It always makes me a little nervous to speak about my beliefs and hopes in terms of the political party or team that I support in a given year. Clearly, this is the result of the letdown that we Democrats experienced back in 2004. For a team to lose about Bush and Cheney at that point was inexcusable. But that is exactly what the Dems did. I didn't particularly like John Kerry or John Edwards, but the alternative was just not an option for me. At that point, I was really just getting back into politics on the whole and I didn't really follow the process from the beginning of the campaign season. Regardless, I supported the ticket. In the end, the Republicans painted the two as weak candidates and America apparently decided that it would rather have the known commodity in Bush and Cheney rather than go with two men that were perceived as weak. Flash forward to now and John Edwards' political career is all but finished due to his adultery. John Kerry, on the other hand, is able to be the powerful figure that he should have been in 2004. The Democrats had a convention where they effective displayed their power and put a solid platform on display. I am happy with their criticisms on the Republican Party and John McCain because they came across as being intelligent and forceful without stooping to typical political name-calling. Republicans will disagree with me, I'm sure.
At this point in time, the Republicans have just started their national convention. So let me talk about John McCain and Sarah Palin. Biggest political Hail Mary that I have ever been witness to? Without a doubt. As we are now finding out today, Palin was not thoroughly vetted by the McCain campaign. This is evidenced by the fact that McCain's team has sent some representatives to Alaska to delve a little deeper into her history. So far, there have been some interesting developments. I couldn't care less that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant. However, as more things come out about her in the next few days and weeks, it becomes more and more apparent that the decision to choose her as his VP was very rash on McCain's part. "Transparent" is a word that has been thrown around to describe the choice. I think that about sums it up. While the Republicans out there will tout her "Conservative-ness", it is a clear grasp at securing some of the Hillary Clinton dissidents. And the best that Hillary can do is go out and make it clear that Palin is not the same choice as Hillary. I didn't really agree with how Clinton handled the primary season, but she has shown since that she does have the power to be influential this fall. Depending on what comes out concerning Palin (and the list continues to grow as I type this!), Hillary might not have much work to do. It will be incredibly interesting to see how the Republicans frame the argument concerning the quick pick as we move forward in the process. For the time being, I'll just sit back and enjoy the digging.
There is plenty of time for things to change between now and November 4th. Nothing is guaranteed at this point. But if things continue to play out as they have recently, I do believe that Obama will be the next President of this country. I cannot begin to explain how much the thought of that inspires me. Trust me, I do not have any unrealistic expectations about what he may or may not do as President. As much as I would like to see it, I do not think that he will be able to change Washington as much as it needs to be changed. But I do believe that he will put the country back on track. We have moved so far off course in the last eight years and I just do not see the Republicans changing very much. Picking up a few more seats in the House and Senate will certainly help, so hopefully that pans out as well. This country is in need of a fresh look. Over the past 20 years, American has seen two familes control the political landscape. Regardless of who is elected this fall, that will change. The difference is that one candidate will most likely continue the traditions of the outgoing President while the other one will do his best to break those traditions.
What will we do this time around?
Welcome Arthur Eoin Lugar
14 years ago
3 comments:
What I would disagree with is your conclusion about the way in which those individuals represent their arguments (I am referring to I believe your third paragraph, unfortunately blogspot does not let me view the article while I am writing a comment, rather unfortunate I do believe). They are just like the typical democrat, if there is such a thing, and basically act as if they are above everything and everyone elses notions all the while being just a deceitful, untruthful, or twisters of the truth as anyone else is for that matter, that is of course if they are involved in politics. Politics is a dirty business. Period. The only sincerity is from the people auditing and doing their homework on the masters of misinformation or persuaders. Don't let the guy who has controlled volume and his hands in his lap be more persuasive merely because he is more controlledl than the emotional guy.
Furthermore, I think this is why so many people become disinfranchised with the press, when they clearly favor one side and only dig up the dirt on one candidate than others.
On a more lighter note, I recently read a few blogs, not to suggest all bloggers or people who do not blog think like bloggers, but the majority were going on a rant about fox news and how big of liars they were. The funny thing is that I have watched both CNN and Fox news and I honestly believe that although each channel has a slant, Fox was (at least when I was watching it) more fair/bi-partisan than CNN. It was actually pretty insane to me. I really wish someone would do a study and discover the truth underlying on the claims about the slants.
~the devil's advocate (Cerid)
Excellent comments. I'll do my best to respond to them later tonight.
Thank you for posting.
All right. A few places where we disagree. I don't believe that the "typical Democrat" is any more or less deceitful or untruthful than the "typical Republican". On that same stream, I think that for any example of the Democrats acting like they are above everything and everyone else, you can find an example of how out of touch Republicans are with America. It really boils down to the normal American political debate. Democrats are elitists and Republicans are out of touch. This race is really no different. On the last point of your first paragraph: I see no issue with showing emotion. However, emotion becomes an issue when it results in irrational behavior. Passion is something that plays a large role in my life and I believe there is a lot of merit in being guided by it. However, when that emotion leads to bad decisions, that is when the line is crossed in my mind. I am not saying that John McCain is irrational, but a lot of his decisions as of late seem to be pointing towards the extremes. And I'm not exactly sure that is really what we need at this point.
As for the media and such, I pretty much never pay attention to any of them. I watch them and listen, but I form my own opinion. Part of the issue with the political process in America is the fact that so many people watch these pundits (regardless of what station they speak on) and they take their word as bond. Nothing frustrates me more than someone who cannot form their own opinion on something as important as this. And all of the networks have people that are either more or less fair than the other ones. It's just a shame when people are really influenced by what they see on the news.
That being said, I do think that the media has been extremely hard on both parties, but at different times. During the Democratic primary, each night was a race to see what someone could dig up on Obama. Whether it was some new sermon by Jeremiah Wright or some other connection with William Ayers, it was all over the news. Now, it's happening to Palin. But is this such a bad thing? Both are relative newcomers to the political scene and both are very close to being leaders of this country. I think it is important to know about them. Now, there have times when they have gone too far on both sides, but that is a fact of political life. You do not go in to politics expecting to have your personal life stay personal. That is the nature of the beast.
Once again, I appreciate you taking the time to respond here and I'm sure we will have more discussions as we get closer to the election. It's going to be fun.
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