This election may appear to be over, but I still believe John McCain has a microscopic bit of hope before the results become solid next Tuesday. For all of you who are still undecided, or even for those who have already voted but need a little reassurance that they did the right thing in voting for McCain, I have compiled a short list of reasons of why voting for Barack Obama would be the wrong decision to make:

1) The War on Terror
Obama has displayed his weaknesses in fighting terrorism on many different levels. He has made ill-founded criticisms of McCain’s strategies in Iraq, he has played down the importance of the danger imposed by Iran and he has shown his support for allowing terrorists picked up in the battlefields the same judicial rights as U.S. citizens. The worst part of an Obama presidency, though, would be his support of large budget cuts in military and defense spending. Also, not financially supporting a strong finish in Iraq could create more problems for us there in the future.

2) We are not a sad and war-torn European country
McCain has been saying from the beginning that raising taxes during a recession would not help and would actually probably worsen the situation. Also, Obama’s record on government spending in awful: In 2008, he let 53 earmarks slip by that came to a total of $97.4 million. This frivolous irresponsibility in combination with his economic plan overall is rather scary.

3) Activist courts
The dynamic of the Supreme Court will not change much under an Obama presidency, because the next three justices most likely to retire �?Stevens, Ginsburg and Souter �?are all more liberal justices. The leftist legacy would just last longer because Obama would be able to nominate younger justices. He has claimed he would pick justices based on their ideological standards rather than just their qualifications. These standards are dangerous for the preservation of our Constitution, and with a Democratic majority in the Senate, Obama would not meet much resistance with any radical, activist judge he decides to nominate.

4) Obama + Reid + Pelosi = Trouble
It has been projected that the Democrats will make even more gains in the House and the Senate than they did in 2006. With an Obama victory, the system of checks and balances would be heavily skewed. He would be able to make military budget cuts, nominate any radical judges he wants, and even manipulate our economy in any way he wants. He might not necessarily abuse this power, but there is a frightening potential.

5) McCain would be perfect for these times
With an economic crisis, war, and the experience of great social changes, our country needs a president who will be able to cross party lines and have enough experiencemake big decisions. Obama is young, fresh and has a small voting record that does not give much information. With McCain, you know what you are going to get, and you know he will not bring the polarization. McCain would bring the stability and leadership the United States needs at this time to bring about a better future.

Frannie Boyle is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Science. She can be reached at [email protected].