Election-related post 1 of ???

OK, so I gather that a lot of Americans, including myself, are becoming extremely frustrated with the presidential campaign. Both Senators Obama and McCain are sort of reverting to plain-ness in these final days so as to not upset anyone. Last night's debate was pretty stimulating at times, but if you strip it down, they didn't say a whole lot of new ideas or expand upon anything they have been asked along the campaign trail. McCain explained his mortgage-buying idea a little more, and Obama gave a pretty detailed explanation of his healthcare plan that I hadn't heard before (McCain explained his a tad also). The bottom line is, would either of these men be so terrible as President? At the start of the general election battle -- that is, when these two had sowed up enough delegates in the primaries -- I recall a fantastic cover of an issue of The Economist. It read, "The Best of America" and had Obama and McCain, side by side, on the front cover behind an American flag. No matter which one wins, he is still going to have to work with everyone to fix a whole host of problems, and they can add the stock market to the enormous list. The second-to-last piece I ever wrote for the Daily brought up a simple point: both of these two deserve the office they seek. You can't deny this has been fascinating to watch, but I feel stupid for once writing that neither of these men would resort to negative politicking (that lasted for about two days didn't it?)

I'm a conservative social democrat libertarian of sorts, and there is a lot to like on both sides (Sarah Palin and Joe Biden's hairplugs not withstanding) but I want to see more out of these guys. They have to impress me more, and actually look us in the eyes and say "I will do x x and x to fix problem a b and c" instead of griping over a long-ago meeting with a domestic dissident or how many times one voted in support of George W. Bush. I don't care. I don't care about how many homes John McCain owns or that Obama's middle name makes him an Arab. I don't care about a Plumber in Ohio who has apparently not started his own business and owes the government $1,200 in back taxes.

I am going to dissect these two men as best I can with several posts-in-waiting, and will hope to provide a service a lot of media folks don't want to and the two candidates sidestep around: real information on the issues.

I mentioned I'm a conservative social democrat libertarian, and while that sounds made up, here's my initial assessment:

McCain: Pros - Energy Policy, commitment to nuclear energy
Climate change, Iraq policy, Health care plan, Judicial appointments
Cons - Sarah Palin, Pro-life, part of his education ideas (though he is against NCLB), gun rights

Obama: Pros - Education policy, Joe Biden (in some respects), His health care plan really is quite excellent, women's rights, Energy policy, National service idea

Cons - I absolutely hate his tax cut plan and his economic package in general, Joe Biden (the other respects), that's about it...if Obama understood the economy at all, I would pledge to vote for him right this instant.