It boils down to intelligence for me, not political parties.
We tried the whole "Joe-sixpack, guy we'd like to have a beer with" President for 8 years. Like I said before, the McCain of 2000 was great. I wish I knew why he sold his soul to Karl Rove.
Barack is a pretty smart guy. You don't get to be editor, then president, of the Harvard Law Review without being a pretty bright person. Nevermind graduating magna cum laude. If you think that's elitist, well, good. I love the people who claim elitism as a negative quality. If there is one thing the President needs to be, it damn well better be elite. Best of the best? Hell yes that's who I want running the country. People go off course with the elitist thing because they confuse or manipulate the meaning. There is elitism with inflated egos and looking down upon the common man. Then there are people who are just generally very bright, intelligent people. People who really are just flat out smarter than most. To me, Barack is the latter.
It is certainly true that Obama doesn't have the experience that McCain has. What gives me comfort is that I know Obama is smart enough to surround himself with exceptional people who would be more informed on certain topics than he is. People with valuable opinions that he'll listen to and learn from. I'm pretty confident there would never be any Alberto Gonzalez or Harriet Miers or "heck of job" Brownie's in an Obama administration.
Intelligence and open-mindedness. That's what I'm voting for.
I'm certainly not saying McCain is a dimwit. But after listening to and watching these guys for the last year, I feel like Obama is the smarter, more together guy.
Also, to get back to the original topic of this thread, I have to question the intelligence of ANYONE that would choose a person such as Palin as a running mate. This woman is not an exceptional person and not the kind of person we need running the country. Im NOT saying she is a bad person. She is certainly a likable person with a great personality. I suspect this is the main reason some people like her.