Red is White: Faithful & Stylish

Just for fun, let’s consider this year’s presidential election in light of one of Red Is White’s slogans: Faithful and Stylish.

If “stylish” is what you’re going for, then I do not think there is any doubt which candidate is for you! Democratic nominee Barack Obama definitely has the edge here. I don’t watch too much TV, but it seems that whenever I happen to turn the thing on, there’s Obama with two hundred cameras on him, talking about how he’s going to change the world. The guy always seems to have the right answer for everything. He smiles at all the right times (with that perfectly shiny row of bleached-white teeth), and whenever he has to answer a serious question, he furrows his brow just flawlessly so that all fears are quickly abolished, and we can rest assured that Obama has already thought the thing out, and has a plan that will end evil on Earth forever. His subtle hand gestures are also very good at letting you know he’s serious. He’s forceful, but not all karate-forceful, like he’s about to break a stack of boards or anything. He is a cool cat!

Try an image search each for Obama’s and McCain’s campaign rallies, and you’ll notice a couple things. For one, Obama is packing out arenas. Two, his audience has A LOT of young voters. A LOT. And when it’s not the hip college-age crowd he’s hitting up, then it’s the hip-intellectual-power-to-the-people kind of a crowd he’s hanging with. Not to mention, the guy is like, personal friends with Oprah. Oprah! Look at some pictures from McCain’s campaign trail, and you’ll start to think that the only places he’s booking are the senior citizen centers. Chalk another one up on the “stylish” board for Obama. (No offense to old people, by the way. I love my Grandma.)

I am hoping that citizens will not vote for a candidate based solely upon how chic he is, though I get the feeling that far too many consider style over substance, rather than vice-versa. This is what the media pushes, though, and this (unfortunately for him) hurts McCain.

So what about “faith” then? This is a far more substantial issue, I believe, though it is also where things get a little messy. For years now, Republican nominees have enjoyed wide support from “Christian Conservatives,” or “Evangelicals,” or whatever you want to call them (depending upon what your beliefs are and who you are talking to). This would seemingly give John McCain an advantage in the faith category, but for some reason, McCain has remained very private and aloof about his personal convictions regarding his spiritual beliefs. When McCain does talk about morals, or even about God, it’s usually in such a way that hints at the belief in a higher power, which may or may not be Christian, but does not go much deeper than that. What he seems to tout more than anything else is Patriotism, or service and dedication to one’s country. Some see it as a strength of McCain’s that he is not exploiting his beliefs in order to gain popularity with certain groups. Others, however, are wishing that he would be a little more outspoken on this topic.

Now, before I say too much about Obama, let’s get a couple of things straight. First off, he completely denies being a Muslim- contrary to a popular e-mail conspiracy. As far as that topic goes, apparently his father was a Muslim, and he (Barack) attended both Muslim and Catholic schools as a child. But as an adult, Obama fully claims to be a “born-again Christian.” It is well documented that Obama regularly attends church. There is, however, a slight problem with that (to some people), seeing as how the pastor of his home church in Chicago got both himself and Obama into some hot water for some racially-charged comments he made during a few of his sermons and speeches. Obama at first supported his pastor, but cut ties with him when the heat became too great- speaking against his pastor’s negative comments and ending his membership at that particular church.

For many Christians, Obama will not be thought of as the nominee of “faith,” as his voting record very strongly supports a Pro-Choice stance and more rights for homosexual couples. For many Christians, those two topics are the deal breakers. But then there is the fact that Obama wants to expand President Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative Program, which gives federal money to faith-based organizations that do such work as help the poor and those suffering from drug and alcohol addictions. What should we make of that? (It should be noted that McCain supports that program as well.) Others will also argue that many of the social programs that Obama supports- universal healthcare, for example- exude Christian qualities, as they seek to help the poor and needy who are currently not provided for. Whichever stance you take on this one, the fact remains that Mr. Obama has been very outspoken about his Christian faith, and his claims that he lives his life and makes his choices based upon Christian principals.

I personally do not yet know whom I will be voting for. There are qualities in both candidates that I admire. As much as my faith matters to me, it seems really difficult to make my decision based solely upon that factor. Neither of the candidates believe exactly what I believe, and I highly doubt that they believe exactly what you believe either.

What will tip the scales for me and push me to vote for one over the other? Perhaps it will be his style; perhaps it will be his faith; perhaps it will be a myriad of other factors; perhaps I will let you know when I make my decision!