A loyal Republican undecided this year

By MICHAEL SMERCONISH

I’m undecided. That’s a position in which I have never found myself at this stage of a presidential contest.

I’ve been an active Republican since I registered to vote in the era of Reagan. I worked for Vice President George H.W. Bush in college. By the time I was 29, I was appointed by that President Bush to a sub-cabinet post. In 2004, I was master of ceremonies at his son’s final Pennsylvania campaign rally — in a Bucks County cornfield.

There are three things I have never done: miss a vote, pull a straight-party lever, or vote for a Democrat for president. But this time I’m not sure.

We’re fortunate to have two very different but equally honorable men running for president. I’ve invested significant time in trying to learn about them, including reading their memoirs. I was also fortunate to interview both more than once.

I believe I know John McCain. He’s personable, intelligent and selfless. The man is the embodiment of an overused word — hero. McCain’s story is the stuff of movies: son and grandson of four-star admirals who himself chose to serve, was held captive, and refused a path to freedom in the name of honor. As we say in Philly, John McCain is “good people.”

Barack Obama’s background is a vastly different but also uniquely American story. Nowhere else could his rise have occurred. I find the Internet lore spread about him to be despicable. Certainly, aspects of his limited experience and associations are game for analysis and criticism. But he deserves a fair fight.

While some question Obama’s love of country, I see a man who is a great source of inspiration to many.

Speech on race

I was in the audience for his speech on race in Philadelphia, and was part of the crowd at Invesco Field when he accepted the Democratic nomination. His popularity is an attribute, not a liability. I, too, want a leader who is respected and admired at home and internationally. And yes, I am anxious to break the barriers that have heretofore prevented a woman or black from serving as vice president or president.

Back in June, a lengthy New York Times story quoted Obama, and one thing he said hangs with me: “I love when I’m shaking hands on a rope line and” — he mimes the motion, hand over hand — “I see little old white ladies and big burly black guys and Latino girls and all their hands are entwining. They’re feeding on each other as much as on me. ... It’s like I’m just the excuse.”

Call me a hopeless romantic, but I believe he can do a world of good by bringing people of diverse backgrounds together. There is a quality about him that I find genuine, and I think he is unquestionably of fine intellect.

I disagree with a number of positions taken by both candidates. McCain forgets that our initial presence in Iraq was based on a false predicate — weapons of mass destruction — and, given that we were wrong, our strategy should be to exit forthwith. The real bad guys who devised 9/11 remain holed up in caves in Pakistan. We have outsourced the hunt for them to a country with no motivation to get that job done.

Obama understands that; he told me so twice. I can only take him at his word. It’s worth noting that after Obama was ridiculed for pledging to hunt high-value terrorist targets in Pakistan regardless of whether the Pakistanis gave the U.S. permission, the Bush administration reversed course this summer and began authorizing special-ops assaults inside Pakistan. Obama called for such action more than a year ago.

Limited experience

Nonetheless, Obama’s limited experience and philosophy of governing are of legitimate concern. No matter how small the percentage of Americans he thinks should shoulder an increased tax burden, I will be in that group.

What I will do is make the candidates earn my vote.

I’m reserving judgment until after the debates, and I’m especially interested in the one between vice-presidential contenders. Sarah Palin showed her capacity to be president at the convention, but she’ll have to withstand scrutiny ahead.

X Michael Smerconish writes a weekly column for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.