Perspectives

As America gears up for another Presidential election peoples perspectives are becoming more apparent.
Perspective means, how something is viewed.
For instance, I never eat Big Macs. To me a cheesburger = meat, cheese and a bun. If I want lettuce, tomatos and sauce I`ll get a salad but to put all that on a burger ruins the taste.
The same with coffee. Black and strong, no sugar and no cream.
A Big Mac fan who eats them all the time may enjoy all the flavors of the special sauce, lettuce, cheese,etc., without even being aware of why they like it, while a homeless man who never knows when he`ll get another meal, might enjoy the taste, but his main concern is filling his belly, whether it`s with a Big Mac or something else.
The fan eats it because he likes the taste, the homeless man, because he`s hungry.
They`re both doing the same thing, eating a Big Mac, but their perspectives on eating it are worlds apart.
If you want to know someones perspective on life all you have to do is talk to them about religion or politics. A five minute conversation on either subject will give you a pretty good idea on how they view the world. Most people go through life trying to hide who they really are while outwardly projecting a false personna, yet a five minute chat about their perspective on politics or religion will reveal their true character.
In this and any election, my perspective is that character is paramount. It`s more important than a candidates stance on taxes, jobs, war or homelessness, because I know that if a man has good character he will deal with all of these issues to the best of his ability, and that`s all any of us can really ask of our leaders. Reagan had character, Jimmy Carter did not. I say that because even though Carter is a decent, honest caring man, he is an idealist. Carters spiritual and personal character might be fine but his idealism interferes with his perception of reality and the results showed in the way he ran this country.
Reagan had good personal character and good spiritual character and he was a realist. He was not afraid to call an Evil Empire an Evil Empire. He didn`t bow to political pressure simply to get votes. He saw the world as it was, warts and all, and instituted practical plans to change it for the better.
I see the same type of character and perspective in Bush. Bush has done a few things that I`m not happy with, but in the overall picture I can see his plan for our future and I like it. The reason I can see his overall plan is because he reveals his character to us on a daily basis. He takes positions on issues, positions that some on the left and some on the right don`t like sometimes but he always has a valid reason for his positions. The reason is the thing. I might or might not like the result, but I can respect the reason for it.
To the opposition, the vote is the thing. Positions on issues are secondary and they can and have been changed according to whatever the latest poll might say. That kind of perspective is unacceptable to me. My and my countrys welfare is too important to be relegated to an opinion poll or Utopian ideology, I don`t want a president who gets distracted everytime he sees a shiny coin.
That`s how Kerry and his camp view the world. His positions are based on the polls, and they change to the whims of the polls. Opinion polls are John Kerrys shiny coins, forever distracting him from reality.

- Joatmoaf -