I’m not the first to express this sentiment, but I wanted to share my thoughts today on the election, and that statement pretty much sums it up.

I’ve said it since the primary election, when Barack Obama addressed concerns about his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright in that stirring speech…I wish I could support him. He is inspirational and well spoken and handsome. I love the idea of living in a country that elects African-American presidents…and I can’t wait until it’s done without a second thought as to the race of the candidate. He is an amazing orator, and I love to listen to him speak.

I am a registered Republican, but I have some liberal tendencies as well – most notably, I suppose, in that I believe we should be investing in the protection of our environment. My hope is that one day both parties will agree equally on that issue.

All of that said, there are a few main reasons I can’t vote for Barack Obama, and I am praying fervently that he won’t be elected. The first is his redistribution of wealth plan. We are not wealthy people and would most likely “benefit” from his plan in the short-term, but I just don’t agree with a plan that sends tax “refunds” to people who have never even paid taxes by increasing the tax on those who earn more. That is not a refund; it is a handout.

Welfare, Medicaid and WIC are realities in our country, and I am not opposed to helping people in times of need (In the interest of full disclosure, we were on Medicaid when I was pregnant with Pumpkin Doodle. We had no medical insurance, and it was the only way we could get the medical care she and I needed. We were not, however, on WIC, even though we qualified, because we did not need it. That is how government assistance is supposed to work.) But giving tax handouts without any regulation is just wasteful and irresponsible.

However, beyond that, the number one reason I cannot support Barack Obama is his stance on life. He is so radically pro-abortion (and that is how I would define his stance, not pro-choice) that it scares me for the future of our country. This is a man who voted against a ban on partial birth abortion, where a baby is essentially delivered breech and just before its head emerges, it is killed. We’re talking near-term and full-term babies who could survive outside of their mothers’ wombs. Murdered.

He also voted against the Born Alive Protection Act, which would protect the lives of babies born alive after an attempted abortion as well as ban induced-abortion, where a pregnancy is induced and a baby is delivered premature and not expected to live outside the womb and then just set aside to die once it’s born. Instead, he supports simply allowing them to die as originally intended. (Links can be found here and a video here.)

I’m sorry, but I cannot fathom holding these stances.What about the rights of the babies? While I disagree with abortion at any stage, I can at least intellectually understand the arguments for early abortions. However, I cannot fathom how anyone can argue that a baby that can survive outside of the womb, that has essentially been born (as in the case of partial birth abortion) or has been born and is now living and breathing on its own (as in the case of those babies born alive after an attempted abortion) is still simply a choice.

Regardless of anything else, I simply cannot support a man who says his “first act in office” will be to broaden abortion rights. (If you Google this, there are a ton of sites that quote it, but I couldn’t find an impartial one. If anyone has further information about that quote, I’d love to have it.) If that is foremost on his mind, I cannot imagine the state of things after 4-8 years of his presidency.

An important note about comments: I love political dialogue, and I recently had a conversation about this very issue with someone who supports Obama, so it’s not that I’m unwilling to discuss it. However, I simply do not have time this week to moderate a discussion that could get heated. I am leaving the comments open, and you are more than welcome to post your own thoughts on your blog and come back and leave a link, but I would ask that you not leave commentary – agreeing or disagreeing with me – directly in the comments. You’re also welcome to email me directly.