Ok I posted once and figured that would be it but I've seen a lot of misinformation and stupid comments people are writing here as fact that really just isn't true. I'm not going to refute the hell out of the stuff, but if you bothered to look farther than the evening news, foreign news, or disengenuous print media sources things would be ironed out quick.
1) The republican party and in particular McCain has NOT been playing the race card or fear of the black people card as certain public people are trying to make it appear like. The first strike was Obama like it or not. Weeks ago the man said some lines to the effect of 'they will try and scare you, they will say I'm a muslim, pick on my funny name...and on yah he is black too!' What the hell in that is not playing a race card? Just the other day he did it again except comparing it to powdered wig white dudes on the currency as a new direction. It's very uncool as McCain has tried very hard NOT to have that crap played out by his campaign...If anything credit there has to be given even if you hate that vapid celebrity hit piece on Obama.
2) Universal healthcare works, to a point, but also it really is dependent on the entire system of taxation and management of the government, but also a huge factor is total population. In a place like Canada or France where you have a sliver of the total bodies in the country you can manage it to a somewhat respectable level. The US is over 300M people now, the level of taxation under the current system would break the back of the country, a massive overhaul of the system would need to take place, but also just with the population the level of tax would be insane to fund it. Combine all that just with the general turn around time for free healthcare going into the weeks or worse depending on things, it's a bad idea. What needs fixing is a massive overhaul of both the way the insurance industry handles claims, but also how both the doctors overcharge for services and how medical suppliers massively overprice their items for sale which snowballs through the doctors into your wallet.
3) McCain has more qualifications than being shot down and beaten for a few years in Vietnam. Go check his war record, at least the highlights of it up on the Wikipedia. You don't become a highly decorated Colonel in the armed forces being a punching bag to the enemy.
4) Only republicans are taking the 'low road' with politics. That's crap. Go check politico.com which pounce on both sides evenly and you'll see a sharply different image of how and what is doing it to whom. Both sides play it dirty and damn well evenly enough. Obama has done stuff, McCain has done stuff...neither is a patron saint.
5) Prophet Problem with socialism? Not everyone deserves to have everything everyone has being 100% equal. It doesn't work, it can't work, humanity on the whole wouldn't tolerate it. A great way to put this let me see. Say I give you $100 as a gift for doing me a huge favor. Some guy comes up to me seeing me do that and bitches about it saying it's not fair because he can do it too or whatever else, and me being the good socialist wanting everything to be equal and free takes $50 from you and gives it to him despite the fact YOU worked for your $100 and now got 1/2 pay. Do you think you'd feel screwed? Yah it's a crude example, but everyone does a certain job in society, some make more, others make less but what you earn you earn, and it's not any governments right or task to say even though that guy sat on his butt for 1/2 a day and worked bagging groceries for the other half, and you who worked 8hrs in a factory should have the same benefits and pay to be socially fair. It's crap.
6) Like it or not a solid energy plan is to run up the cost of gas over $4 and try and ram through solar, wind and water as the future that's hear now as it's not, and it's not viable to run much of anything in many corners of the country while it is in others. A viable plan is all encompassing, you need to lease the land (not taxing but making $ off the companies) to go after oil. While doing so, you can use this money either to finally strongly research 'new energy' and apply it, or use it toward another part of the country that is budgetarily suffering.
7) Bush Jr = McCain == BULLSHIT. While they do agree on a few things, such as the 'surge' working, drilling on top of going after all new sources of energy, and some others, they more disagree than agree. I can't list them all, it's a bitch but for starters go look at his record from the 1990s, and if you want recent try McCain-Feingold and McCain-Kennedy as a start. Bush don't like working with dems, he also doesn't listen to people who have ideas...McCain does both and works with them at times too.
Gamesphere - If you consider yourself informed, up to date, and getting even news you're a lost cause. NBC is the most left leaning tv media outlet of news and Olbermann tips the scales quite far to the left, not to insanity by any means but he's no centrist. Seriously...if you have to watch that balance it out with the right leaning Fox, or screw both and go read the BBC and the AP News if you want something with opinion tossed out and facts thrown in.