2008 Presidential Race
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2008 Presidential Race | |
by Thomas A. Stobie, SFO
In this webpage, I will analyze the major candidates for President of the United States.
I want a President who is trustworthy and ethical, who has fundamental Judeo-Christian values, who lives a moral life, who respects human life, who believes in subsidiarity, who can motivate and lead people, who understands global stewardship, who try to act for the best long-term, and who will act in the best interest of all Americans. A good President should serve as a good role-model for all our children. Are you willing to trust them to look after you and your family's best interests? Is what the candidate says trustworthy or it it just a trick to get your support? Who will be a champion for the Culture of Life versus the Cultures of Death? Who will stand up for what is right over the pressure of the immoral media?
Let's first consider the character of each candidate. Are they leaders for the people or are they tools of special interests? Do they care about building strong families or are they advocates of free sexuality? Do they live lives consistant with the faith they proclaim or do they support foremost ideals contrary to their proclaimed faith? Are they willing to make good long-term decisions even against short-term public opinion?
Let examine how they live and the positions they advocate. We want candidates who live their faith and use their faith to guide their decisions. Candidates who claim to be Christian but support anti-christian acts, such as abortion, and advocate hedonist behavior, I consider Hedonists. Candidates who let Judeo-Christian values guide all their actions, I consider them to be fundamentally moral at the core. Looking at specific candidates, both Huckabee and Romney adhere to Judeo-Christian Values. Romney may not stand up strong enough for these values in his government roles. McCain generally does but varies by issue. Clinton and Obama strongly support Hedonism above their declared faith of Christianity, so I consider them as followers of the Religion of Hedonism, and not worthy of holding elective office. Obama is willing to go farther in his advocating of Hedonism than Clinton is.
Let's consider whether we can trust the candidates to make good decisions. We need someone of intregrity to stand up for all people, especially the most innocent, and do what it right regardless of public opinion. Huckabee is strong in this area. Romney may be srong, but may over-compromise. McCain in strong in areas, but in other areas, I have doubts. Obama and Clinton have clearly shown that their special interests take priority, and cannot be trusted to support the common person.
Let's consider on how their support the Culture of Life versus the Cultures of Death. The 3 main Cultures of Death are Hedonism, Radical Elitism (such as Islamic Terrorism), and Consumerism. Huckabee is strong on all three, strongest again Hedonism. Romney claims be to strong against the first two. Mccain would be strong against the second, weaker against the other two. Obama and Clinton do not strongly oppose any aspect of the culture of death and actively support hedonism. Huckabee would be a Champion for the Culture of Life, while Romney will probably be supportive. McCain varies his support sometimes for the Culture of Life, sometimes against. Obama and Clinton are strong advocates of some of the Cultures of Death and weak in the remaining areas.
I will consider the following issues: respecting human life, supporting freedom of religion, national defense, immigration, health care, and controlling government spending. I describe each issue on more detail on my issues webpages.
Respecting Human Life - Human life should be respected from conception to natural death. Huckabee has consistantly been strong in this area. Romney has changed positions over time, moving towards a favorable position. McCain claims to be strong in this area, but has deviated in some of his actions in congress. Clinton and Obama fail to respect human life in all its stages and have been strong supporters of abortion, euthaniasia, and embryotic stem cell research.
Support Freedom of Religion - The United States Constitution states the government should not establish a state religion, but over the past few decades, the religion of hedonism has be mandated by state and federal laws over other religions, such as Christianity. People and Organizations should be free to follow a religion without laws requiring actions contrary to their relgion. An example is requiring Christian hospitals to perform abortions or provide emergency contraception (which are abortificients) contrary to their faith. Huckabee is the only candidate to make this a major issue, while Romney and McCain to a lesser degree are supportive and Clinton and Obama are opposed to true freedom of religion.
National Defense - The United States need a strong national defense against rogue nations and terrorism. This defense needs to include countering terrorism globally and assisting affected areas re-establish law and order. McCain has always been a strong advocate of a strong national defense and opposing terrorism outside the country. Huckabee and Romney both support President Bush's policy on defense and combating terrorism. Clinton and Obama want to be isolationists, removing American troops from the global theater, and thus invite terrorists to commit their acts of terror in the United States.
Immigration - The United States need to (1) be tough on illegal immigration, returning all violators of our borders to their native countries, and (2) permit more legal immigrants to perform lower-wage labor. Romney and Huckabee are strong on immigration; McCain is not willing to take a strong stand, and Obama and Clinton are very weak, willing to overlook illegal activity.
Health Care - I support Diverse Free Market Consumer-Driven Health Care, which is not what we have today. We have health system that behaves like a pseudo-monopoly, hiding costs from its consumers, over-restricted by state and federal laws, and burdened with excessive litigation. Movely this to socialized medicine would just lower the quality of care available and makes it worse. While not going far enough, McCain has the best view of the issue, followed by Romney and then Huckabee, but I believe that they each could be convinced of a good strategic solution to the issue. Obama wants more government regulation which would futher restrict what the free market could do given a fertile environment, and Clinton wants to go further with state provided healthcare.
Controlling Government Spending - Government services should be provided at the lowest level of government where the service can be provided well. The federal government should be lean, cost-effective with very low adminstrative cost of services, and use commerical organizations where feasible to provide goods and services. Earmarks and other government pork projects should be eliminated. Romney has good views on government spending, McCain's are somewhat weaker, Huckabee states he is in favor of controlling government spending but does not elaborate, Clinton and Obama would under the claim of controlling spending increase it dramatically.
Overall, I would give an edge to Huckabee, then Romney, then McCain with Clinton and Obama failing on all issues. In addition, I believe that both Huckabee and Romney would listen to good solid visionary advice on issues.
Given the major media bias supporting the hedonism and consumerism, examining how the media favors and opposes candidates can be very revealing. Clinton is the media darling, advocating their positions and recieving very favorable media coverage, always trying to show her in the best light (per the media). Obama is also generally liked by the media and recieves favorable coverage. McCain is one of the media's favorite Republicans, as some of his positions and areas where he does not emphasize support the the media's views. Romney is shown somewhat favorable by the media as they feel they can get him to compromise on some of the issues. Huckabee is the most victimized by the media as he stands strongest against their positions.
So in this category, it is Huckabee, then Romney, then McCain, followed by a distant Obama and then Clinton.
| Candidate | Party | Overall | Values | Issues | Media Bias |
| Mike Huckabee | R | A | A | A- | A |
| Mitt Romney | R | B+ | A- | B+ | B |
| John McCain | R | C+ | B- | C+ | C |
| Hillary Clinton | D | F | F | F | F- |
| Barak Obama | D | F- | F- | F- | F |
Based on the discussions above, I hereby endorse Mike Huckabee to become our next President of the United States. Go to his campaign website.
© 2008 by Thomas A. Stobie, SFO - permission to copy is granted.
See my discussion on the major issues in 2008.
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Last modified on 27 Jan 2008.