"McCain = Bush" Dangerous?

Finally, I'm taking a break from sports. You know there's a presidential election going on? Yeah, I kind of forgot about it, too, with all the hoopla from the Favre trade and the Olympics.

Before I start my post off, please recognize that I am for Barack Obama in this election. Do not complain to me that this article isn't neutral because, chances are to most McCain-iacs, this article will seem like it has a negative disposition towards McCain. It probably does. That's your warning.

Now, then, to the story. Republican presidential nominee John McCain loves to hold his "open" town-hall meetings, where he can address individual questions on the spot. On July 7th, 2008, McCain held another one of these "open" town-hall meetings in Denver, Colorado. You understand the word "open"? Free for the public to come and ask their questions in a non-dangerous manner, free from possible censorship?

A 61-year-old librarian was walking into the "open" town-hall meeting that day, only armed with a sign that simply read: "McCain = Bush." That's all. She didn't have any Obama stickers, Democratic Party pamphlets, cool T-Shirts, laptops, internets, kids, or, you know, anything else that could be conceived as anti-McCain. All she had was her sign.

Well, McCain's security decided that this 61-year-old librarian was a threat to his well-being at the town-hall meeting and promptly asked her to leave or be charged with trespassing (on an "Open" town-hall meeting? Doesn't sound very open to me...). She refused, and was actually issued a ticket by Denver cops, who had just shown up to the scene, citing Trespassing as the crime and with a court hearing. The police then ordered her off the premises immediately or be arrested. By then, the 61-year-old librarian decided enough was enough and headed out of the town-hall meeting.

Here's my points on this:

• This lady is 61 years old. Shouldn't McCain be respecting the people that are most likely going to make up his voter base?
• What was the worse this 61-year-old librarian could do, hurt McCain by asking him to critically think on today's issues? Reminding McCain that he is, in fact, history?
  
• Her sign read "McCain = Bush." Now, that is a popular tactic to make McCain unappealing to voters. However, think about it like this. Bush was the last two-term Republican President since Ronald Reagan. Bush was hailed by Republicans as being the right leader during 9/11 and the War on Terror. Bush was deemed as one of the few world leaders to be religiously faithful. Shouldn't McCain have some honor for Bush, especially considering he's running as the Republican nominee? If Bush is so low on respect, then why were Republicans loving him back in his first term, and why should we support McCain now? It isn't a good sign when a political party is shying away from its last elected president.

Folks, I know I am for Obama in this election, but the moves that McCain has been making don't seem to make that much sense to me. McCain is running for the office of President of the United States, one of the most important jobs in the world, and it seems to me he is just in this election to make sure the status quo remains in Washington, D.C. We'll see how he does come November.