GraniteGrok

America doesn't need charisma.  Bill Clinton was revered for his charm.  Charisma can be misguided and used towards self-satisfaction.  Seducing an intern demonstrates this quite clearly, our collective admiration of this proves that Hollywood has penetrated American psyche.  We have now taken our enamoring of all things Celebrity, all things emulated by Hollywood movies and TV productions.  People are seeking entertainment via our elected officials. The media personifies this.  We thrive on the abundant failures and shortcomings of elected officials, yet cling to the hope that 'this one will be different'.  The best and brightest have historically come crashing down, victims of their own musings and pre-occupation with self-gratification/ego stroking.  I am not naive enough to think that McCain doesn't have an ego, but having a wise old owl in the oval office is a safe bet that he won't go around chasing skirts.  I am happy to not watch an episode of West Wing play out in the White House.  I would be content with a boring older guy that may have an intermittent senior moment for the next four years.
 
America doesn't need diplomacy with dictators and our sworn enemies.  When was the last time a schoolyard bully listened to the voice of reason through compassionate dialogue?  Has any counselor/psychologist really shown someone the way by sitting them down and encouraging them to a peaceful solution?  Playground justice usually happens when the individual being bullied retaliates with significant enough force to warrant utter respect and attention that they are left alone, or quite often the larger playground group responds in solidarity and gives the bully a good butt kick!  This is the way of the world.  We cannot gloss this over and put a big smiley face on it.  Evil is ugly and should be treated exactly the way it deserves to be treated.
 
America doesn't need hip.  If we needed hip we'd see John McCain wearing an Ipod and grooving to Duke Ellington.  I consider myself to be a pretty cool guy, but I don't want to see the President coming towards me and feel comfortable enough to extend my clenched fist and meet him with a knuckle punch.  I either want to salute him/her, stand firm and extend my hand to convey my respect, while looking them in the eye with complete admiration.
 
America doesn't need to end 'the politics of fear'.  In my view fear is an incredible motivator.  We went eight years with Bill Clinton being unafraid of terrorists and dictators.  On Sept. 11th, 2001 we saw what fearless people are capable of.  If I wasn't afraid of losing my job I would show up when I felt like it, give minimal effort, never listen to my boss and spend the day wasting my employer’s resources.  I want the President to fear all day and all night. I want them to be terrified, but not terrorized.  I want fear to translate into action. I want them to scream at the congress, their cabinet members and keep every responsible member of our Government focused and intent on the goals and objectives of our nation.
 
America doesn't need an 'entrepreneur' and a Washington outsider.  Newsflash:  Once you move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue... you’re an 'insider'.  Once you get the Democratic nomination...  your 'inside'.  Once you started using Washington consultants, media strategists and conferring with Washington elected officials... you were 'inside'.  This Country isn't just a flashy new concept like Facebook, Ebay, Craigslist, Google, Skype or iTunes that will gain popularity and be sold for a few billion dollars and make someone wildly wealthy.  Our country is like Berkshire Hathaway and it needs someone who has the connections to provide insight about situations financial, militaristic, domestic and policy related.  Would you replace Warren Buffet with Barack Obama and expect the same results?  Fixing parking tickets in Chicago two-years ago doesn't fit the skill set for a President in my estimation. Although I do think that Barack Obama will make a great contestant on Celebrity Apprentice with Donald Trump interrogating him in the boardroom at the end.
 
America doesn't need confidence.  I can tell you countless stories of confident Harvard and Yale graduates who take high paying jobs on Wall Street after receiving their MBA's. They fall flat on their faces and fail miserably within the first few months at work.  These are accomplished people that have worked hard to get high scores, they present themselves incredibly well, use big words like essential and intuitive, but they have no real world perceptiveness (sorry for the big word).  They can read a book about what a train wreck looks like, smells like feels like and tastes like, but when the car stalls on the tracks they sit there and keep turning the ignition over and over and over with hope the car will start. Shortly before the train hits them, they will text message a friend and ask them to google search  'what to do when stuck on train tracks?’ 
 
We need leaders who will put the car in neutral and push it off the track themselves.  America needs courage in the White House.  We need decisiveness and conviction.  We don't need analysis paralysis, chronic assessment and over assumptions.
We need assertiveness and an innate ability to make judgments based on wisdom, intellect and concrete points of reference through life experience. 
 
America doesn't need shiny happy people.  We have plenty of those in Hollywood, in the trendy urban neighborhoods on both coasts and in the fluffy collegiate campus environments abundantly spread throughout the Nation.  We don't need rhetoric and inflated self-assuredness that comes from wealth and privilege. We need a sober President that is full of humility and can identify with the pain of others from having endured it them self.  We need someone who can give us the 'Straight Talk' (sorry for the McCain plug) and tell us the long and short of things in a clear concise manner, without intense ideology and theoretical doublespeak.
 
America doesn't need a unique individual for President.  We need a President that possesses a common bond with the majority and can convey this without legislation, but through entrusting the citizenry to create solutions through adaptation driven from necessity.  We need a President that has faith in Private corporations and not Government regulation, taxation and manipulation.
 
America doesn't need change for change sake.  I love the concept of newness.  It is great to buy a new car and get that smell again.  Unfortunately lots of new cars come with all kinds of design flaws, engineering malfunctions, safety hazards and recall notices.  Driving an older model means that its problems have been talked about, its features are widely documented, it’s easy to talk about with others who are familiar with it, you know what you'll get and its essentials are visible.  You can ascertain its viability, the parts are easy to find and its strength has been proven in a variety of environments.  I do not want a President that appears like a Porsche and drives like a Yugo once it gets delivered. By the way---If you don't know what a Yugo is maybe you should Google it!  While you’re there you can Google Ross Perot, The Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut, Ronald Reagan, Ayatollah Khomeini, Madrid/London bombings, Navy EP-3E surveillance aircraft held by China in 2001 and about fifty to one-hundred other significant events that have foreshadowed the future of the world in the last twenty years.
 
America is strong and is not weak!  The world doesn't hate us as a Nation, this is not to say they don't want us to falter and fail. OPEC wants us to succeed, this way they can be assured of exponential wealth increases. Every International opponent wants an opportunity in the grand scheme to leverage themselves against us, although our strength can come through alliances.
 
We can easily retain our economic prowess, dominant position in world affairs and ensure the future viability of this great Nation. It takes approximately fifteen minutes to an hour to vote, but this right creates a legacy that extends many years forward.  This election is pivotal and the results will impact each of us equivalently, not to mention that it will also impact the unborn.