I’m still not sure who I’ll be pressing the button for tomorrow, Obama and McCain both present positions that are untenable in my opinion. Neither of them represent my core values and beliefs on the role of government. I can’t even pull a “lesser of two evils” as I did in 2004, because these guys are so off-their-rocker that it’s just sad!
It’s not like it matters much, though. I live in the state of Texas, which will send all its electoral votes for McCain, no questions asked. Most of you who read my blog are from either Texas or Utah, which both enjoy a stranglehold by the Republican party in Presidential politics. So whoever I vote for would be a vote of conscience, without much real meaning.
The electoral college sucks. It was a 18th century necessity, but not a 21st century one. It’s no wonder we have such great voter apathy in this nation, since a great majority of American’s votes really don’t count for jack.
From the latest polls, though, it is obvious that the Republicans are going to get spanked this year, and the only question which remains is: How big will the landslide be? In my opinion the Republican party totally deserves it. They had 6 years of control of Congress and the White House, and their only accomplishments: No Child Left Behind and repeatedly funding the Iraq War.
McCain’s campaign has not had a cohesive, resonant message for months (no, I DO NOT consider “Joe the Plumber” to be a message), nor did they set up any kind of overarching campaign theme that resonated with anyone from the outset. They have been spending months and millions of dollars hacking at the leaves, and not striking at the root. Now, in the final days of the campaign, they are running a fear-based campaign (I’m less bad than that guy). McCain deserves to lose in a landslide.
My friend Michelle recently articulated her views on this subject, when she described why she decided to cast her vote for Obama:
I am not a democrat and I have never voted for a democrat before. As far as political philosophies go, I am a true conservative. I believe in a limited government. I don’t think it’s the government’s place to regulate personal freedom or morality. …True republicanism, to me is ordinary citizens electing the wisest, most educated and intelligent leaders to govern for them, not over them…
…The Republican Party used to be a party of conservatives and if they had produced a conservative candidate, I would have voted for that person. Instead, the Party has been overrun by a “base” that I neither respect nor identify with. Conservatism has been replaced with a dangerous populism that celebrates an “us vs. them” world view, seeks to erase the line between church and state, and uses fear as a primary motivator. The Republicans have had the last eight years to implement these ideals and the results speak for themselves…
If Obama wins tomorrow, I hope it is proof that:
- Campaigns based on hope, optimism and the future are better than those of fear, misinformation, and a hunker-down-and-dig-in mentality.
- The Republicans have moved too far to the right, leaving out the moderates and centrists in many ways. Bush’s failure to deliver on the promise of compassionate conservatism ended up being a big slap in the face to those moderates who believed in that promise in 2000, and calls into question whether such centricity is even possible with such a crazy, wild-eyed, right-wing base.
- The Republican party will only be able to win future elections by reaching out, rather than reaching around to pat itself on the back.
The good news is that parties can change relatively quickly. Remember the mess the Democrats had been in since the mid-nineties? And here they are, remade as a party and electing a historic candidate to the office of President. The Republicans will have some work to do, that is if they are truly listening to the voices of me, Michelle, and a whole lot of other people I know who are totally dissatisfied with how they’ve run the joint this year.
This will be my last political post for a good long while! I’m done thinking about this.
Everyone get out and vote tomorrow. Remember, if you don’t vote (however meaningless your vote may be), you have no right to complain about anything for the next 2/4/6 years.
After Mitt Romney was off the ticket, I basically gave up following anything. McCain makes me sick (he’s a vicious snake in the grass in my opinion) and I don’t know what to think about Obama. I didn’t watch the speeches or the conventions. I know little about Sarah Palin and her “you betcha’s” or the geezer that’s with Obama who’s suppose to give him street cred. Each of my parents voted for a different candidate–almost unheard of in my family. And what it comes down to, I think (for me), is that this is one of the biggest disappointments in presidential election history. I know everyone hates Bush, but I don’t. Yeah, he’s made some mistakes (big ones–NCLB alone makes me want to strangle him), but at least when he ran both times, I felt like I’d made a choice I would be comfortable living with. I have no idea who I’ll be voting for either. I think I may just write in Mitt Romney, not because he’s Mormon, but because his ideas, etc. seem to match up with what I would’ve wanted to see in the White House. Maybe we can convince him to run again in four years? Maybe by then America might be ok with electing him . . . but I doubt it.
I have to say: I don’t think Michelle could have expressed my personal viewpoint about this election if she had tried. I’m sick of the Republican party being the world’s morality police all the while expanding the size of the government, spending taxpayer money for programs I don’t support, and as Michelle said, “using fear as a primary motivator.” I’m not a registered anything, but until the Republican party can get it’s base under control and get back to the ideals upon which the party was founded, they’re going to continue losing more and more people.
I think you may have been hit by too much news, who have reported on themselves even for having trashed McCain and Palin while being Obama’s main suppporters. I don’t think McCain’s campaign has been as clear as it should have been, but at the same right, the more I read about the man, the more convinced I am that he’s the one I want running this country. Orson Scott Card really nails my opinion in this article: http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2008-10-26-1.html
Amen. Voting this year made me feel nauseous. For me personally and more for my poor country that will have to be represented in international politics by one of these two awful choices. I am embarrassed for us. And scared.
On another note….thanks for the help with my spelling. I was thinking that it didn’t look right. Second, send me your address and I’ll see what I can do.
It sounds like if McCain is elected, there will be some who might just go out and hang themselves???? If Obama is elected, life will go on for everyone. But my thought is that if he is elected, it will be the younger generation who will pay the price….my grand children and great grand children….select carefully and vote wisely for their future. Do not think just about today but look down the road for what you would like for tomorrow. Education, Supreme Court, Taxes, and Morality just to name a few. Do not be deceived by the saying ” Today, eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die”.
Thanks Brows for the blog.
Wow! I love your comments and I wish you’d convey my heartfelt thanks and agreement to your friend Michelle. I loved your summary as this campaign did distinguish itself with some element of “hope” and aversion to dirty tactics. The past vile campaigns has made elections a bitter sand box that does nothing to advance what America was founded on: Hope and Optimism of better things to come!
As someone who tries to stay away from hype and emotional arguments and who tries to get as much good solid truth (if there is such a thing) from the political arena without going insane, I try to give each candidate a chance from the start to the end. There is one thing that really stands out to me negatively about Obama, Sean Hannity brought it to my attention.
If Obama were applying for a job with the FBI or CIA would his background check be clear enough for the job? He did rub shoulders with a lot of very interesting people… for a long time… It makes me think back to when a military investigator interviewed me about a old mission companion I served with in Russia, (my friend was going for a special forces position.) there are some Interesting questions that may have disqualified him for the position…
so all of you can take that how you like but it really firmed up some things for me.
Thanks Adam for the link. That is a very thought provoking article.