We're About to Elect a Good Listener When We Need a Strong Leader

I'm obviously signalling that I intend, barring any unforeseen changes or surprises, to endorse John McCain for President of the United States shortly after the last debate. I will reserve my final opinions for that time and I may well change my mind.

I do not have any form of Barack Obama Syndrome. I like him, he has a wonderful vision for the future. His health care plan is far superior to John McCain's. Barack Obama is a good and decent man.

But these are really troubled times and we really need s strong and decisive leader. When Barack Obama is elected (and he will be elected), he will need to develop both leadership and decision making abilities. But today, he has neither.

As B. Daniel Blatt wrote late last night, Barack Obama's record on tough issues is clear and extremely consistent: Identify the problem, fail to offer a solution, and then pass the buck.

Never in our history can I identify anyone running for the Presidency who has accomplished less in his long elected career. Obama's record of avoiding responsibility is simply stunning. And he is doing it right up to this minute!

Remember Obama's words from the last debate:

I wrote to Secretary Paulson, I wrote to Federal Reserve Chairman [Ben] Bernanke, and told them this is something [sub-prime lending crisis] we have to deal with, and nobody did anything about it.

He then turned right around and ridiculed John McCain because McCain, who actually sponsored real legislation that would have solved this problem, failed to get the legislation passed!!! Obama failed to mention that he was in the Senate and he was part of the cadre of Democrat Senators who stopped the legislation cold. Not that his name appears anywhere.

I listened to a story on National Public Radio this morning in which an "undecided voter" decided to vote for Obama because he seems to really understand our problems. And,indeed, as I listen to his stump speeches, he does understand. He has great empathy. He is a good listener. He is a good man.

When he is elected he will have a huge job in front of him and he will probably have, in Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, the two worst leaders in the entire history of the Senate and House to not help him one bit.

It is likely our government will do almost everything wrong before Barack Obama has travelled far enough along the learning curve to begin to get it right. He will institute massive tax increases on businesses and on capital gains. He will stop 100% of all energy exploration (Pelosi has promised that!!!!). He will restrict trade and increase tariffs. In short he will duplicate every step Herbert Hoover took to cause the Great Depression.

Obama talks a great, soothing, blissful game. And we are destined to elect him. But we shouldn't. His record is stunning. He has never made a single difficult decision in his entire life.

Let's not let him start next January.

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I had originally titled this essay "Which Democrat Will We Elect This November." McCain's strange endorsement of big government proposals like the Home Mortgage bailout for individuals along with programs like McCain-Feingold and McCain's very liberal policy toward immigration, give him a strange, eclectic, liberal, pedigree. In spite of attempts to label him a Bush clone, he is very much the anti-Bush.