Column: Voters Deserve More Than Another Abusive Relationship With A Republican President

This story was written by Mackenzie Maxwell, Daily Toreador

It happens in movies and in real life: The perfect girl falls for a horrible boy.

In this case, the boy hits the girl, cheats on her and abuses her in every way.

What if this girl met a more loving man who was interested in her? Most would say she should leave the current boyfriend for the new hunk. Simple logic dictates she should leave the abuse for the chance with a new guy.

What if the girl in the story is the United States of America? She can either stay with the same failed Bush policies that would be continued by McCain, or she could dump the Republicans and choose Obama. In the example with a girl and two boys, the answer seems so obvious.

So then why are some people still willing to let America be abused by the Republican party? It has been a big talking point on the Obama campaign that McCain voted with Bush policies 90 percent of the time. Some people see that as just simply a talking point, but I have to say that number is a huge concern to me. Even when John McCain was being a "maverick," he was voting with the party 90 percent of the time.

That isn't a maverick; that's a sheep.

Keep in mind that this 10-percent difference was before McCain changed his mind on tax cuts and immigration. When you factor in McCain's agreement with Bush on those issues as well, the difference between the two men dwindles away.

How can any American who loves their country look at the last eight years, compare it with McCain's voting record and still want four more years? Anyone using logic would see McCain's resemblance to Bush and say, "No more years!"

No matter what McCain says, the fundamentals of our economy are anything but strong. Wall Street and Main Street are suffering. This week, Wall Street saw the biggest collapse since Sept. 11.

Somehow, McCain can look at this financial crisis and say that the fundamentals of our economy are strong.

Off Wall Street, average citizens are feeling the sting of what Bush called "an economic slow down." The fact there is a mortgage crisis is no secret. In addition to homes being foreclosed left and right, people are paying ridiculous prices at the pump and elsewhere. The average family income has fallen dramatically in the last eight years.

McCain's economic advisers look at all of this and say that we are a "nation of whiners." This statement is outrageous. Personally, I am struggling to pay for gas, college and all the other bills I must pay. It offends me when McCain's top economic adviser calls me and every other American struggling to pay the bills "whiners."

The only thing about this situation that is more frustrating than Republicans undermining the economic crisis is the fact that people are still going to vote for them. It is a sad day when America can see how poorly it has been treated and vote for four more years of the same treatment.

Some people will blame the bad economy on the Democrats, but the logic there fails. The Democrats have had control of Congress for only two years, and only by a few seats. However, the economy has been failing the average citizen for much longer than two years. Clearly, this cannot be blamed on Congress.

Not only that, but Congress did not start the war that has had a major part in creating our national trade deficit. It doesn't take an economist to know that you cannot decrease a nation's income by cutting taxes and then spend billions of dollars on a war without seeing a lot of national debt.

But that is exactly what the Bush administration did and exactly what McCain would continue to do if given the chance.

What America needs to do is realize that we are in anabusive relationship with the Republican Party.

When we finally come to that realization, then we may be able to leave our current relationship for a more promising one: Obama as president.