The biggest election issue

There’s no doubt that the war, the economy, and energy are the biggest political issues on most Americans’ minds these days. And they will likely determine this presidential election. But should they?

While Obama wants to make government "cool" again and McCain wants to inspire people to serve causes greater than themselves, both of them are promising to "shake up" Washington. Sounds good. I’m sure we need a good shake up every now and then. But are we getting distracted? Is there something more important in the balance?

The war is one of the top priorities – no doubt. But once they’re faced with the reality of the situation in Iraq are either of them really going to responsibly draw down troops any faster than the other (or even than George Bush for that matter)? Doubt it. And are either of them going to tell General Petraeus something he doesn’t already know that’s going to somehow make the Iraqis ready any time sooner? I doubt it.

And while the two main candidates differ greatly on economic policies, how much will their particular efforts really help or hurt the economy? Obama wants huge tax increases that he will not be able to responsibly impose while the economy is still struggling. And if he’s counting on getting back all that money being spent on the war every month any time soon – he’s fooling himself (or perhaps just us). And we’ve yet to see if McCain has the guts to make the spending cuts he’s proposing during this time of great American populism. So we’ll see if the budget gets balanced. But I’m not convinced yet.

So the likely scenario is that the Economy is gonna dip a little more and then, as it always has, eventually get back to better and continue growing. It will be with a little help from the policies in Washington, but mostly due to the hard work and ingenuity of hard-working Americans. The politicians will just take credit for it later.

In regard to energy policies, the greatest free market in the world is already determining and developing the new technologies that will power us in the future. We can only hope that the government will get out of their way. And maybe they’ll let us drill where we need to drill and build a few nuclear plants to help us out in the meantime. The bottom line is that either candidate is going to do whatever we are all screaming for.

Obviously there is much more to all of these issues. But my point is that 4 years from now I think these issues are going to be in similar situations regardless of who is elected president. Maybe people will think we’re "cooler" if it’s Obama, and maybe we’ll be a bit safer if it’s McCain. But either way, on most issues we are arguing over a gradient of being slightly better or slightly worse with each candidate. And it’s a good debate to have.

However, there is an issue that stands out. There is an issue that will be drastically affected by this election. The result will be black and white – and measurably so. It will determine the outcome of the greatest struggle of our time for the next generation. It is the issue of abortion.

I’m not saying that abortion is going to magically end under either candidate. But the fundamental barrier to protecting the life of every human being is the supreme court decision, Roe vs. Wade. And this most certainly does stand in the balance of this election.

We are closer than ever before to overturning this horrific decision that recognizes a "right" for women to have their babies killed. 4 of the 9 supreme court justices are ready to do the just thing and reverse this decision. 5 of them are not. 2 of those 5 are very likely to retire and be replaced in the next 4 years. And guess who gets to appoint their replacements? Yep, it will be Barack Obama or John McCain.

And supreme court justices serve a life term. The decision our next president makes will last for a lifetime, and it will likely be awhile before the next vacancy will open up.

Overturning Roe vs. Wade is the necessary first step to saving the lives of the millions of babies that are aborted in America every year. That decision keeps all other legal efforts from progressing. Once it is overturned, only then will we have the opportunity to take a step forward and begin to end the greatest injustice of our time – abortion.

If Obama is elected, he has promised to appoint judges that support abortion. McCain has promised to appoint judges that will respect the right of a person not to be aborted.

This is what weighs in the balance of this election. Forget the next 4 years. Think about the next 30. Think about the over 40 million babies killed in the United States alone since Roe vs. Wade. We are so close to turning that around. We are so close to perhaps a decision that will save tens of millions of lives in the coming decades. And though we can not truly comprehend those numbers, they are no exaggeration.

We have a big decision to make in November. It’s the most important election of our time. But not because we might get the first black president. Not because we might have the first woman vice president. Not because the economy is so terrible – it’s not. Not because we’re in a war on terror and many want to kill us. Not because Washington has become so corrupt – even if it has. Not because the rest of the world doesn’t think we’re as cool as we used to be. And not because it will drastically change the next 4 years – it won’t.

But because it can drastically change the next 30 years for millions of people – the millions of babies that might escape the danger of the pro-choice womb. That’s why this is the most important election of our time. And that’s why abortion is the biggest election issue. The gravity of this issue can not be over-stated.

This election has become all about "change." Let’s vote for a culture of life this November and work to change the biggest injustice our country has ever known.