Small Business Owners Weigh In on Obama and McCain: And It's Not Pretty

As over 4,000 small business owners weighed in on our MerchantCircle Presidential Election Survey, more than 90 comments have been left on our survey results found here. The comments show that business owners are taking a very active, and vocal role in this year's election. The arguments for or against McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden are not always pretty. In fact, some of them border on outrageous. Here are some of the commenters against Obama say:

- "I don't know how Obama (we know what his middle name is) is so high in the polls when most people I talk to say they would not vote for him. He scares me to death!!"

- "Obama hates all that America stands for, and if he is elected it will be the begining of the end of America."

Not exactly sure what Obama's middle name has to do with his character or leadership skills or how he'll help out small businesses. Some of those against McCain have also shown little restraint:

- "He's lost his soul to win an election. We don't a need vindictive, wishy washy old troll leading this country!!"

- "If you really want 4 more years of what we have had to endure, please vote for the old guy and Gov. Avon Lady...give me a break...Just more of the Bush agenda."

Not sure what age has to do with someone's ability to lead either. Not everyone has been taken away with name-calling though, there were many comments that did focus on small business and the economy:

- "98% of small businesses make under $250,000 so they would actually benefit by Obama's plan, not McCain's. Obama wants to work from the bottom up instead of the policy we have seen for the past eight years, which is to work from the top down and hope some of it trickles down - it hasn't worked."

- "Raising taxes for anyone in this economic climate would be a mistake. Anyone who thinks that those companies who bring in 250K per year and will have higher taxes hit them won't affect those companies and individuals who bring in less are sadly mistaken. If you think unemployment is bad now wait until those tax hikes hit the employers who must cut jobs to adapt."

As the election comes down to it's final two weeks - we hope that the conversation does not become as hate-filled as some of the recent negative ads directed towards both candidates. For a look at up-to-date electoral votes for each candidate, you can check here. Here's a broad look at both candidate's proposals for Taxes, Health Care, Trade, and Startup Incentives.

Sincerely,
Kevin
Community Relations