If you automatically vote Democratic for President or think ALL Republicans are alike then the arguments I make for voting McCain will probably fall on deaf ears. First, I will not make the arguments you hear in the political ads on TV or hear from the candidate stump speeches. Both sides distort or make up what they like about themselves and/or the other candidate. My arguments are more reasoned, realistic, and substantive. I believe that the age, level of experience, and charisma are secondary reasons, at best, for making the decision as to whom to vote. Sure, the next President should be older than the Constitutional requirement of being 35 years old, served at two or more levels in political office, or as a military leader, and/or as a company head. Comparing candidate’s number of years in office, whether they served at the state vs. national level, or whether they inspire you in their speeches, are not so important as assumed. An explanation is offered here in defense of these assertions:

 

1. Experience in national security and defense matters before being President is over-rated. Jimmy Carter, John Kennedy, Michael Dukakis, and Ronald Reagan, to name a few, had little or no such experience. The reality is that a new President can be effective in the Commander in Chief aspects of his office by being well read, well prepared after assuming office, and surrounding him or herself with experienced, knowledgeable individuals in the roles of Chief of Staff, Security Adviser, the Joint Chiefs, etc. Much more important is the ability to absorb information, effectively question advisor recommendations, foster debate within the administration, and be able to make reasoned decisions. Also, he or she needs to be effective at persuading the Congress and the public if the decision is liable to be unpopular. There is no reason at this point to believe that any of the four president and Vice Presidential candidates could not be a good Commander in Chief, despite what the two sides argue publicly against each other.
2. The next several years will not be like any period in our history, except possibly for the Great Depression. All the campaign talk from candidates, especially from the Democratic side, about the federal government increasing its spending on education, job training, and health benefits sounds great but it isn’t going to happen. The government is so broke that if the US dollar were not the world reserve currency it would be considered a banana republic, or at best an Argentina, in terms of its debt load and currency debasement. The total accumulated national debt plus the total future unfunded liabilities for Social Security, the Prescription Drug Plan, and Medicare programs is in the tens of trillions of dollars. The US dollar has lost 30 percent of it value versus a basket of other currencies in the last five years, and despite some recent strengthening, will sink much further since the Federal Reserve Bank has been creating new dollars out of thin air at double-digit annual percent rates for many years. This will only increase since they have signaled that mitigating an ever-deepening recession via money creation takes priority over fighting inflation. Translation: more dollars sloshing around the world, making every dollar worth less—as basic supply and demand works to reduce dollar value just like it does for any over-supply of goods or services. The next President is going to face an unprecedented series of serious crises: energy shortfalls and possible shortages, a dollar collapse, hyperinflation if the Fed keeps pumping out money and the Congress keeps spending at current or increased rates, and infrastructure issues from unsafe or collapsing bridges, roads, rails, etc. Not to mention geopolitical problems involving the usual suspects such as Iran and Russia. Yes, some of these have plagued previous administrations, but the modern US has never been essentially financially insolvent, plus having large amounts of debt owed to foreign powers (many of which are NOT our friends), exporting trillions of dollars to pay for imported oil, a credit crisis that has no end in sight as trillions of dollars of complex financial derivatives remain ready to implode the entire financial system at any time.  Warren Buffet has called the gigantic holdings of derivatives, credit default swaps, and other very complex financial instrument held by our banks “financial instruments of mass destruction.” The underpinning real assets of much of these financial instruments are tied to the real estate market where property values appear to be falling without pause. So, now for the bottom line.

 

If it were a question of experience in and out of government McCain would be the choice hands down. However, the candidates need to be evaluated with a different yardstick than previously.

 

The next President needs to be someone who can keep his own political party at a distance, if necessary, and have credibility with the opposite party in Congress to work in a bipartisan way to begin to solve these very serious, well entrenched problems that have been building for several decades. John McCain has a record of being this type of politician, which is rare in Washington. Forget the noise of the campaign with it charges and counter-charges. Forget the charisma quotient, though this can be a positive for a leader who needs to convince a nation that some difficult painful medicine must be taken. There is going to be spending cuts, not increases, and entitlement reduction, not increases. This will not be a choice, but a necessity, since one way or another the international financial markets will force the issue (i.e., dollar collapse, refrain from further funding our exploding debt, or otherwise). I cannot imagine how Obama is going to be able to come around to government doing less. But I can see McCain taking unpopular, but necessary action, as he did when going against the crowd on the Iraq military surge, and fighting his own party on ethics issues and Political Action Committee (PAC) influence on our electoral process. His demonstrated tenacity shown in military service and while in Washington makes my decision an obvious one, given what lies ahead. After the nation gets its fiscal and financial affairs under control, requiring much tough medicine, then it has the luxury of considering an Obama, but not now.

 

Robert Harnack

Cape Ray, Newfoundland, Canada