Endorsement

Since other bloggers are doing it, I might as well.

Today, I endorse G.W. Bush for President.

I am not especially happy to vote for Bush. Here are some reasons why I'm not happy with Bush.

• His administration rushed to war against Iraq, without clear planning and with bad intelligence. I've no problem about the war in Iraq, but it could have waited a lot longer. It could have been fought for reasons other than WMD.
• His administration is far too secretive.
• His self-admitted lack of reflection frightens me.
• Sometimes when he speaks I am frightened of what will come out.
• The Patriot Act is something he is proud of.
• He has expanded the Federal government in ways I don't approve of.
• Kerry Endorsement from the Economist.
• He isn't my kind of conservative.

So why then am I voting for Bush?

• My other choice would be Kerry? A liberal democrat from Massachusetts . (Q. When will we send a man to Mars? A. Whenever Ted Kennedy volunteers.) Since when would that be a viable option for me?
• Democrats have a recent history of containment and appeasement through regulation, international agreement, and pressure. I do not think that this will work against the current terrorist threat.
• I can't stomach Kerry's post-Vietnam anti-war activity.
• Kerry's too reflective and appears to flip-flop on issues that matter to me.
• Kerry didn't do much in the Senate.
• Kerry didn't release his service records, but ran on them anyway.
• I don't think I would like Kerry's nominees for Supreme Court. In an era when the congress doesn't take much leadership, this is crucial to me.
• He broke it (Iraq), he bought it. Bush should fix the situation.
• I think his foreign policy has been more nuanced than people think. Libya, Iran, Iraq, and North Korea have all been handled in very different ways. This wasn't by accident.
• John McCain isn't an option. Although if we could get an Electoral College tie, maybe the electors would bolt for him.
• Monica is right and most of the U.S. media is wrong.
• I don't share John Kerry's values. I don't think the country should go the way he envisions it.

P.S. I do fear the Bush administration if given a second term will end up in some scandal that will make Watergate and Teapot Dome look like a tempest in a teapot. I hope I'm wrong about that. It's just gut instinct.

P.P.S. I sure think Bush should consider hiring a few more centrist, pragmatists in his next administration, the kind of people his dad hired. I would like McCain to be Secretary of State for one, since Powell is leaving.