This voting thing

Dear Editor,

About this time every four years, I get a bit baffled and bewildered by the onslaught of information, mis-information and biased attack ads leaking through television, radio, print media and the Internet about political candidates, amendments, initiatives, and referendums.

There is so much out there to absorb that I no longer know what to believe about presidential candidates—Obama and McCain.

I think about the questions a friend asked me: how is my life better under the last eight years of Republican rule? And what am I afraid of if Obama is elected? If McCain is elected?

I think about my life, here, in Craig in 2008, as a businesswoman, landowner, citizen.

I am opposed to the war in Iraq and the one in Afghanistan; too many young men and women are dying for . . . oil? world peace? revenge? world destruction?

The world view of the U.S. is not so good; it seems that we are seen as a bully.

U.S. currency is so devalued that we—Americans—cannot afford to travel abroad.

China, as a rapidly developing economy, is sucking up lots of the U.S. supply of
concrete and is buying U.S. firms/farms/technologies at record rates..

I pay way too much money for gas (although, until I’m paying what the world average is, I’m not sure I can complain).

I am very concerned about ice: ANWAR, the shifting north pole, the melting sea ice around Antarctica.

I, regrettably, under Republican rule, have had to learn what water-boarding is, where Guantamo is and have taken a hard look at what passes for our justice system.

So, is my life better?

No.

Not really.

Food and fuel prices are rising. The wars go on, and we are facing an historically catastrophic financial crisis.

Do I think one man (and a vp) will make a difference? Yes, but only if he surrounds himself with the best and the brightest. McCain’s choice of a running mate has me wondering if he can do that.

I don’t think Obama is a wonder-worker, but he seems reasonable and smart and even courteous. And while courteous may not be the first quality we want in a president, it seems like a good first step back toward civility.

I think I’m ready for something different.

Carol Valera Jacobson