I’m neither a Republican nor a Democrat, although I have been more of a Democrat over the past eight years because George W. Bush has been a horrible president, and the national Republican Party has enabled him.

Here in Indiana, however, the parties are not so far apart, there are good politicians in both, and so for me it comes down to who is the better candidate for the particular office.

Why Obama?

Obama is the first presidential candidate in my life about whom I am genuinely enthusiastic. He is intelligent, inspiring, and appears to be of good character. More importantly, he seems to be wise, understanding people and the world on a deep level.

I don’t just think Obama is a good guy; I also think that he, unlike Carter, will be able to deal with the people and institutions of Washington successfully and accomplish things. Further, I agree with what he wants to accomplish, especially universal health care. I think it’s hard to object to Obama unless one is a hard-core dogmatic conservative who recoils in horror at any whiff of liberalism.

Why not McCain?

I would have preferred Gore, but McCain could have and I think would have been a decent president eight years ago. Today, however, he just seems old and off his nut. He is flailing, saying anything to get elected, and some of it is pretty execrable. In the debates and TV interviews, McCain just seems rageful, resentful, and on the verge of totally losing it.

But I don’t think McCain has just become unappealing as a person; I have also not heard from him a single appealing idea. I think he would be pretty ineffective in getting anything done of substance, and I see no signs that he would diverge much from GWB’s disastrous foreign policy.

I like Palin as a character; she would be fun to watch on TV. I think she is an absolutely dangerous wacko as a political candidate, not to mention completely incompetent. Her selection was a joke.

Why Daniels?

I have met Daniels and have talked to a lot of people who know him personally; the consensus is that he is just a great, genuine person. But, more importantly, Daniels has a record of success in office. We had a horrible property tax problem here (my own more than doubled), but Daniels handled it deftly and quickly in bipartisan cooperation with the legislature. Daniels has worked tirelessly to bring business from Asia to the state and overall has supported policies that are good for business and good for the people of the state at the same time.

So I’m going to vote for him and the rest of the Republicans running for relection in the state; they have done a good job.

Why not Thompson?

To be frank, I have not been following the campaign in detail. There seems to be nothing wrong with Thompson, but Daniels has been such a success that I have no reason to consider anyone else (I guess I am a “low-information voter” in this case!). Thompson seems good and competent, but even with long Obama coattails I do not think this is going to be her year.

There you have it: a split ticket. I think many Hoosiers will be voting similarly next Tuesday.