Campaign dilema

Unless you live under a rock, this past weekend you saw Barack Obama declare his intent to run for President of the U.S. It was not a surprised to most of us. He is one of the most intelligent representatives that we currently have in Congress. I respect his integrity and believe that whatever he touches could definitely turn to gold.

With that said, there is only one small thing that bothers me. I'm not really sure why I started thinking about this over the weekend but I did and I don't know what to make of it.

Hillary has told us that if she had known the information she knows now back when she orginally voted to go to war with Iraq, she would not have voted for it. Barack did not vote in favor of the war. He was against it from the beginning. Both candidates have been open regarding how they voted.

Here's what bothers me. As much as I like and respect Barack Obama, I have to wonder.....do I want someone in office that may not offer me all of the security and protection when the going gets tough? Keep in mind.......both Hillary and Barack heard the same reports. Iraq has weapons of mass destruction and intends to use them. This was preached by anyone with a speck of credibilty in the White House...........including Colin Powell (who i consider to be one of the greatest leaders of this century).

So with that said, he went against the grain. It takes guts to do that, but he was not given any other information at the time. He didn't agree with the war and if Iraq did have WMD's this could be a very different war.

For me........I am concerned about how he would protect us during a time where terrorists are just dying to get us. Hillary took a stand on the information she was given. While she shares some of the same democratic beliefs that Barack does, her words lead me to believe that she would stand and defend when we need her to do so.

There are some key things that the next President must do once arriving in office. We must repair the relationships with our NATO counterparts. We need them as much as they need us and we have to cooperate with each other. The second thing is to begin removing the troops from Iraq and bring them back to defend our homeland. Iraq is not going to be more civilized and we need those troops back here. Lastly, we have to restore our credibility to our own citizens. We must turn our attention to a real plan on restoring the hurricane devestated areas here in our own nation. Millions of dollars have gone overseas that now must be returned to our own shores.

I am looking for the candidate that can ensure my basic freedoms will not be sacrificed and will step up with a strong plan to keep me and my family safe. We have a long campaign ahead and I look forward in hearing more from Hillary and Barack as we streak toward the election.