The conventions are here

Recently when I have written I have stayed away from blatant political issues. I have preferred to write about issues that are more philosophical that have their end result in politics. There is a simple reason for this. Both candidates and both parties bore me. Yes I will vote for John McCain and mostly for Republicans but both the party and the candidate are far from my ideal candidate.

Now that the conventions are here we will soon be solidly into the political season. We will be inundated with push polls, attack ads, newspaper endorsements that all things political.

I have a very simple criteria for whom I vote for:
1. Which candidate favors policies that value individualism the most?
2. Which candidate favors policies that do not reward dependency?
3. Which candidate favors policies that are in sync with my social values? Values are important here, I do not mean religion, I mean values.
4. Which candidate favors policies and value economic freedom the most?
5. Which candidate favors policies that support law and order the closest?
6. Which candidate favors policies that support a strong national defense?
and finally, and this should be a summary of the previous six criteria
7. Which candidate favors policies that are in sync with the constitution.

In my view neither candidate nor party is in any way close to these criteria. You might ask why not a third party candidate? My simple reason here is that none of these candidates could possibly win. If a candidate comes along that could win I may consider it, but Bob Barr will not be our next president, neither will Cynthia McKinney. Using this years candidates as an example any vote that makes it more likely for Barak Obama to be president is a bad vote to me.

Enjoy what you can of the political season. I personally enjoy the debate. I don't enjoy the demagogues, but I do enjoy the debate.