I can't get behind John McCain. He's been erratic at best since the DNC. At the time, I strongly felt that the Palin pick would make or break him, and I gave him the benefit of the doubt having not known a thing about her and assuming he did. WRONG.
While I admire Obama's charisma, I feel many of his supporters are absolutely blinded by it. Depsite the left's attempts to avoid the label "messiah", it is indeed how he has protrayed himself, how the media has portayed him, and how many of his supporters speak of him. If you watched his speech at the DNC, you can't - at least not with a straight face - deny that's what he was shooting for. Hell, the man spoke of lowering the oceans and such. Come on, guys. At least be honest with yourself, if not with others.
His church bothers me, and as sensitive as the left is about religious whackos, I'm quite surprised by their lack of interest in Wright.
All that being said, McCain is not stable enough to lead. Palin as president would be a fucking disaster. McCain's economic stances are only marginally better than Obama's, which I think is the critical factor right now. Not Iraq, not Afghanistan, but ECONOMICS. I would be more apt to support McCain if he stayed truer to Conservative economics, but he's too hard to read. I suspect he's simply pandering to centrists and light leftists, but if that's the case, I have an entirely new issue with him. Pandering is for assholes like John Kerry and, to a lesser extent, Al Gore. I'll elect someone with whom I disagree long before I willfully vote for an empty suited liar. I do suspect Obama has done his own fair share of pandering because his voting record - which I admit I have not studied closely - appears far more left than his campaign platform. But, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.
And I'm able to give him the benefit of the doubt because I do feel this is a good time for a party transition. I don't see how McCain could possibly hold down two terms. In fact, I don't think Obama has much of a shot, either. On that note, I'd rather have a new Republican up for election in 2012 than McCain vs. Obama or an TBA Democrat.
So, I'm reluctantly voting for Obama and I think many people are in for a letdown. He's not the Second Coming, and while no one will admit it to me or themselves, I'm confident many people view him in that light deep down inside themselves. No one can live up to that, and I don't think Obama amounts to much more than a confident orator. He's intelligent, but I don't think he has the economic sense this country needs right now. His fundamental values are in direct conflict with what I feel "works".