Whether to Vote for McCain or Obama

Reasons to vote for McCain:

• He will be a decent CIC and we are at war.

• He has a chance of appointing good Supreme Court justices.

Reasons to vote for Obama:

• McCain has no other redeeming qualities. He has poor judgment. His support of the Kyoto Protocol is an example. There are many other examples.

• The country should move as quickly as possible towards totalitarianism if that is the direction in which it is moving. And that is indeed the direction. (Not that the U.S. will be a fully totalitarian state but that it is moving along the scale in that direction.) A slower movement will dig itself deeper roots and go unnoticed longer, therefore being more difficult to reverse. A quicker move toward totalitarianism will throw the results into starker relief, thereby causing a reactive pulling back toward liberty before totalitarian roots grow too deep.

The considerations seem approximately equal in weight. However, libertarians and conservatives should deliberate carefully and vote, rather than throwing up your hands. If you believe that prudence favors a vote for Obama for the second reason I listed, then it also favors a vote for the more liberal candidates down-ticket, as well. Thus, you should vote against your staunchly conservative congressman or senator in favor of his liberal opponent, for example. An odd voting strategy, to be sure, but not obviously less prudent than any alternative strategy.

As for the GOP, I'm through with it. It needs to expire as badly as the Democratic Party does. Both are useless.