by Rich Briggs

Created on: June 24, 2008   Last Updated: June 26, 2008

As this election year heats up, the debate rages on as to who can better run the country. We hear arguments from both sides that the Democrats and the Republicans are better equipped to run the country the next four years. Stepping up the debate a little further, is it better to be a conservative or a liberal? What side is our youth on? Most of them seem to be spellbound by Barack Obama, yet fail to see that he believes that government is the answer to all of our problems.

Senior citizens vote and they are quick to remind everyone that they do. I believe it is the rest of the country that needs to step up, wake up, and realize what is going on and what we have to choose from in November. To begin with, this country, the United States of America, is primarily a conservative country. The heartland, the south, and the midwest tend to stay very close to conservative ideals. It is the east and west coasts that tend to be far more liberal. We stand as one when our nation comes under attack, but we verbally abuse one another because we feel our way is the only way and those who fail to listen are ignorant of our views.

I followed my father's ideals when I registered to vote back in the early 1980s. He was a Democrat because he was a blue collar laborer. He belonged to the Teamsters union, and most labor unions tend to vote Democratic. However, my father had very conservative ideals during this time. He was very patriotic, very pro-military, believed in personal responsibility and also believed he should be able to keep more of his own money than hand it over to the government. As I have gotten older, despite my father being a laborer, I often wondered if he was a closet Republican.

As I was growing up during my young adult years, I wasn't sure where my political views stood. I didn't know what was conservative and what was liberal. It wasn't that I was ignorant of these views, I just didn't know what defined each. However, as I grew older, I became aware that I was conservative and my views stood more in line with Republicans than Democrats. I switched my registration in the fall of 2001 and have not looked back.

However, now, it seems the Republicans are ruling with a spending frenzy, which is not what I believe. I am now finding my views tend to lean more Libertarian because of my views of very limited government. This means I have a very difficult choice to make in the fall between Obama and John McCain. Obama is the most liberal member of the Senate, which is surprising

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