I didn’t vote in the presidential primary yesterday. I couldn’t. It was a closed primary. Only registered Democrats or Republicans could vote. I changed my party last fall when it looked as if Hillary Clinton was a shoo-in for the Democratic nomination. I didn’t want to be affiliated any longer with a party that would consider putting her into the White House. I registered as Independent.

I voted for Bill Clinton. Twice. But after the Lewinsky debacle I lost respect for him. I lost even more respect for Hillary. “Stand by your man” is great in theory, but when your man is adulterous, lies about it and behaves in a way that is humiliating to you and to the country he’s been elected to lead, it just might be time to wonder if he deserves your unwavering commitment. I think Hillary’s own political aspirations had a lot to do with her choices. That’s fine, but she won’t get a vote from me.

Beyond that, Hillary seems to have learned the fine art of “misspeaking” from her husband. She “misspeaks” about being under sniper fire, Obama “misspeaks” about small town America.

I’m not crazy about John McCain, but I don’t recall him having been caught in lies during this campaign.

I’m not a very political person, but some issues are important to me.

I think that we have a job to do in Iraq, and pulling out before that job is complete is irresponsible and a slap in the face to the men and women who have sacrificed so much the past couple of years to do that job. No one – not George Bush and not McCain – wants our country to be at war, but sometimes there’s a job that needs to be done, and it’s not always pretty.

I think it’s important to tap the energy resources we have in our own country and not be dependent on foreign oil. That way if something crazy happens – say a rocket hits an oil tanker in Yemen and oil prices hit an all-time high – we’re still OK.

And I’ve always been pro-life, although political correctness now refers to that position as anti-abortion. We certainly wouldn’t want to offend anyone. It’s a euphemism – kind of like “misspeaking” instead of lying.

Based on those issues, McCain would probably get my vote anyway, but simple decency is important to me, too. “Misspeaking” is a habit. If someone thinks it’s OK to do it even once – particularly a presidential candidate on the campaign trail – I lose faith in the veracity of any words that pass their lips.

It’s hard to decide whom to support as president. Who knows what dirt will be uncovered in the course of the campaign.

In voting for the decency ticket, however, perhaps we should look to our own small town political success story and someone who is as honorable as a man can be: Dick Stevenson for president.

Anyone with me?