It's On.

Okay, I barely had a chance to collect my thoughts regarding Barack Obama's speech last night when I learned Senator McCain has selected and announced his running mate: Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. Wow. The McCain camp didn't waste a minute - they sought to trump Obama's glory by taking over the news, and perhaps they did. At any rate, if the democrats had hoped to soak up the joy of a spectacular and moving convention for a day or two, we were mistaken. The battle is ON.

Governor Palin is apparently considered a maverick like McCain. She is much younger, but has already earned the title of Governor, which says a lot about her determination. Press reports that she is vehemently anti-abortion, which pleases the conservatives, but doesn't please me. I do not advocate abortion, but I am pro-choice, and I have my reasons.

Party affiliation aside, there have been many boisterous conversations at our house about who is better qualified to take on the job of commander -in-chief; who can best handle the pressure, who can heal the International wounds caused by boastful rhetoric and disrespect, and who will be the most supportive of our allies, especially Israel. In the end, it's unclear who will be able to change the truly dysfunctional course our country has been on for most of the past eight years.

We'd have to be living under a rock not to be aware that each of us will need to pay more taxes in order to cover the tab for the war in Iraq. And it is clear that it will take a continuous infusion of human and monetary resources to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, and other locations around the globe. And let's not forget our national, social interests like healthcare, infrastructure and education. And of course, there's our environment.

Truly, it's a conundrum. Listening to all our newscasters and journalists argue about it makes our choice that much more complicated -- in truth, there are great things, and perhaps shortcomings that could be applied to each candidate and each running-mate.

But that said, I maintain the opinion that our democratic candidate - Senator Barack Obama, has what it takes to do the job. I'll cast my vote for him.

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