U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman said it right Tuesday night when he addressed the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. “So tonight, I ask you whether you are an independent, a Reagan Democrat or a Clinton Democrat, or just a Democrat: This year, when you vote for president, vote for the person you believe is best for the country, not for the party you happen to belong to.”
I couldn’t have worded that better myself. As an Independent who leans conservative, the notion that one simply believes he/she must vote for a person because of the Political Party is antiquated. We’re in a change political climate like something we’ve never seen in our lifetime. There’s a change factor on the Democratic and Republican side. And I love it.
I believe all politics is local. The State and local races in the State of Georgia are equally, and really, in my opinion, more important than the Presidential race. Why can’t an African-American who considers himself a Democrat look at what U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss has accomplished and if satisfied, vote for him. I think it is irresponsible for someone to simply go to the polls and vote for the person just because of their Political Party. Remember in the General Election, you can vote Democrat and Republican without repercussion.
Oh, yes I forgot. Some folks feel they will be ostracized if he votes for a Republican. That is ridiculous too. But when you get in the voting booth, the only one who knows, besides you, is God.
I urge African-American voters to become more informed. Take heed to Senator Lieberman remarks and think about how logical it sounds. Logical, in politics, that’s something new, right? But serious.
And the idea of Congressman Marshall, who has Republican opposition, by the way, made a decision to stay in his district and NOT attend the Democratic Convention tells me that African-American voters need to take a look at the other candidate. But sadly many people will complain that this sitting Congressman didn’t even make a cameo appearance, almost like he is ‘dissing’ Senator Barack Obama….but then will go back to the polls again, because you’ve ‘always voted for Democrats,’ and vote for him anyway.
Now does that make any sense to you?
Become an Independent Thinker. Don’t let tradition keep you from being the change agent that both presidential camps are running on. You can become a part of the change, by changing the way you think about voting for candidates. Remember what Senator Lieberman said…..
Project Logic Ga 
HBA1, I welcome the opportunity to have a health debate with you on these matters in the coming weeks. I am encouraged that more people are weighting their options and glued to the T.V. and net regarding this pivotal year. I view what you are saying as a “cafeteria plan” of sorts with voters having the right to pick up and down the ballot.
It is going to be interesting next year because one guy is going to be president and the other will be a responsible senator. You know me; I am a chess player who is thinking four moves ahead; looking for those Republicans who will work with Obama to move America forward. Of course, Senator Obama would help McCain if circumstances were reversed.
I like Senator Obama after careful consideration but Senator McCain has always been one of my favor Republicans—you know he is a centrist at heart.
So, the race for me is between good and great rather than the good v. bad
Maybe I am naïve but I am tired of “political handlers” who take decent people and start marketing them in campaign advantageous ways. Honesty, I get protective of Senator Obama because he is too nice to realize that an ugly storm is on the horizon—brace for the carnage. He stays he is Midwestern tough but this is not Kansas. In an unusual twist, I feel a natural connection with Governor Sarah Palin and others born in 1964 who graduated high school in 1982 with the obvious exception of that blank, blank Uday Hussein. The Eighty-duce.
Last night, some speechwriter had Eighty-duce Sarah on the stage making jokes and throwing barbs and she is much better than that. She rocked the speech and energized those who needed energizing but we are at a serious crossroad as a nation and her formal introduction should have given her the opportunity to shine differently.
To be honest, if she is VP, her role will be similar to Steve Young waiting on the sidelines for Joe Montana and like Young she would be a future all-star.
My man Senator Obama questioned McCain’s temperament but McCain must be smooth to still hang with the GOP after that ugliness eight years ago and to have survived imprisonment. My friends don’t like when I said I was cool when it came down to Obama, Clinton, McCain and Romney because either of the four would make good leaders. It sounds silly but that is my way of stacking the deck. If Romney’s economic expertise was at the VP slot, I would have been okay with (dare I say) an Obama-Biden loss—Obama could walk away with his head high like McCain did eight years ago and think what McCain must have thought “They did not deserve me anyway; let’s see what happens.”
But, the deal went haywire when those handlers had Palin talking all that junk (remember, she and I are Eighty-duce; I can say that). Get that woman away from those macho-acting folks and bring in the big guns—Condi Rice, Elizabeth Dole and Kay Bailey Hutchison need to sit her down and give her a crash course on southern lady smooth power. If not, pray daily for President McCain’s health because Eighty-duces love to “set it off” and the person I saw last night with an army….I don’t want to think about it. She would pimp slap the brie out of Sarkozy.
I just heard Senator McCain’s acceptance speech and I feel okay. While I am supporting Senator Obama, it’s clear that a McCain presidency would be solid and “change” some things for the better. Think about it, he would have a rare opportunity to declare that he would not seek reelection and not raise money. Therefore, he could shake up the place as a true reformer.
Smart people in that hall tonight heard what I heard; he got at the both parties for failing the American people. The question is not about McCain and Obama being great leaders; the question is about the wizards behind the curtain.
Obama is young enough to listen and McCain is old enough to say you don’t tell me what to do.
HBA1, I am so drained from party politics. Lou Dobbs has been geeking me up this week with his Independent Convention but independent for me does not mean joining another party called “the Independent Party.” For me, it means just supporting whom you want when you want. Most Americans probably don’t have the enthusiasm for a party that the people at the two major conventions had recently. A fair person can say that while they generally support the views of one party they will support another party on certain matters. And once and for all, Obama, Palin, McCain and Biden are good Americans and it is a shame that they need to slam each other to win an election; but, that’s our system.
And what’s up with McCain running against or from President Bush. That’s interesting because if you turn your hose up at the Bush years you are snubbing those members of Congress who agreed with those policies—not cool.
I give you’ll credit; Herschel nor Jordan never made a move that pretty.
Amy Holmes: Election report
By Juontel White
ESSENCE.COM: Senator Barack Obama seems to have a majority of the Black vote. What does Senator John McCain have to do to gain the support of African-American voters?
AMY HOLMES: John McCain has to reach out and listen to the concerns of the Black community, and then find innovative ways to address those concerns. The fact that he’s unlikely to get above 10 percent of the Black vote in this election is sad. It actually makes his appeal to the Black community all the more sincere and more authentic because there’s not a lot he’s going to get out of it politically in the short term.
ESSENCE.COM: Does he even need our support?
HOLMES: Well, traditionally Republican candidates have not secured the win with the Black vote. The Black vote tends to go about 90 percent for the Democratic candidate, but the African-American constituency is one that the Republicans should be courting because they do have ideas and African-Americans are part of our country.
ESSENCE.COM: The McCain campaign has accused Obama of shifting his policies. Do you think Obama is becoming more conservative as the campaign continues?
HOLMES: (Chuckles) I think that he is moving toward the right in the general campaign, as do a lot of his liberal supporters who’ve been very upset with what they see as a rightward [move] on Iraq and on wiretapping.
ESSENCE.COM: As a Black conservative, how do you respond to criticism that you should support Obama because he’s Black instead of McCain?
HOLMES: Black Americans should vote for whomever we think is most qualified to lead our country. We should have the freedom as all Americans to make our own personal assessments and judgments. And that to me is the essence of enfranchisement of the Black vote, which I get to make on my own. It’s a freedom that we fought very hard for.
ESSENCE.COM: As we move closer to Election Day, what issues are most critical for Black voters?
HOLMES: The economy is number one. High gas prices are hitting the middle-class and low-income families hardest. It’s not a White problem or a Black problem, it’s everyone’s problem and we need to figure out some innovative ways to get those energy prices down and get alternatives into the market. Also, we have an education system that has continuously failed our Black kids and we need to start exploring some innovative alternative to the current mess we’re in.
ESSENCE.COM: What will Obama have to do to win the presidency?
HOLMES: He needs to sharpen his focus and tell the American people what he really thinks and who he really is. Voters know McCain; they know his personal history; and they know his heroism, his war service, and his war sacrifice. They know McCain as a guy who’s a real reformer, whereas Barack Obama is still a question mark for a lot of voters.