Hope! Reform! Change we can believe in! Stand up and fight for your country! There is no more exciting time in the presidential elections for a political junkie like me than during the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. Hour after hour I sat in front of my TV watching C-SPAN’s no-frills coverage of the old and new stars of each of our country’s two main political parties making their cases for the future of our nation. There was, however, one main theme that rang in my ears after all of the Hollywood sets and soaring rhetoric were gone: actions speak louder.

I cannot help but admit that when it comes to giving a great speech and inspiring the masses, Barack Obama stands head and shoulders above John McCain, but in America we want a president that is a leader and not just a motivational speaker. Barack Obama and Joe Biden may talk a good game, but who will you trust to take action on the tough decisions that face our nation daily? When I ask myself this question, the answer is clearly Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin.

“The change we need doesn’t come from Washington, it comes to Washington,” said Senator Obama in his speech at the DNC. This sounds good, but when it was time to act on selecting a nominee for Vice President, Obama selected Joe Biden, who has been in Washington for 36 years. That is ten years longer than old Johnny Mac! Senator McCain was the one who actually went outside of Washington to select the “Thrilla from Wasilla,” Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. Her record of reform and independence is exactly the type of change John McCain has decided to bring to Washington. Barack Obama talked, and John McCain acted.

Both John McCain and Barack Obama have promised to reach across party lines to find the best solutions, regardless of which party introduced them. Who can you trust to act on this promise? According to FactCheck.org, from 2005-2007 John McCain has voted with his party on key issues 67, 77 and 95 percent of the time, respectively, whereas Barack Obama has voted with the Democratic party on the same issues 97, 96 and 97 percent of the time. Obama constantly harps on John McCain for engaging in more of the same old partisan politics, but the facts show that during all of the past three years, Obama is the one voting most strictly by party lines.

The National Journal put out a ranking of the most liberal senators based on their voting records and found Barack Obama to be the most liberal, with Joe Biden ranking third during the 2007 congressional session. In selecting Sarah Palin, John McCain has someone who disagrees with him on ANWR, global warming and other issues, but Senator Obama stuck with someone very close to his far left ideology. John McCain realizes that political diversity best represents the variety of views in our country, but Barack Obama seems to think that his viewpoint is the only one that should be represented. The voting records of these men seem to suggest Senator McCain is the one who has actually acted on his calls for bipartisanship.

John McCain has also drawn strong criticism in the past from conservatives like me over his votes against the Bush tax cuts, his criticism of President Bush’s original strategy in Iraq, his strong stance against global warming and an immigration bill that allows illegal immigrants in our country an easier path toward citizenship. For example, in 2003 John McCain took a lot of heat from conservatives for voting against the Bush tax cuts, saying, “I cannot in good conscience vote in favor of tax cuts irrespective of their size or to which segment of the population they are targeted.” I don’t doubt that John McCain believes that taxes need to be kept low in order to strengthen our economy, but he also understands that you can’t cut taxes while massively increasing spending. Although I still have disagreements with Senator McCain on some of these issues, I have developed a great respect for his positions and admire his courage to lead in tough situations.

Governor Sarah Palin also has a record of acting with courage on tough issues. She took on the corrupt Republican political machine in Alaska and won, which isn’t an easy task for someone without expansive political connections. One example of her reformist record is how she sold the jet her predecessor had bought with state money. “That luxury jet was over the top,” Palin said to loud cheers at the Republican convention. “I put it on eBay.”  She also took on the big oil companies in Alaska by taxing them as heavily as other companies and she has even been praised by environmentalists for taking on political corruption related to the oil and gas industry. Sarah Palin knows that actions speak louder.

Barack Obama faced tough votes on issues when he was in the Illinois State Senate, but 129 times he chose to bypass going on the record with a “yes” or “no” and simply voted “present.” One of the votes he voted “present” on concerned whether or not a doctor could provide medical care to a child who was supposed to be aborted but was somehow born anyway. Voting “present” on tough issues like this isn’t John McCain or Sarah Palin’s style and it isn’t the kind of leadership our country needs.

Finally, when it comes to who you can trust as Commander-in-Chief, John McCain has a long history of successful leadership that Barack Obama lacks. As a prisoner of war in Vietnam, he refused to be released before those who were captured ahead of him, and he tried to boost morale among his fellow prisoners by giving them small signs that he was OK. When the President began the war in Iraq, John McCain said they needed more troops. Now success is being achieved in Iraq through the troop surge that he supported and Senator Obama still opposes. In the global security climate that exists today, we need a president who is ready to act immediately in the best interest of our country. John McCain has the judgment, the experience and the courage to keep our country safe.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden are good men who love their families and their country, but when it comes time to act on all of the hard decisions that a president must make, I believe John McCain and Sarah Palin have the records of action we need. A speech can’t win a war, strengthen the economy or improve our health care system, so this election, don’t vote for who gives you the most goose bumps; vote for the team of action who can lead on day one.