Last week I walked into the break room. There were two folks taking opposing views on who did better in which debate.
8 days into 2008 and the presidential election is in the break room.
I’d like to take this opportunity early in this hell year to make a request of the readers of this blog.
Be intelligent and not apathetic.
This actually goes a long way. The terms ‘democrat’, ‘republican’, ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’ have all pretty much lost their original definition.
The bi-partisan government wants you to be polarized, pick a side, and then see if they can get a 50/50 vote that will require their unbiased hand to help decide.
The issues that will be argued and debated are all things that will not be dealt with. They are simply hot button terms designed to make you pick “one side” or “the other side”… Black or white… there is no middle ground.
Well, the government would like you to believe there is no middle ground.
Last hell-year, I watched as intelligent friends fell right into the morass and backed their candidate based on how well they linked up with their list of pointless issues. I watched as they bickered these points. I saw people in social circles actually come to blows.
This year… think about what’s important to you. What are the problems you see on your street, in your town, state, etc. Because I can guarantee you; stem cell research, gay marriage, social security privatization, removing evolution from the school books… will not occur in the next 4 years.
People say that their vote doesn’t count. That government doesn’t accomplish anything.
Both are unfortunately, untrue. Unfortunate, because we let the government polarize us into a 50/50 split. If just one state did something unexpected the election would change. Visibly.
And before you tell me that government can’t accomplish something in a timely manner… get me started on how the Washington state legislature made online gambling a felony in 45 days from law proposal to passage.
I stand by the phrase with which they promoted the move “V for Vendetta”
“People should not be afraid of their government. Government should be afraid of their people.”
I am not a Democrat. I am not a Republican.
I am an individual.
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Thought I would share something I wrote for the Rutgers paper after the 05 elections…
Last night as I was standing in the kitchen making a couple hamburgers, something about the elections occurred to me. All this negative campaigning, along with much less moderate candidates, could have been planned.
Stay with me here, it isn’t that far fetched, and only requires you to believe that the republican and democratic parties (organizations of politicians) are working together to maintain there mutual power, and screw everyone else.
Negative campaigning has been sinking to new levels. In the just completed campaign for NJ governor, one of the candidates used an ad featuring the ex-wife of his primary opponent. This was the type of ad that polarized people, in this case generally pushing them to the opponent’s side because most voters thought it was in poor taste, and they did not want someone who would run an ad like that in office.
With less moderate candidates running, you get further polarization. The “other guy” looks more and more evil to each side, so they vote for the candidate who is in the other big party, because they REALLY do not like the guy in the other big party.
Especially here in NJ, people are always complaining about corruption. What is the best they generally can swing to get rid of it? Vote for the other guy.
Where am I going with all this?
In a lot of cases, the independent parties run candidates that appeal to a lot of voters, but they don’t get the votes. This has a lot to do with money, I will grant you, but with the big 2 parties making the other side look like the devil incarnate, many voters who would like to vote for an independent “can’t” because they can’t let “that guy” win.
Is it a bit of a stretch to say that they are working together? Probably, but you never know… Whether or not they are working together, they are working to maintain their monopoly on politics, and it is working.
The terms ‘democrat’, ‘republican’, ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’ have all pretty much lost their original definition.
That is very true. And even now, people mean such variant things when they use these terms that almost any political discussion necessitates taking the time to make sure what is meant is what’s understood. In other words, definitions are called for.
I hate when people ask me whom I plan to vote for. For starters, it’s not any of their business, nosy-parkers. Secondly, I don’t vote for people. I generally vote for issues, but I have very few issues. I figure it’s a better way to vote than to pick the better-looking candidate. (I hear, horrifyingly, that this is how some women actually pick.) I tell people I work in elections and they want to know what party. They don’t understand when I tell them I have no party affiliations. They are generally completely disbelieving when I tell them I have no opinion on whom they are voting for. My only concern is that at least they are voting.
Party affiliations are outdated and a bit passé.
Agreed, 100%.
It makes it virtually impossible to choose a candidate, based on all of that… but oh well. Gotta go with my gut, I suppose.
Thank you. I tend to pick the candidates that are most likely to leave me alone (translation: will not pass laws that interfere with my life). Roe vs. Wade is a very crucial issue for me, since I am female and wish to remain child-free.
At least half the issues do not affect me (illegal immigration and the estate tax for rich people, for instance), and a lot of the others (anything economic except raising the minimum wage) are incomprehensible.
That tends to make me care passionately about a few issues. Electing a candidate who does not “believe” in evolution, for instance, is, to me, just as bad as electing somebody who believes the Earth is flat. Someone who is willfully ignorant should not be in charge of the United States.
I don’t care whether someone is Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, whatever. If I had my druthers, I’d like to see Clinton win and pick Ron Paul to be in charge of any policy related to war. (Ron Paul would keep us from getting into any more Iraq-type debacles).
I am not a Democrat. I am not a Republican.
I am an individual.
you and all the other “independents.” 😀