I am an independent: I vote my conscience, not according to what party a candidate belongs to. As for the word liberal, I know it's an insult to you conservatives, but it isn't to me. If their values align with mine, I might vote for them, bottom line. I don't care if a person aborts their child, especially when we eat cow fetuses and call them veal, I don't care if gay people get married and the state issues them a certificate, and I don't care if scientists clone people. I love unions, and I believe that, without them, bosses would abuse their employees even more than they do now. Have you ever read about stories of children losing hands in nineteenth century sweatshops?
I also believe that spirituality, non-denominationally, has a place in society, and I believe in cultivating values: compassion, dignity, sensitivity, in one another. I also believe in the right to bear arms.
So, I believe in some principles that the left happens to support, and I also believe in some that the right supports. It's all incidental to what I believe in, as a person, not as a member of any party. If you like calling yourself a Republican, that's your business, I refuse to call myself either one.
As I've said before, I was considering voting McCain, until he selected Sarah Palin as his running mate. I cannot vote for him, because it would create the possibility of that dim wit becoming president.
In addition, his language concerning teachers, of whom I am one, who he says need to do well or be fired, is misleading and scapegoats teachers, instead of speaking to the actual conditions in many public schools, something Obama has addressed, when calling parents to do their jobs, so that we can do ours. McCain even signed on to the "Education Equality Project," an organization that stands for targeting teachers, as part of the "new civil rights issue of this century," a term McCain has even repeated in the debates.
Lastly, as a supporter of peace, I cannot vote for someone who wants to "bomb, bomb, Iran" and has surrounded himself with Bush's people. I didn't want Obama to win, at first, because he disappointed me, by changing his positions... I detest liars. However, McCain quickly changed my mind for me, with his words and actions. And, bottom line, Obama is clearly a principled, intelligent, sensitive human being. I'm very good at picking these things up, and, mark my words, you will see examples of this in his presidency.
Obama '08