Are you tired of hearing about Joe the Plumber? I am for a man who wants change. Sen. John McCain can’t even come up with something new to talk about in his speeches. I’m in doubt about his judgment.

Re: Gov. Sarah Palin. She went on and on about Sen. Barack Obama and his association with Bill Ayers. Well let’s take a look at her. I saw a clip of her welcoming the Alaskan Independent Organization Conference to her town. She commented how proud she was to have them. The founder of the AIO wants to separate Alaska from the United States and be a sovereign nation because they have the resources to be self-sufficient. He states the he refused to die under the flag of the United States. Todd Palin belongs to the AIO. He’s on the board, in the lower ranks, but he is on the board. Now how patriotic is that? She wanted to cut funds for children with disabilities, and now it’s one of her priorities to push for more funds.

She is litigating to overturn every subsistence fishing and hunting decision the federal government has ever made in Alaska. Instead of using the attorney general, which handles state litigation, she’s using Sen. Ted Stevens’ brother-in-law’s law firm to invalidate all subsistence regulations to protect native fishing and hunting in order to expand sport and commercial and fishing. Although the federal government district court has rejected Palin’s challenge, she has carried an appeal that was argued in August 2008. Her lawsuits are a direct attack on the way of life of native tribes who depend on fishing and hunting for a living.

Did McCain do any real research on this woman? It seems to me it’s not our nation she’s concerned about, but what it has for her and hers. How can we not vote for Obama and Joe Biden when even Gen. Colin Powell questions McCain’s judgment because of his running mate. It scares me to think a leader of our nation (if elected) would have such lack of concern for the people outside of her family and friends.

Ellen Stenseth

Albert Lea