When it comes to politics, let's try to be honest with ourselves

So the teams are set. Come Thursday, the GOP will officially pit McCain/Palin against the Obama/Biden ticket. The ugly games favoured by Karl Rove/Lee Atwater from the 70s onward (dumpster diving, mud slinging, etc...) will be in full swing over the next several months. It's not my favourite form of political discourse, but I realize McCain has a strategy to play and, with the Republican brand in the toilet, he's got to play it.

I'm both nervous and excited, but I have one exhortation to both sides of the ideological divide: be honest with one another. As of last week, I have no doubt that the Wikipedia page for Sarah Palin has gotten more hits than it ever has. Some are already pretending that they have known and loved her for years; others have started the dirt-digging, and are claiming they have loathed her for years. I'll be honest: up until last week, the life of an Alaskan Governor was of very little interest to me, though her name was loosely bandied about as the black horse contender for VP (there's always at least one black horse, isn't there?)

Upon discovering that Palin's 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, I think Obama showed the colour of his character when he declared that family was off limits. All but the most cynical Republicans cheered that one. So I say again, give praise when praise is due, and be honest with yourself and with others.

If you don't like Obama's name and you're voting against him because of it, be honest. If you're voting for him because he's black, be honest. While I think your reasoning is wrong, it's valid and it's all yours. Just don't lie to yourself by digging up all kinds of dirt on one candidate or the other, so you can join right in on the mud slinging.

I think the majority of us vote along ideological lines. While I still respect John McCain's character for a number of reasons, I disagree with most of his positions, and that is one reason why I am against his presidential aspirations. Conversely, I agree with many (though not all) of Obama's principles, and that is why I would pull the lever for Barack in November. Theoretically. If I could vote (sigh.)

Here's more honesty. I think the last eight years have been a travesty of leadership. If Bush's weakness was limited to his famous malaproprisms (which, frankly, make Yogi Berra look like Winston Churchill), I would be fine. I'd collect the annual Bush-isms calendar, and laugh along with everyone else. But it doesn't take much digging to show all the failure of the past eight years (I'd be happy to list some things if anyone is interested). Even staunch conservatives at least agree he's spending too much, if nothing else.

Nevertheless, here are some intellectually dishonest positions that I feel that should be avoided:

-Obama is the messiah
-The Bush administration did a great job
-Obama wants to tax the nation to its knees
-McCain will stay in Iraq for 100 years (given the current situation, this is not likely to happen, as much as I feel McCain is a little too trigger-happy for my taste).
-Republicans are the only ones who truly respect and appreciate veterans
-Sarah Palin's youngest child is her grandchild
-McCain is too old to be in office (dude can do more pushups than I can!)
-Obama is an idiot
-McCain is an idiot
-All Democrats don't care about family values (there may be some who don't)
-All Republicans don't care about civil liberties (there may be some who don't)

Here's another one. If you feel the following is true:

-Obama doesn't have enough experience to lead the country...

Then you would be lying to yourself to say this:

-...but Sarah Palin does.