I couldn’t have said it better myself.
I had an email exchange today with my dear friend, Sam McNally about her choice for the ’08 Presidential election. Sam is what we Republicans would call a “flaming” liberal. I consider my self a Reagan Republican. Labels are wonderful. Sam and I often exchange points of view and we both always do justice to our respective labels. Our exchanges always end in peaceful stalemate. It’s a shame more people don’t have Sam’s attitude because dialogue is always a good thing if it ends peacefully. Agreement is not a necessary endpoint. It’s the dialogue that matters.
Today, Sam sent me an email urging me to support Barrack Obama for President. I responded politely with the same words many conservative Republicans are using these days. I like the man but he’s too liberal for me. Of course, McCain is too liberal for me as well. Romney? Like most of the Republican establishment, I just don’t like him. To be honest, Mitt Romney gives me the creeps. I don’t trust him.
And that brings me to the point. After composing a long list of policy objections I have with Obama, I concluded by telling Sam that my choice will be based on the integrity of the candidate because, as a true conservative, I cannot find policy agreement with any of the contenders. And when it comes to integrity, John McCain has it. And so does Barrack Obama. So it really comes down to integrity and trust. McCain is a liberal running as a conservative. Obama is a liberal running as such. He’s not changing stripes to attract votes. His message hasn’t changed since he started his campaign. Integrity? Well, that’s the characteristic real Reagan Republicans admire above all others. That’s what the press never understood about why we Reaganites loved Ronnie. We didn’t always agree with him but we trusted him.
So as I finished my note to Sam I decided that I like the man more than I like some of his policies. But I trust him more than I disagree with him.
Bush sold us a bill of goods. He played fiddle to the audience and we danced. Twice. And look what we got. While he was selling us on what good Christian guy he is, he was surrounding himself with the likes of Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rove. This Reagan Republican has had enough.
Yes, this is a business Blog. Read the line with picture. Believe in your ability.
Obama ’08.
Chris Reich, Author of TeachU’s Business Talk Blog
Chris@TeachU.com