In the spirit of the Election season, I thought I would do some investigation into why so many sportsmen support John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin in the upcoming presidential election. in fact I found a site, Sportsmen for McCain that presented in an embedded video a detailed discussion of how John McCain represents sportsmen.
First and foremost, McCain has a better stance on firearms, gun control and the second amendment than Senator Obama. This is the number one reason most hunters I speak to endorse the Republican ticket.
Also I feel his agricultural policies are in line with the development of habitat for wildlife, by enabling Americas farmers and ranchers to continue produce the worlds safest and most abundant food supply. Since wildlife depend on private agricultural lands a healthy agriculture industry means a healthy wildlife population.
McCain has even stepped up on the subject of climate change with market based incentives for reducing greenhouse emissions. It is a balanced approach to stimulating a healthy economy , while maintaining a healthy planet.
When I saw Sarah Palin as the vice presidential candidate, I knew this was a ticket for sportsmen. As the governor of a state with the most square miles of wild lands, and the greatest production of gas and oil in the United States, Sarah brings a unique perspective regarding the balance between energy and habitat. After visiting Alaska in 2007, I’ve seen how wild it truly is. I doubt there is a sportsman in the lower 48 who wouldn’t like their local hunting grounds to be more like those in Alaska in terms of wildlife diversity and population. That value of wildlife both in economic and recreational terms is a good addition to the McCain ticket from a sportsman’s perspective.
So there you have my personal political opinion. Something I’m not very used to giving, and you won’t see very often in this column. But I felt it warranted a mention before election day. Regardless of your personal views, I do hope that all of my readers will turn out to vote. I feel it is our civic duty to use our democratic privilege. I’ll see you at the polls.
