Full disclosure: I am a staunch republican in the libertarian sense. I strongly oppose Obama’s socialistic bent.

I will still vote for Obama. Neither candidate wants free markets. McCain stands for more of the same as the Bush administration has given us: deficit spending, sneaky taxation through monetary debasement, expanding militarism, suppression of civil rights, and appointment of complete incompetents (Michael Brown, etc.) to important posts (Sarah Palin).

All the criticisms of Obama are well founded. Those points do not make the valid criticisms of McCain as a horribly inferior alternative any less valid. The point made above that Bush (and McCain) would give the tip directly to the restaurant owner is spot on, except not extreme enough. The tip would go to the owner of the horribly mismanaged restaurant down the street with lousy food and worse fiscal savvy. Of course, this failing restauranteur would be great friends with McCain and would give McCain $1 out of every $5 received…

I’ve heard it put best: I did not leave the republican party; the republican party left me.