In terms of pure decision making and leadership capabilities I give the nod to Obama/Biden. McCain/Palin def. fall short in that regard. Here's the problem though, my philosophical viewpoints are conservative in nature. A few things that Obama really wants I am completely against. National Healthcare for instance. I am completely against that. I think its widely accepted that Dem's are for MORE government while Rep's are for less. I think the gov. should be MUCH smaller than it is. Also, Dem's are generally considered to be in favor of higher taxes while Rep's are in favor of lower taxes. Again, another thing I am agreeing with the Rep's about.
Now I realize that what the Rep's say they stand for and what they do are often two completely different things. Rep's say they are fiscally conservative, but everything points elsewhere. They say they are for smaller gov. but they constantly increase the size of gov. and how inefficient it is. They say they are for smaller taxes, but they only give it to big business.
On the other hand, Dem's are for none of that. So do I vote for the people who pretend they want what I want, or do I vote for the people that just flat tell me they are against what I want?
so in the entirity of your OP, you only call out 3 negatives about Obama: (1) UHC, (2) big gov't, and (3) high taxes. however, you rightly note that republicans are often more guilty of (2) and (3) than are democrats. so that leaves (1).
the first thing to note about Obama's push for UHC is that he's not pushing for UHC. he thinks that healthcare should be provided for children. this seems pretty reasonable. second, Obama has proven to be very pragmatic - if there's pressing issues at hand, he won't insist that his ideals take the focus. sure, he wants to get out of Iraq ASAP, but he's more than willing to take into account our generals' and Iraq's POVs. he doesn't want to drill offshore, but he's willing to concede on that point if it will stabalize oil prices as we work towards a permanent energy fix. republicans might argue that he's flip-flopping or pandering for votes, but a willingness to adapt to the realities at hand rather than stick to impractical or outdated ideals (free market, unqualified victory in Iraq) is a good thing in my book.
he's not going to shove psuedo-UHC down our throats while managing two wars and fixing the economy.