Conservatives, hungry for hope, may vote for Obama

[swag]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_id=89455

By Melvyn Krauss
Commentary by
Monday, March 03, 2008

John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee for president, likes to say that he was a "foot soldier" in the Reagan Revolution. So was I, working out of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. But, unlike McCain, a good man and a true American hero, I don't intend to vote Republican this November. I am voting for Barack Obama.

Meritocracy is at the core of American conservative beliefs. So let's face it: George W. Bush has been the worst US president in memory. His administration has been inept, corrupt, and without accomplishment. After this performance, why give the Republicans another turn at the helm?

Let's give the other party a chance, even if its policies are not exactly what conservatives may like. In America, we call it "throwing the bums out."

When meritocracy is downgraded, as it has been during the Bush years, bad things happen. Worst of all, racism has flourished, because productivity and social utility have become less effective in protecting targets of discrimination.

. . . more

[Warpy]

1. Wow, Melvyn's going to get a lot of hate mail

He's right, of course. Their party is completely out of ideas. The economic dogma that seemed so new and refreshing back in Goldwater's day has petered out and been demonstrated as being horrible for everyone but the rich. The neocons are completely disgraced. Reaganomics has turned into a farce since nothing trickled past all the grabbing hands at the top of corporate management.

The party's completely out of gas.

Let's just hope his vote and that of others carries over into the House and the Senate. That's the only way that has a chance to bring real change.