Off to the races

5. September 2008 by admin.

Well, the Democratic National Convention was here in town (Denver) and we just finished with the Republican National Convention in the state where my brother and his wife live (Minnesota) so this has been an interesting connection with my family this year.  But now that they are done, I have to comment on them.

First, it is apparent who the party in power is because of the level of rancor of the protesters at the RNC.  There was a lot of anger and frustration vented in St. Paul.  And yet the people in the Xcel Energy center remain, in my view, out of touch with the common people.  I mean, really!  He owns seven houses and thinks middle class ends in the millions.  (Yes, I know he was jokingly unsure when he gave the figure)  And his pit bitch VP?  She is vicious and mean and vile, the epitome of bitch, and somehow a true representation of the party.  I mean, just look at the speeches by the two parties.  The Republicans seem to know all about the plans and future actions of the Democrats since they kept telling us what would happen.

 - A slight aside, there is a political ad on TV right now that tells you what the Democrats will do including deficit spending, higher taxes, etc.  History proves that the last balanced budget with a surplus was created by a Democrat and destroyed by a Republican…um, please get your facts straight before you try to spout them.

Anyway, the Democrats tended to be a bit more positive in their spin of things, not telling us what the Republicans will do, but what they will do when they get into the White House.  Mind you, they are not absolved of the vitriol and hate mongering, they just tended to focus more on their own agenda instead.  And I guess that’s one of the things that really toasts my buns about the political process is that candidates are so afraid of standing for something that they turn to denigrating their opponents instead.

Well, let me be clear that in my view, people who tear down their opponents are cowards and obviously don’t have any principles on which to stand.  Because people who don’t stand for anything will fall for anything.  Ok, so I stole that one from somewhere.  But it holds true.  If the only way for you to rise above your opponents is to tear them down, then maybe you aren’t worth electing.

Back to the rant, while I appreciate the efforts of John McCain to try and protray himself as a maverick and reformer, my problem is that he left that camp a number of years ago.  When I lived in Arizona and he was my senator, I loved his style and approach, but he gave that up in an effort at appealing to the “masses” and since about 1998ish he has watered down his beliefs.  He’s had 26 years to make changes and while he did try for some 18 years, he lost it before the millenium.  For that, I will have to disbelieve him.

And that’s why he brought Sarah Palin to the ticket.  Oh, believe me, I understand his tactics (and anyone who thinks this is anything other than tactics needs to drink from the fountain of reality) and I even made a comment to my staff the night before the announcement that McCain’s best choice would be a woman for his VP.  If course, I was thinking that it would be someone with a little more name recognition, but there you have it.  However, making her the attack dog for the campaign?  There is a difference between a strong woman and a bitch.  Sarah Palin is a bitch.  Hillary Clinton is a strong woman (most of the time, she had her bitchy moments) so the thought that the Republicans are actually gaining women?  Not the ones who see the hate for what it is.

Joe Biden?  He was the wrong choice as well.  I admire Barack Obama’s campaign for the message they are getting out and the fact that they tend to maintain their positive message more than their counterparts.  But a Senatorial veteran like Biden?  No, Obama had the chance for the dream team and I think he made the wrong choice for the wrong reasons.  In this case, I believe that he is afraid of Hillary and her power.  He had the message, she has the experience, and together they would have been very strong.  And, I bet that McCain would have gone with one of his white male compatriots instead of the Alaskan Mala-not-so-mute.

And here’s one particular rant that the Republicans really have to get right if they ever figure to recover their standing as the party of Lincoln: 93% of the delegates were white?  Ok, if you do not have your delegates representative of the country as a whole?  No wonder you don’t get it.  And 1/2 the delegates had a net worth in excess of $1/2 million.  Damn.  Middle class is basically $35,000 to $80,000, according to the local paper.  Even if we stretch that to $250,000 a year in income (which is 3 times the top of the range) those who “represent” the Republican voters of this nation are NOT representative of this country. 

Ok, so that was a rant, but I truly am angry with the political process in this country.  The two party system doesn’t allow us to truly express our beliefs since the “big tent” or “party umbrella” has to cover far too many people.  While I don’t think the multi-party system always works (see, Italy) it does force people to choose their philosophies and stand for something.  I see the German political process as a successful process for standing for something.  The best part of this is that while you tend to fragment into blocs based on your personal beliefs, the only way to make a government is to compromise.  You develop alliances and work out compromises to get a government together meaning that strength comes from your beliefs and alliances.

Ok, off the soapbox.  This year I am remaining with the Democrats although I vote for the best candidate regardless of party.  I voted for Reagan because he was the best candidate.  I did not vote for Bush, either time and feel smug enough to laugh at people who did.  You get what you vote for and this year, I am definitely voting for change.  The risks of change are much less than knowing what you are getting.  And I think everyone knows what we would get.

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