About three years ago, I told my wife (a Democrat) that if the 2008 Presidential Election came down to John McCain and Hillary Clinton, I would either vote Libertarian or write myself in – never mind the age requirement.

McCain versus Barack Obama is not much different. It’s a little disheartening that in three Presidential Elections in which I have been allowed to vote – starting in 2000 – the only choice I had was to vote for the candidate I disliked the least.

I am a real life example of the high level of cynicism Obama says lives in today’s voters.

That is one of the few things on which we agree.

While the thought of a super-articulate President is very appealing after the last eight years, my worry is that Teleprompters are not allowed in gatherings of foreign leaders.

And of Obama’s slick words, many ring hollow.

He talks of gathering around a cause greater than ourselves and that if we take care of those around us, the world will be a better place. Unfortunately, despite having the means to change the situation, Obama has a half-brother who lives off $12 a year in a 9x12 hut in Africa.

Obama does not want to be his “brother’s keeper”, as he so often says in speeches. He wants to be our Big Brother.

Big Brother who raises taxes.

Big Brother who wants to legitimize third world dictators like those of Iran.

Big Brother who wants the government to control everything from healthcare to education to the financial markets.

A very wise person once told me that you don’t get to choose your biological relatives, but that your friends are your chosen family. In essence, the people with whom you willingly associate yourself are some of the most important choices you make.

Curiously, three patriarchs of Obama’s chosen family are:

1)     Jeremiah Wright, a hate-filled preacher

2)     William Ayers, an unrepentant domestic terrorist, and

3)     Tony Rezko, a convicted felon who financed Obama’s initial campaigns

The three men were not only associated with Obama, they helped drive Obama to where he is today. Wright was his spiritual advisor for over 20 years, Ayers helped Obama move up the ranks of Chicago politics and Rezko helped Obama purchase his current home.

McCain may have eight residences, but at least they are the product of his in-laws and wife’s hard work and business savvy.

Most everyone has at least one unseemly character from their past.

No leader of the free world should have three.