Support McCain?

Since 1976 I have voted Democratic even though I am a hard-core independent. That may change this year. I have no loyalty to either party. I vote who whoever represents the more centrist position. Since 1976 that has always been Democratic. I feel that Hillary would be the more centrist of the current contenders. I would not normally have considered supporting McCain, especially with his gung-ho attitude towards Iraq, but if Barack is the Democratic nominee McCain will suddenly be in play.

It is not that Barack couldn't meet my centrist interests, but the way he campaigns and his "appeal" to various far left-wing groups (e.g., the strict anti-war crowd, the Hollywood elite, traditional liberals, etc.) leaves me feeling distinctly left out, at least relative to Hillary and her more-centrist background and certainly her association with uber-pragmatist and centrist Bill Clinton.

It is still not too late for Barack to turn the tide and win me over, but the simple fact is that he is doing absolutely nothing to appeal to us centrists and is being way too accommodating or at least tolerant of so many non-centrists.

In truth, McCain is actually more centrist than his primary campaign reputation since he was busy appealing to conservatives to win the Republican nomination.

It may also be true that Barack could shift a lot more towards center once or if he wins his nomination. If that happens, great, but nobody is really talking as if such a shift were a likely prospect. Whereas for Hillary it is a slam dunk that she will be a hard-core centrist for the general election, but only if the Democrats come to their senses and give her the nomination.

As things stand right now, I could accept either Hillary or McCain as president. Barack in his current form is not acceptable to me. As I said, he can turn that around, but the question is whether he will. Does he even know whether we wants or needs my support and vote in November? It certainly feels as if he doesn't.

As of today I lean towards Hillary... will Barack do anything to try to change that?

-- Jack Krupansky