Now that all the excitement of the conventions is over, it is time to get serious about the candidates who are best-suited to run this country.

John McCain is too old and Sarah Palin is not only inexperienced, but scary on so many levels that even traditional Republican voters are supporting Barack Obama.

Ed Koch, who is a longtime Republican supporter, was quoted as saying that Sarah Palin “scares the hell out of him.” I have to concur with Mr. Koch and others. I urge voters, particularly women, to take a long, hard look at the candidates before they vote in November.

Sarah Palin is a disaster waiting to happen. She is completely against abortion, even in the case of rape or incest. She brought her last child into the world with complete disregard for what issues and quality of life that boy will face. Mothers are supposed to protect their children, not subject them to a horrible, inadequate existence.

That boy’s only saving grace is that she and her husband have enough money to pay for all the services that he will need during his life. I know that maybe my remarks sound cruel, but I would not have wished to been born into a very narrow and limited life that she is subjecting this innocent boy to endure.

Then, there are her other enormous inadequacies to deal with. There are the earmarks, the “bridge to nowhere,” obvious warmongering issues, the fact that she hunts down innocent animals. The image of her with a gun is just wrong on so many levels as well. But, the biggest reason is, I hear women saying they will vote for McCain just because he put her on the ticket.

 I am sorry, but that is just foolish and again paints a negative image of women. Please, I am speaking to people of my gender: Do not do this. In the first place, it is just wrong to vote for John McCain (who also is against women’s rights) on that basis alone.

Secondly, a vice president has very little power and will be in the background.

Thirdly, and most importantly, the woman has almost zero experience and would be unprepared to lead if John McCain dies in office.

There are also the problems of her own family and their “supposed” family values and backgrounds. Her husband, Todd Palin, was issued a subpoena and refused to appear because he is saying that the investigation of his wife is political grandstanding.

Here we have another Republican placing himself above the law. This from a man who belonged to a group that wanted to secede from the United States! She said in one of her speeches that she was an ordinary person, just like us. That is not true, either. The woman and her family are well off and are not representative of the normal population.

Personally, I don’t want an ordinary person in the White House. We have had that for the last eight years and look at the shape of this country.

The unemployment rate is the highest it’s been in years; the economic infrastructure is crumbling; the war in Iraq rages on and we have Sarah Palin announcing that we should maybe take on Russia and Iran as well. What is wrong with this picture?

Barack Obama and Joe Biden are intelligent, thoughtful men. They will bring a mixture of intelligence, passion and respect for the United States back to our nation and the world. We have real problems facing this country and we need extraordinary leadership and a new direction.

We do not need a man that voted like his predecessor 90 percent of the time and wants to continue the same failing policies and a woman who is just there for being a woman.

Please think about your choices and make your vote count this November. We need new ideas, and real help, not politics as usual.

(Kite lives in Napa.)