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I donapos;t know if I ever expected to do this, but Iapos;ve got to say that Michael Mooreapos;s latest book, Mikeapos;s Election Guide 2008, is actually reasonable. There are the moments of extremist rhetoric, but theyapos;re fairly sparse, and I donapos;t see where he actually stretched the truth like he usually does. Itapos;s a liberal book, obviously so, wanting to get Obama elected as well as taking a bunch of seats from senators and congressfolk of the red persuasion. Iapos;m not saying I agree 100, I donapos;t, but I like the "this is what we should do" direction instead of the "I must attack with lies and innuendo" direction he usually takes.

The one thing I was less than enthused about in his book was the idea that the liberal republican has to go because heapos;s in the wrong party. That works completely against what the election is really about: liberal/conservative, not democrat/republican.

I think the democrats have this one, and Iapos;m not even close to wailing and gnashing my teeth about that. I keep thinking that if I was like many of my more liberal friends, Iapos;d have to threaten to move to Canada to be safe for the next 4 (or 8) years, but Iapos;m not like that. I donapos;t think Obama is necessarily the wrong (or right) choice. Looking at the issues, I think each has good parts of their platforms, but I think Obamaapos;s got an edge overall.

Iapos;ll state this again, before anyone gets me wrong: Iapos;m moderate. Iapos;m centrist. I am not for the republicansapos; stance, but I donapos;t trust the democrats to do much better. If anything, Iapos;m one of those people who believe we could fire most of them, replace them with the first several dozen in the phone book, and a better job would be done. I think a third party might be necessary, one that isnapos;t corrupt to the core the way both parties are now.

I have friends, very intelligent and thoughtful friends, on both sides of the issue. I listen to both sides. I read both sides. Maybe thatapos;s why Iapos;m in the middle, but I like being educated to both sides.

Is McCain corrupt? Probably. Is Obama? Not so much, but heapos;s more idealistic, which is also dangerous. I suspect that most politicians are at least a little corrupt, considering how little money there is in it compared to how much money they spend to get elected. Who would put up with the grief for that level of paycheck unless there was a payoff somewhere?

However, Iapos;m amused by the allegation that Obamaapos;s from Chicago, so heapos;s got to be corrupt. Thatapos;s faulty logic, but it floats like a duck for many average voters.

Will Obama win Ohio? Probably. As my wife points out, there are too many people worried about the stateapos;s worse-than-the-country economy and the major loss of jobs to feel secure enough to vote republican. The sparse counties will probably vote red, but the cities are going to vote blue because theyapos;re worried about the economy and jobs and health care and the rest of it. When I talk to my students (in a relatively conservative college), for example, the ones in Dayton are mostly Obama and the ones in Troy arenapos;t. McCainapos;s going to get the small-town vote, but that canapos;t carry the state.

Palin is worth a mention in all this, right? Sheapos;s a good speaker and a good sport (just ask Tina Fey). Sheapos;s connected to republican voters in some ways, and yes, sheapos;s a feminist, just not the kind weapos;re used to. Sheapos;s a strong woman in office who does well for herself. She should be respected as such, even if you disagree with her politically (and thereapos;s a lot to disagree with). Her conservative streak is extreme in many dangerous ways, and as an English teacher, I am most bothered by the (unconfirmed by any real story) allegations of censoring books in Alaska. She may be running for VP, but McCain is old, and in the next few months to years, she could easily end up running the country. Politically, I think thatapos;s a big mistake. But as a woman, sheapos;s done well.

Who will I vote for? Thereapos;s still time to change my mind, but I donapos;t foresee changing it. Iapos;m a swing-state voter with a strong Obama lean at this point.
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