Dare We Speak of Politics?

I mostly watched the NFL playoffs on Saturday. During the Jacksonville/Pittsburgh game (which, by the way, was a great game) the Republican debate at New Hampshire was showing on another channel. I am not going to lie. I mostly watched the game, but I was on the debate during any slow points or commercial breaks. Then the Democrat debate toook place after the game was over. I watched pretty much all of it.
I am becoming more aware of and interested in politics. I'm not saying everyone has to be, but I personally am. I find it interesting, and I see it as more of a value as a follower of Jesus to be engaged in our culture and our structure as a country. That said, I wanted to mention some stuff from the debates.

First of all, on the Democratic side, John Edwards. I am not going to vote for Hillary Clinton. I just see her as being really slippery. Interestingly, though, for a while she looked like she would run away with the nomination. Now it is a bit more up for grabs. At the debate she seemed frustrated. Obama seemed to be on the attack (not against Hillary, but on the attack in terms of presenting himself as the front-runner). The person who impressed me (and Karina) most, however, was Edwards. He was confident and articulate. One of his big points about himself was that he has not gotten into bed with any special interest groups. He has a strong message for holding corporations responsible, and he has a passion for the working poor. I really liked much of what he had to say.
As I said, I will not vote for Hillary, so I won't even mention her. Obama, however, is the other Democrat who appeals to me. I really like his vision for bringing the parties together. I also think he would do an excellent job with foreign policy, both because of his ideals and because of his ability to work with others and communicate articulately.
Of course, the troubling thing to me about both Edwards and Obama is their stances on the issue of abortion. It greatly saddens me that both of them are so pro-choice (not that it is a huge surprise coming from Democratic candidates).

On the Republican side, there are only two candidates that I could see myself voting for. Just as I could not bring myself to vote for Hillary Clinton, I could never bring myself to vote for Giuliani. If Hillary is slippery, then Giuliani takes it to a whole new level for me. McCain on the other hand has a certain appeal to me. He has been a good unifier of the parties and I think he seems to have a fairly healthy mix of values that both parties can get on board with. He has experience and a good track record. He has not been consistently pro-life, but his stance is closer than the Democrats to what I believe.




The other Republican that I like is Mike Huckabee. He won Iowa, which makes him now seems like a viable candidate, while still a longshot. He seems to be the only truly pro-life candidate, and that is really refreshing and comforting. I also think that he just seems very comfortable with who he is. This makes him able to be himself and to be consistent. I don't agree with him on his foreign policy, though. That is a bit of a struggle, but I would be much happier with him in the White House than Romney or Giuliani.


All of this brings up lots of questions. Is it okay for Christians to vote for a candidate that is pro-choice? If not, then why is this issue (which is a big issue) the trump card, while others need to take a back seat? If other issues should be considered, which ones? What does it mean to follow the lead of a president? How much should Christians be involved in pursuing structural change in our country?
I certainly don't have a lot of answers to these, but they are questions that must be wrestled with, especially since Christians have been so closely linked together with the Republican Party. This can put us in bed with people like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, people who share Republican ideals, but not from a Christian motivation (especially not the latter).
Anyway, enough of that. Hope I didn't offend either of the people who regularly read my blog.