please share it with us. Two cautions: (1) No profanity; (2) No mindless emotional attacks. Stick to the ISSUES! – John R. Ingrisano

The Candidates: May 2008

By Bill Willard
Contributing Author

The Issue: At this writing, the 2008 presidential election still offers choices among three candidates: John McCain (R), Barak Obama (D), and Hillary Clinton (D). McCain has the Republican nomination all-but locked up. Obama is the putative Democrat nominee, but with Clinton vowing to fight to the end, the Democrat field may not be known until the party’s nominating convention beginning July 7.

What I Think: As a Conservative, my support for John McCain is reluctant. As a Senator, he has been way too cozy with liberals across the aisle. But I will vote for him for these five reasons:

1. His biography: As a fighter-jock/POW war hero, John McCain has the character of a man who can be counted on under the most difficult circumstances.
2. His foreign policy experience: He won’t cut and run from Iraq, and will take a hard line with Iran and other Islamic enemies bent on our destruction.
3. He is pro-business: Consider this assessment by South Carolina Congressional Representative Kit Spires noting McCain’s pro-business positions: “I own a family pharmacy and as a small-businessman one of the things most important to me is that we have a president who will work to create a better business environment across the country. I firmly believe that John McCain’s record of fighting for lower taxes and his support of positive economic initiatives is indicative of the pro-business agenda he will pursue as president.”
4. His Supreme Court nominations: Two or more justices may be stepping down in the next four years; McCain is more likely to appoint another Justice Scalia or Thomas than either liberal Democrat candidate.
5. He’ll keep a Democrat out of the Oval Office: That begs the following analyses of why neither Clinton nor Obama should be trusted with the presidency.

Hillary Clinton has long been detested by Republicans as a liar, dissembler, and former devotee of radical leftwing activist, Saul Alinsky. Clinton is also too obviously seeking high office on the shoulders of her odious husband, payback, no doubt, for having stood by him as he busily disgraced himself, his family, and the nation before and during his 1998 impeachment.

Like many Conservatives, I never thought Clinton rated a shot at the presidency, but I believe she is preferable to her rival. So, why is Clinton hanging on in spite of the overwhelming odds against her winning the nomination? A plausible explanation has been suggested by columnist, Thomas Sowell: …[S]he wants to damage Obama enough for him to lose the general election this fall.”

Barack Obama, not to put too fine a point on it, is a Marxist with the most liberal voting record in the Senate, and whose devotion to the United States appears to be reed thin—more expediency than conviction.

Charismatic? No doubt. Articulate? Sure, when he relies on a teleprompter; less so and prone to gaffes when speaking extemporaneously. And those are his good points!

Thus far, Obama’s platform is murky at best; at worst, frightening, as when he charmingly advocates such noxious notions as infanticide in the form of partial birth abortion. And does he really have what it takes to confront our Islamist enemies?

Because Obama is the presumed Democrat presidential nominee, a deeper examination is in order. For starters…

No Place for OJT: Until he more fully articulates his positions on issues affecting our nation, vacuously espousing “Change” is not quite enough of a platform, and the presidency is no place for on-the-job training.

All we really know about Obama is that he is too young, too inexperienced, and too untested. And, to put it charitably, a lousy judge of character if his pastor of 20 years, the infamous Black Liberation theologian, Jeremiah (“we deserved 9/11”) Wright, and former cronies, Weather Underground terrorists and smugly unrepentent America-haters, William Ayres and Bernadine Dohrn, are indicative.

Responding to his 2004 U.S. Senate opponent, Republican Alan Keyes, Obama scoffed at the charge of being a “hard-core academic Marxist.” In his book, Dreams From My Father, however, Obama admitted attending socialist conferences, and coming into contact with Marxist literature.

What’s more, referring to his eight-year stay in Hawaii in the 1970s, Obama conceded a relationship with Frank Marshall Davis, a member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA).

Conclusion: The volume of evidence against Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama is mute testimony to their unsuitability for the office they seek, but speaks volumes about the poor judgment and gullibility of rank-and-file Democrats.

John McCain needs the support of all thinking Americans.

What Do You Think? Your comments are welcome. Have you registered?

Bill Willard is a freelance writer in Clearwater FL. He has been a high-impact writer and editor for over 30 years. In addition to his byline pieces, Bill’s beat includes ghostwriting and editing for businesses of all types and sizes, professional practitioners and individuals, and is a www.thefreestyleentrepreneur.com Contributing Author. Visit his Website: www.writergazette.com/WillardAssociates.shtml
Or contact him at billw15@verizon.net.

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