Politics

Every recent presidential election has been consequential because America remains at a cross roads: Will we choose Christian cultural values that bring blessing to our nation, or will we turn down the road to secularism which will weaken and destroy us?

In this issue I will enumerate how the election of Barak Obama as president of the US would be a disastrous wrong turn. My view takes into account Senator Obama’s charisma and oratorical skills and the historic nature of his run as our first black nominee. On the surface, it’s easy to “like” Barak Obama and be attracted to “change.” But there are at least one hundred reasons why I will not vote for him.

Let’s examine these reasons through the two-fold prism of 1) Character–including experience, competence, judgment and associations, and 2) Policies–which include economics, foreign affairs, and moral/social issues.

Personal Character: Who IS Barak Obama? He appears to be:

• 1. An ambitious politician – unwilling to take the time and patience to build a national reputation as an experienced leader (eighteen months in the US Senate?).
• 2. Unusually double-tongued – he has taken multiple positions on many issues.
• 3. Possibly dishonest – he lied about his tolerance of Rev. Wright’s message and his position on infanticide in the Illinois legislature.
• 4. At times arrogant – his comments about gun owners and people of faith (San Fran. fund-raiser).
• 5. Sometimes elitist and unconcerned – refusal to see our troops on his European tour.
• 6. Naively accepting of the liberal theology taught at Trinity Church (it’s a quasi-communist perversion of Christianity i.e. the Nicaraguan Sandinistas).
• 7. Not forthright in his biography about his father and family background.
• 8. Not willing to admit errors – (did the surge work in Iraq?)
• 9. He sometimes gives deceptive (nuanced) answers on questions (Saddleback Forum) to hide his true beliefs.

Experience/Competence:

• 10. He has an incredibly thin resume (shortest in history)
• 11. Lack of accomplishments (only community organizing and winning elections?).
• 12. He has authored no major piece of legislation.
• 13. He is the number one liberal (secularist) in the United States Senate (his voting record).
• 14. He would naively talk to dictators (Castro, Kim Jong-il, Ahmadinejad etc.)
• 15. He has little foreign policy experience in a dangerous global environment.
• 16. He has no real-world experience (never run a business, done a pay roll etc.).
• 17. He regularly makes poor judgment calls on international affairs.
• 18. He is plainly partisan-he has never “crossed the aisle” on any Senate votes.
• 19. He has never built non-partisan coalitions (like John McCain has done).
• 20. He appears at times to be hesitant and confused – without his teleprompter.

Questionable Associations (bad judgment about friends)

• 21. Rev. Jeremiah Wright (how could he tolerate his bigotry for 20 years?).
• 22. Father Phleger, the similarly-racist Catholic priest friend in Chicago.
• 23. William Ayers – the unrepentant terrorist with whom he is “friendly.”
• 24. Tony Rezko – the convicted felon to whom he funneled 14 million tax dollars.
• 25. Louis Farrakhan – Obama attended and supported the Million Man March.
• 26. Trinity Church – (even Oprah had the judgment to leave this radical church).
• 27. College studies – at Harvard & Columbia he enjoyed radical authors & thinkers.
• 28. Wife–Michelle – she thinks America is “mean,” and this is the first time she’s been “proud of her country.”
• 29. Had to fire his dishonest lobbyist staffer–then continued to criticize John McCain on lobbyists.
• 30. Joe Biden – he’s a condemned-plagiarizer who is the number three liberal in the Senate. (votes)

Character comes first in choosing our leaders, but policy issues or worldview is the other category that will shape their decision-making. Let’s look at what Obama will DO if elected to the highest office in the land:

Social Issues

• 31. He’s a strong pro-abortionist-one million babies would continue to die each year.
• 32. He is for homosexual civil unions, which is a “nuanced” way of being for same-sex marriage-something that will destroy the family institution in our nation.
• 33. He would repeal the DOMA laws (he’s no Federalist).
• 34. He is for fetal stem cell research (this is a cover for abortion which denies the reality that adult or blood cord stem cells are far superior).
• 35. He would not stand against human cloning.
• 36. In economics, Obama leans toward socialism (which is why calls himself a “Citizen of the World.”)
• 37. His worldview is really quasi-Marxist-including major redistribution of wealth.
• 38. He is pro-universal health care which would hurt the best medical system in the world.
• 39. He is anti-school choice – the one thing that would rescue American education.
• 40. He is anti-vouchers (ditto above, while sending his own kids to private schools).
• 41. He would restore the Fairness Doctrine to silence talk radio (he doesn’t like dissent).
• 42. He’s against voluntary prayer in the schools.
• 43. Obama’s worldview is really secular-in opposition to our Christian heritage.
• 44. He voted to approve infanticide in the Illinois legislature-then lied about it..
• 45. He’s pro sex-ed and anti-abstinence education (multiplying confusion and venereal disease).
• 46. Obama is honestly anti- 2^nd Amendment – he just supports guns sometimes when it’s expedient.

Judicial Issues

• 47. Obama would appoint activist judges to the US Supreme Court.
• 48. He would nominate “legislate from the bench” appellate court judges.
• 49. He would confirm activist US attorneys.
• 50. He would veto all necessary TORT reform legislation.
• 51. He believes in a “living Constitution”-which means he doesn’t believe in anything absolute.

Economic Issues

• 52. He will increase the capital gains tax-discouraging investment.
• 53. He will restore the “death tax” – robbing families of their inheritance.
• 54. He will not renew the Bush tax cuts – thus raising taxes on ALL paying Americans.
• 55. He will increase the dividends tax (hurting further the volatile Stock Market).
• 56. Obama is against the Fair Tax – which would do away with the burdensome IRS.
• 57. He is against a flat tax – another tax “change” that would help the economy.
• 58. He would increase government spending by possibly one trillion dollars in four years.
• 59. His Income taxes increases would penalize the productive (up to 35%-47%).
• 60. He would create larger bureaucratic entitlement programs (such as health care).
• 61. He supports wasteful and scandalous Congressional “earmarks.”
• 62. His administration would greatly advance the nanny state mentality in the US.
• 63. His “Wind Fall Profits tax” would raise the price of gas (remember Jimmy Carter?).
• 64. He would increase government regulations on many industries (especially energy).
• 65. He is anti-free trade (NAFTA), or is he? (Maybe we should ask Canadians).
• 66. He will not allow any privatization of Social Security, continuing to bankrupt and doom the program.
• 67. His health care plan would not lower the premiums of current payers (his claim).
• 68. He would not enforce the borders of this country (anti-fence).
• 69. He has no substantial immigration plan, which hurts the country economically.
• 70. He supports sanctuary cities where crime is rising.
• 71. He supports health care for illegals (which is crushing the health care system in some states).
• 72. He is against drilling for more oil in the lower 48 states (keeping gas prices high),
• 73. He is against drilling in ANWAR (keeping gas prices high).
• 74. He is against nuclear power (keeping electrical prices high).
• 75. He is against clean coal energy (which will keep electrical prices high).
• 76. He is for forcing industry to use economically non-viable renewable fuels (ditto).
• 77. He is for greater central management of the economy.
• 78. He wants to further tax the wealthy in this country that already pay 97% of the tax load.
• 79. He isn’t committed to sound monetary policy (a gold peg or standard).
• 80. He’s too beholden to the unions (which are shrinking in America.)
• 81. He believes in the radical environmental agenda and the unproven theory of man-made global warming (or is it cooling, or the safe term “climate change?”).

Foreign Policy

• 82. Obama would cut “ten of billions of dollars” from the military budget.
• 83. He chose to play basketball in Europe rather than visit troops because he saw no political advantage to the visit.
• 84. He hadn’t visited Iraq for two years-prior to his recent Middle East tour.
• 85. He is committed to retreat-and-surrender in Iraq (arbitrary 16-month timetable).
• 86. He doesn’t understand the evil intent of radical Islam.
• 87. He would conduct singly party negotiations with Iran (against many precedents).
• 88. He would support single party negotiations with the North Korean dictator.
• 89. His “policing” terrorism policies would embolden Al Qaeda and other terrorist cells.
• 90. He shares the European “appeasement” approach to terrorism.
• 91. The terrorists prefer Obama to John McCain (story on Al Jazeera). That tells you everything.
• 92. He is weak on Iran, which is close to producing atom weaponry.
• 93. He would close the Guantanamo Bay (GITMO) terrorist prison.
• 94. He would stop strong interrogations of suspected terrorists (risking American lives).
• 95. He would weaken the surveillance capabilities of Homeland Security.
• 96. He would down-size the American military during a time of war.
• 97. He would not listen to the generals on the ground (his unilateral timetable)
• 98. He would lean more on the United Nations for easing global tensions (the UN?).
• 99. He would give up land for peace in the Mid-East (emboldening Israel’s hostile neighbors).
• 100. He is naïve about evil (The Saddleback Civil Forum).

Barak Obama has incredible style-but he is woefully lacking in moral and principled substance. He reminds me of another great orator who rose to prominence seventy years ago while running a campaign of “change.” His name was Adolph Hitler. Obama is not Hitler-but his policies would hurt America-and I love this nation enough to not vote for him to be president of the United States.

Barack Obama is an immensely talented man whose talents have been largely devoted to crafting, and chronicling, his own life. Not things. Not ideas. Not institutions. But himself.

Nothing wrong or even terribly odd about that, except that he is laying claim to the job of crafting the coming history of the United States. A leap of such audacity is odd. The air of unease at the Democratic convention this week was not just a result of the Clinton psychodrama. The deeper anxiety was that the party was nominating a man of many gifts but precious few accomplishments — bearing even fewer witnesses.

When John Kerry was introduced at his convention four years ago, an honor guard of a dozen mates from his Vietnam days surrounded him on the podium attesting to his character and readiness to lead. Such personal testimonials are the norm. The roster of fellow soldiers or fellow senators who could from personal experience vouch for John McCain is rather long. At a less partisan date in the calendar, that roster might even include Democrats Russ Feingold and Edward Kennedy, with whom John McCain has worked to fashion important legislation.

Eerily missing at the Democratic convention this year were people of stature who were seriously involved at some point in Obama’s life standing up to say: I know Barack Obama. I’ve been with Barack Obama. We’ve toiled/endured together. You can trust him. I do.

Hillary Clinton could have said something like that. She and Obama had, after all, engaged in a historic, utterly compelling contest for the nomination. During her convention speech, you kept waiting for her to offer just one line of testimony: I have come to know this man, to admire this man, to see his character, his courage, his wisdom, his judgment. Whatever. Anything.

Instead, nothing. She of course endorsed him. But the endorsement was entirely programmatic: We’re all Democrats. He’s a Democrat. He believes what you believe. So we must elect him — I am currently unavailable — to get Democratic things done. God bless America.

Clinton’s withholding the “I’ve come to know this man” was vindictive and supremely self-serving — but jarring, too, because you realize that if she didn’t do it, no one else would. Not because of any inherent deficiency in Obama’s character. But simply as a reflection of a young life with a biography remarkably thin by the standard of presidential candidates.

Who was there to speak about the real Barack Obama? His wife. She could tell you about Barack the father, the husband, the family man in a winning and perfectly sincere way. But that only takes you so far. It doesn’t take you to the public man, the national leader.

Who is to testify to that? Hillary’s husband on night three did aver that Obama is “ready to lead.” However, he offered not a shred of evidence, let alone personal experience with Obama. And although he pulled it off charmingly, everyone knew that, having been suggesting precisely the opposite for months, he meant not a word of it.

Obama’s vice presidential selection, Joe Biden, naturally advertised his patron’s virtues, such as the fact that he had “reached across party lines to … keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists.” But securing loose nukes is as bipartisan as motherhood and as uncontroversial as apple pie. The measure was so minimal that it passed by voice vote and received near zero media coverage.

Thought experiment. Assume John McCain had retired from politics. Would he have testified to Obama’s political courage in reaching across the aisle to work with him on ethics reform, a collaboration Obama boasted about in the Saddleback debate? “In fact,” reports the Annenberg Political Fact Check, “the two worked together for barely a week, after which McCain accused Obama of ‘partisan posturing'” — and launched a volcanic missive charging him with double cross.

So where are the colleagues? The buddies? The political or spiritual soul mates? His most important spiritual adviser and mentor was Jeremiah Wright. But he’s out. Then there’s William Ayers, with whom he served on a board. He’s out. Where are the others?

The oddity of this convention is that its central figure is the ultimate self-made man, a dazzling mysterious Gatsby. The palpable apprehension is that the anointed is a stranger — a deeply engaging, elegant, brilliant stranger with whom the Democrats had a torrid affair. Having slowly woken up, they see the ring and wonder who exactly they married last night.

letters@charleskrauthammer.com