Get out and vote, Chenango.

I have nothing but respect for John McCain; he’s a veteran who’s sacrificed a great deal to protect my right to criticize him. He’s a seasoned politician who’s crawled up the chain of command and is now on the precipice of becoming the commander-in-chief.

I admire Barack Obama and find his idealistic and controversial views similar to the romantic political fantasizing of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy. A man of mixed race, religion and concern, an integrated man who embodies the diversity of the American culture.

I think both candidates deviated from their own beliefs in selecting their running mates because they believed it gave them the best chance of winning. The Democrats chose party unity and traditional reassurance by selecting the stereotypically appropriate vice president, Joe Biden, in hopes of alleviating beliefs that perhaps Obama is too much change.

Then there is the riskier Republican nominee Sarah Palin, chosen with the purpose to generate controversy and to revitalize an aging McCain while simultaneous anchoring him to the fundamental base with her hard-line Republican ideals.

It’s hard to cast a vote for the next four years today without be reminded of the last eight. People say don’t tie President Bush to John McCain, but I didn’t – the Republican party did. Why can’t I judge a political party on its recent past? It seems ridiculous to me to imply people shouldn’t take it into account.

To each his own; that’s the beauty and flaw of our system. If I want to decide on my presidential choice because I have studied at-length the issues of both candidates and spent hundreds of hours poring over articles written by CNN, BBC, Fox, Al-Jazeera and NPR for the last two years, so be it – but the guy next to me in line decided on the mudslinging commercial he saw just yesterday. That’s how it’s supposed to work, I’m afraid.