ok--- i figure i'll put out there the subjects that have helped me arrive at my decision on who to vote for
1) Science funding/understanding. I'm a scientist who saw funding tank on important projects because of lack of funding during the bush presidency. There are many examples of when politicians screw up because they don't understand what something can be used for so they don't want to fund it, so someone who spreads misinformation (even if they don't know it as such) gets me peeved.
2) Health care - mccains health care proposal made a bit of smoke come out of my ears
3) Katrina - yes the hurricane, ... I remember watching mccain give a talk just outside new orleans on a campaign stop and completely misspeak about his voting record in support of new orleans post-katrina. His voting record speaks for itself on this one. Maybe I'm bitter, but this is top in my head this week as tomorrow is a bad anniversary for me and many of my friends and family are even now preparing to evacuate for gustav. Politics shouldn't have played a role in the response, but I don't know anyone down there who had the same view of the administration after the hurricane as they did before.
4) Oil/Gas - Only one of the candidates pointed out that a gas tax holiday was not a viable solution... the economists all pointed out that it wouldn't really effect things, but it sure did make good sound bites.
5) Going negative, I really resent the first person to come out with the negative ad. I understand that there is always going to be some amount of negativity as one candidate or their supporters tries to separate themselves, but I just don't like it!
6) Age - now this is the one I'm least proud of... but I've seen the changes in my father the last few years (dad is less than a year older than mccain). They even have had similar health track records. I should say my father is still one of the smartest men I have ever met, but he doesn't multi-task like he used too. Now I'll admit my dad not multi-tasking as much and not having the same energy doesn't necessarily translate, but I can't help but worry.