_________ 2008?

I am concerned for our country.

Originally, I had thought McCain to be one of the best possible candidates for president. I liked (and still do like) how candid he is, and how he doesn't seem to waver on his political stances. His age concerns me a little bit, but he appears to be healthy and in good shape. I think that he has some very good things to say about the war in Iraq and terrorism in general, and I think that over the course of the last few years, he has been pretty dead-on when it comes to what's being done right, what's being done wrong, and what the effect will be.

But there is one major, major issue that concerns me greatly when it comes to John McCain. An issue that has been one of the defining factors in distinguishing a true Conservative from a Liberal, and one that, in my opinion, can never be treated lightly or put on the back burner.

According to McCain, the question of abortion should be left up to the states. He believes that overturning decisions such as Roe v. Wade should not be done at the federal level, but should be left up to the individual states to decide and determine whether they will allow it to continue. To me...whether he is pro-choice or pro-life...to me, that stance is a complete cop-out. To me, that is essentially stating, "Personally, I kinda don't like abortion, but I'm washing my hands of the issue and tossing it back to the states to decide whether unborn babies live or die - that way, if abortion is never overturned, nobody can blame me."

That right there is the reason that at the last minute, rather than filling in the little hollow dot next to "John McCain" on my voter's ballot last February 19th, I voted for Huckabee. I knew that yesterday would come, I knew that barring a miracle there was no way that Huckabee would win, but I also knew that I would never feel complete peace about voting for McCain.

I do not like either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. That goes without saying. Clinton...to start on the amount of things wrong with her would take me a few days. If you want some background on the Clinton administration when Bill was president, read Unlimited Access by Gary Aldrich, an FBI agent who worked in the White House at the time. It's some seriously, seriously scary stuff, and I believe a mere preview into what this country would be looking at should Hillary become the next president. Obama...again, where do I start. I think he is a very smooth talker, and I believe he tells people exactly what they want to hear. I think that he knows that Clinton runs her mouth and employs smear tactics to make herself look better, and I think he knows how to play that to his advantage. It concerns me to no end that he will not even give a hint as to what religion he is now. Is he Muslim? Possibly. I doubt it, but it's possible. And just that possibility frightens me. The fact that he plays with his words to sound eloquent and believable frightens me. It frightens me that nobody sees through it. Someone told me yesterday, "I see Obama as a celebrity, not as a President." How true that is.

So who will I vote for in November? I am not, nor have I ever been, a "lesser of two evils voter". I believe that as Americans, we have not only a right but also a responsibility to vote. But, in whom does my responsibility lie? Am I responsible to vote for the person that I believe will do a better job in general, or am I held more responsible for voting for the person that will protect the lives of unborn children? I do not believe any candidate at this point will do that to the best of his or her ability. I will never vote for Obama, and I will never vote for Clinton. But is a vote for McCain essentially a vote for pro-choice?

I don't know at this point. All I know is, this country is in sad shape. We know the world is going to end sooner or later, and we know that this country and other countries will most likely go even more downhill than they have already. There will be more war. It is inevitable. But I'd like to think that in the meantime, things can be done to make some sort of progress.

How to get there, well...that's the question.