[rant]
You’d be surprised at how in-depth American politics are covered in Holland, and how much the Dutch love to discuss politics.

But frankly, if you look at things objectively, it should come as no surprise that most Europeans favor Democrats. After all, they were raised with the idea that there should be a balance between financial freedom and sharing, so that people not only have the money, but also the time, stability and security etc to raise their families and go after their dreams. Many view the cut-taxes mantra of the Republicans, as unwillingness of the rich to share a piece of the pie. Europeans are trying to find a balance between the economic philosophies out there, and consider themselves being pragmatist rather than either socialist or capitalist, and many think that Republican ideals are just too fundamentalist. And besides that, Democrats are traditionally in favor of international cooperation, whereas Republicans, certainly during the last eight years, have been arrogant bullies in world politics, even towards their own allies.

Now about these elections… I consider myself being an independent. I like fairness and sharing and all, but I also like policies that work and that don’t make people apathetic (Jonathan Locke, the philosopher, not the coder, wrote some great thoughts on that when he compared French democracy with American democracy). And in many cases, I think small government works better than big government.

For instance, I’m not crazy about European labour protection. In Holland, it is common to hire people fresh out of school for the long term, and if you’re over 35 and want to change a career, you’re out of luck – too expensive too invest in, too much of a risk in case things don’t work out. I feel America is a lot fairer because it is easier to hire and fire, which keeps the markets way more flexible.

Another example is that – at least in Seattle – there aren’t as many rules against having live music. As a result, there is a thriving music scene here, and I can see live music in a number of places any day of the week. Amsterdam feels dead and uninspired by comparison.

Yet another example is that driving through Seattle looks great, because all the houses look different. Dutch old towns are charming, but outside the cores, it’s cookie cutter galore. And try to rent a home or apartment in Holland… you either have to earn plenty to afford the private sector, or be willing to stay on a list for years (yes I said years) before something comes up.

So, I could definitively support an agenda with conservative elements (for any Dutch reading this, I used to vote for D66, who have been disappointing in power, but represent my political ideals pretty well). However, just based on the mediocre candidates that the Republicans keep putting forward, their tactics of winning by FUD, the fact that voting Republican equals voting for a fundamentalist Christian agenda, the fact that for all their gung-ho rhetoric about small government and not raising taxes, time after time when they are in power they increase US national debt to record heights, their history of trampling the constitution (with recent example like GTMO and the expansion abilities of government when it comes to spying on its citizens), makes that even though I believe in some of the conservative principals, there isn’t a hair on my head who’d think about voting Republican. Unfortunately, there are just two parties to realistically choose from.

If I were allowed to vote (which I’m not unfortunately; I’ll have to wait a few years for that), I would vote for Obama. Lets get back to using diplomacy as the main tool in achieving America’s international goals and work on its international standing. Lets think big and be a leader in green energy – see it as a huge opportunity instead of critique on the American way of life. Etc. I just hope they won’t go overboard with regulating
[/rant]

McCain picked Palin because he wanted somebody who was not a Washington insider. A mirror image of Biden. He also needed somebody who would help get the American Conservative vote. McCain was not the American Conservative favorite and many were willing to walk out on this election. Let the Socialist Obama along with a Socialist Congress really screw things up and then have somebody like a Reagan come up in 4 to 8 years and be about real “Change”.

But, then Palin is picked and it energizes the Conservative Base. So, the only thing the Main Stream Media can do is put her in skits and cut up hours long interviews into 6 minutes segments to make her look bad.
Imagine if people took a word here and word there out of your book. They could quote you anyway they wanted to.

Let see, she is Pro Gun, Pro Life, Small Government, and willing to take on corruption in her own party. All pluses for a lot of people in America who are a silent majority.

-Gary