The race is on

The nominations are set. We now know Barack Obama is the Democratic candidate for president of the United States of America. We also know that John McCain is the Republican candidate. We don’t know who the Green candidate is, or who the Libertarian candidate is —yeah, we know the name, Bob Barr—but we feel like we’re really qualified to offer in-depth predictions of how this race will be run.

Barack Obama: John McCain would be Bush’s third term.

John McCain: Barack Obama doesn’t have the experience to lead this country. Barack Obama doesn’t represent the “majority” of white Americans. Barack Obama … something … something … Muslim!

So, right at the outset, we’d like to call for an election that doesn’t rely on ad hominem attacks, that sets a high bar for political discourse, that really elevates our minds this election season and keeps the record straight.

For example, when someone says, “John McCain was born in El Salvador, and therefore sympathizes with the illegal immigrants against American workers,” we want our readers to stand right up and say the truth: “John McCain was born in Panama.”

Or when someone comes up to you and says, “John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,” we’d like our readers to be ready to say, “But that makes John McCain sound like a racist, and he says his position has ‘evolved,’ and he’s now ready to see an African-American go all the way to the ‘White’ House.”

And when some “progressive” ninnyhammer says, “McCain opposes a woman’s right to choose what is done to and with her body. He said, ‘I do not support Roe v. Wade. It should be overturned.'” We’d ask our readers to say, “That’s true, and did you know that he was also a member of the Keating Five? The Keating Five were five U.S. Senators accused of corruption in 1989, as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. And didn’t those types of practices lead to the implosion of our real estate economy today and our current recession?”

We want this election to be different. We want this election to focus on the issues, like, for example, the war in Iraq, about which John McCain said on Face the Nation, on Jan. 6, 2008, “I don’t think Americans are concerned if we’re there for 100 years or 1,000 years or 10,000 years.” He also voted with George W. Bush against the anti-torture bill, applauding Bush for vetoing the anti-waterboarding legislation.

So, please, we implore you, don’t stoop to name calling. Don’t say, “John McCain is an old fogey,” say, “John McCain is pretty spry for a 72-year-old. Although, if elected, he would be the oldest president at inauguration.”

Do your duty, folks, because this is America, and dammit, we want an election based on truth and not one based on lies, hypocrisies and innuendos.