There was a long moment in my life when I was certain I was going to run for City Council in my district here in New York. I decided against it once I realized that I like straight talk and transparency, and therefore could never be a politician. Nowadays I try to fight for strengthening families and father involvement. That said, part of being a good dad, a good parent, is having a voice in the political process and voting for the candidate who you feel will be best for your family and for your country.

John McCain, the Republican nominee is like a hurricane – he’s a natural disaster. He seems to have no problem with war and all that comes with it, which surprises me since he is a war hero and POW, and knows first hand what our troops are going through. He has hinted at the possibility of going into Iran. Unfortunately his war stance isn’t the only questionable thing about him. Years ago he also voted against Martin Luther King’s birthday becoming a national holiday, is prepared to overturn Roe vs. Wade, voted against last year’s children’s health care bill, thinks that the housing crisis is the fault of the people chasing the American Dream and not the lenders that swindled them, and he has a notorious temper. In a nutshell McCain is not my candidate because he’s polarizing and scary.

This leads me to my next point. There are some Democrats out there claiming they would vote for McCain if their first choice doesn’t get the nomination. In other words some Obama supporters may vote for McCain if Clinton gets the nod, and vice versa. They would rather divide the party, maintain the Washington status quo and kill U.S. chances at repairing our international image. That is some twisted logic that I cannot get behind. I have even heard people that have been voting for decades say that they will sit out this election if their first choice Democrat doesn’t get in. Not voting, especially if you are black and a descendant of people who died so that we can vote in this country, is worse than voting for McCain.

Even young people who aren’t yet old enough to vote are getting caught up in the best-Democrat-for-the-job rhetoric. I was on the bus the other day reading a magazine featuring Obama on the cover. There were a couple of high school kids chatting near me but my attention was on the article. Then, after noticing Obama’s image, the kid sitting directly across from me shifted the conversation and asked his buddy who he’s “going for” in the upcoming election. I started listening. The friend responded “Obama, of course. It’s time for change and to bring everyone together.” To that the kid responded “Well, I’m going for Hillary Clinton. She’s more experienced and things were good when her husband was president. My friends are calling me a racist because I’m not with Obama, but I don’t care.” These were two young black men talking politics, which is great (I can set aside the fact that it’s likely neither of them were born when Bill Clinton took the oath pf office). But the fact that reverse racism is being brought into the youth discourse is disturbing. We have to resolve that.

The best thing I’ve heard in months in regards to this presidential race is when during the last debate Clinton said she was going to do everything she can to make sure a Democrat is in office in January 2009. That’s reassuring because squandering this historic election shouldn’t be an option, not even for potentially disgruntled Obama/Clinton supporters.