Sarah Palin managed what no one else has managed to do during this presidential campaign.  She systematically and brutally tore apart Obama’s audacity of rhetoric.  There is no doubt anymore that Obama wants to raise taxes, grow government, stifle individual innovation and responsibility, and subject us to an ever-more invasive government.  Salon.com astutely referred to Palin as a “pit bull in lipstick.”

Palin hit the small government notes of lower taxes, less government, self-responsibility and the ability of the private sector to more efficiently and cheaply address the needs of the people.  Where Palin loses me is her republicanesque playing of the fear card regarding the “dangerous world” we live in.  She still favors a costly, interventionist foreign policy.  Until we adopt a policy of defense for our natural borders, combined with free-trade, the military costs we bear will continue to dog any true economic upturn for America.

Many people, while favoring Palin’s economic stance, are concerned about her positions on social issues.  While I don’t agree with Palin’s positions on abortion and gay marriage, I do not believe those issues are very important in the overall scheme of things.  Roe v. Wade is bad law and needs to be overturned.  That will not result in a federal ban on abortion, but it will be a big step toward placing the issue where it belongs, in the hands of the States.  The same is true with respect to gay marriage.  Massachusetts, California, and New York have already begun to address gay marriage.  States’ rights are an important concept that our country has strayed from.  It gives people the opportunity to vote with their feet.  Anyone can choose to live in a State that most closely mirrors their own personal values.  Derek does a great job summing up the direction we need with respect to domestic/economic policies.

At the end of the day, we are still left with one big question that needs an answer, who to vote for.  As far as I’m concerned, Obama does not even deserve consideration.  He became the Democrat’s nominess based on oratorical skills, school girl-like fawning from the media and a misplaced desire to see a black candidate, regardless of the real costs to this nation.  Obama is no angel, he and his Cosbyesque wife have gamed the system in a quite profitable fashion.

The only way to justify a vote for McCain/Palin, is to subscribe to the lessor of two evils philosophy.  It would take a large degree of pragmatism, or abdication of one’s values, to support a ticket that views foreign intervention as a vital part of our foreign policy.

As Thomas Woods said, while addressing the Rally for the Republic, we have two major parties, the stupid party and the evil party.  Every once in a while they manage to work together and we call it bipartisanship.

We are going to end up with either a train wreck (Obama) as President, or McCain, a fear monger.  I believe that McCain will win.  My hope, in that case, is that Congress finally grows some balls and cuts the military budget, forcing a sensible foreign policy.

Kevin Hardwick made a telling observation this morning on WBEN, he wondered if anyone remembers what Joe Biden said in his speech at the DNC last week.