I have something I need to get off my chest.

At risk of ruining the entire election (as if I have that much power in influencing public opinion), there’s something I just have to admit:

I like John McCain. A lot.

I know, I know. My past columns would lead you to believe that I’m a staunch raving, Republican-hating liberal. That’s only partly true — which parts you can decide for yourself.

But despite my Obama-loving, Sheriff Joe-disapproving, liberal-laced columns past, I fully respect Republican presidential nominee and Arizona Senator John McCain.

Sure, on the exterior, he looks a little like a grumpy albino turtle-raisin, but on the inside he has a heart of gold. Really old gold.

McCain has changed since he started heavily campaigning for the presidency, though. He has gone from being a completely respectable moderate Republican to being a puppet on a string for the national Republican Party.

But McCain has a tough break this election. The crowd that elected President Bush — conservative evangelicals — is weary to throw their support behind McCain based on his moderate past. Because of this, McCain has to continue to reach for their support, losing what ideals are really important to him in the process.

At the same time, McCain has to play to undecided voters, displaced Hillary-supporting women and, sadly, people who are just too afraid to vote for a black man. It’s a tough gig attempting to rally these extremely different kinds of people behind one candidate, which might be the McCain camp’s toughest obstacle in the face of a dwindling campaign.

I can’t help but think, though, what kind of a president McCain would be. Unlike most liberals, I don’t think McCain is like President Bush. Not at all. Although I do think that the longer this presidential campaign goes, the more Bush-like the McCain camp becomes.

But then came the straw that broke the camel’s back, and it was shaped like an Alaskan governor. The choice that drove McCain to pick Sarah Palin as his vice presidential nominee proved to be a momentarily brilliant political move, but then it backfired. The public quickly looked into her record and decided that she was highly unqualified to be vice president, or president in the rather likely possibility that something life-threatening happens to McCain in office.

It’s a shame, really. McCain is highly qualified to be president. The past eight years could have looked a lot different if the GOP had supported John McCain in 2000.

When McCain recently stood up for Obama when a completely misguided voter at a recent campaign stop said she couldn’t trust Obama because he was an “Arab,” McCain handled the situation brilliantly and with class. He simply shook his head and said “no, no.”

Any other candidate, Republican or Democrat, may have taken that opportunity to expand on and embrace those ignorant ideas, but McCain’s response proved to me that he might just be the “straight shooter” and “maverick” he claims to be.

This election is the complete opposite of the 2004 election. Instead of choosing between the lesser of two evils, the public can choose between two highly qualified and passionate candidates. In the end, it’s not a competition to decide who is going the mess up this country the least, but who can help it the most.

Although this will be the first presidential election I will be voting in, somehow I think this is how they’re supposed to be.

Despite the kind words, Christina is still supporting Barack Obama. E-mail her at christina.caldwell@asu.edu.