Are You Sure You Want Change?

"We Want Change!" That seems to be the mantra lately. We hear it (way too much) on the campaign trail from Barack Obama (and even John McCain). Ask people why they want to vote for Obama and what do they say? "He wants to bring Change to Washington". When asked "what will he change?", you usually get a big "uuuhhh..." If you ask them what they want changed, they'll usually say "George Bush. We just don't want George Bush." Man, these people are sharp. "Ok, John McCain is NOT George Bush". "No man, Obama says that McCain is running for Bush's third term. That it's just more of the same." "Do you know what he's talking about?" "Uuuuhhh..."

One could argue, what needs changing? Despite the barking from Democrats, the economy is back to growing. Maybe not as fast as it was, but there was growth the last quarter. It's election season. They always say the economy is in the tank. Even when we were booming a few years ago. What else needs changing? During Bush's Presidency, unemployment has been the lowest it's been in decades. Yes, even lower that under Clinton. Taxes are low. Money is flowing into the government at a record pace. Global Warming has been reversed (look out for Global Cooling now). Now, don't get me wrong, there is plenty wrong in Washington. And, although President Bush has not been a perfect President, he is hardly to blame for everything that is wrong. (Those of you with B.D.S. please ignore that last statement because you are too far gone to convince). That blame, lies on the worst Congress in history (currently at a whopping 9% approval rating). Both Democrats and Republicans have screwed things up so bad that it's going to take real Conservative principals (not Republican principals) to pull us out of this.

So you say "We want change!"
Allow me to give you this scenario that you can probably relate to:
The Steelers are playing in the Super Bowl (again). It's the third quarter and the Steelers are getting killed. The crowd starts yelling for change (We want change! We want change!). Big Ben is pulled from the game for playing the worst game of his life. Now it's up to Tomlin to give the people what they want - change! But, instead of putting veteran backup Byron Leftwich in the game, Tomlin picks the rookie third string Dennis Dixon who has never played a single down in a real game. Well, that is change. But was it the best change for the team? I don't think so. Even though Leftwich would not be our first choice to QB our team, we have to look at what we have left. He would clearly be the best choice at that time.

So don't just ask for change for the sake of change. Know what you want changed and know what kind of change the person you are backing will bring. The choice could be the difference between winning and losing. Take your partisan hat off, and look at the gentlemen running for office. This is not a popularity contest, this is the for most important position in the world. And although neither one of these candidates are a Ben Roethlisberger, you have to decide whether you want the Rookie third stringer to lead us, or the Veteran back-up.