Round 2!!!

As the presidential campaign gets closer and closer to election day, we are seeing the candidates at their worst and their best. At this point they have clearly shown us how they are going to fight their opponent in the hopes of taking up the executive offices in January.

During last night's debate, I saw many of the same tactics McCain has used before being used again. For one, he spent most of the debate not really explaining what he would do as president, but rather what Obama hasn't done or has done wrong in the past. Watching the approval scale on the bottom of the screen (calculating the opinions of undecided Ohio voters as the candidates spoke) it was clear that Americans don't want to hear this rhetoric anymore. We're over it and we want real answers to critical questions. At this time in our nation, where the economy is falling, Wall Street is in the worst shape it's been since the Depression, we are in a multi-year/multi-country war and so many families are without health insurance...we don't want to hear about what dirt you've dug up on the other guy, we want to hear why we should vote for you and what you will do for our country as the next president.

Another tactic McCain used again, one which Palin is also using, is the "buddy" system. This is a tool also employed by Bush, contributing to his being the #1 president Americans would want to have a beer with. Both McCain and Palin have adopted this strategy of appealing to citizens' emotions, of trying to be our friends. Palin, as the winking, folksy, hot hockey-mom; McCain as the old-but-still-funny, joke-cracking "maverick". How many times last night did McCain refer to..I guess everyone, as "My Friends." (The meaning of which was very much confused when he suddenly referred to Obama as "my friend" also.) He leaned against banisters as he answered questions and seemed to make it seem like he was having a talk with his buddy, not a constituent.

Well, McCain seems like a nice guy and maybe I would like to be his friend, but in a president we need a leader, not a friend. We need someone who understands our issues and what kind of change is needed to address those issues and to lead us out of this mess we're in towards a better future. Presidents are not our friends, leaders are not our friends. They are our protectors, our inspirers, our decision-makers. That is what we need in the White House. Not another four years of "friends", like George Bush.

Polls all over the country are showing that Obama is in the lead and that, most certainly, Obama won Tuesday's debate. I guess this means that Americans are finally looking beyond the superficial elements of this campaign and looking for real answers to the most important question we, as a nation have to ask ourselves on November 4th: Who will lead us to a better tomorrow? With the looks of today, it's clear that we can no longer accept anything but honesty, integrity and true leadership.