Current Thoughts on Election 08

I’ve been going back and forth between being disgusted with politics and being fascinated by it. There’s a lot of things to be genuinely interested in, but all in all, I hate the presidential election process.

I know it shouldn’t, but the whole thing depresses me. I hate talking points. I hate character assassination. I hate the cynical pandering. I hate swing voters. But most of all, I hate the distortions and outright lies of politics, which are proudly on display from both parties.

But I know that only a very small percentage of voters will be making up their minds based on a cool assessment of facts. Politics is an emotional game, and campaigns are designed to manipulate our most base and powerful emotions. It insults our intelligence, and clouds the real issues we face, but it works, and it works extremely well.

Disgust aside, I’m with Obama. His voting record despite voting for FISA is pretty consistent with what I’m looking for. Biden has had some votes that I’m not very happy with, but that pretty much reflects most of the democratic party.

I wish the nominee was Kucinich, but it is what it is.

I’ve said it before. I used to like McCain, and I really wish I could still like him. But as time goes on I’m more and more convinced that he’s already in the throes of dementia. He seems confused and uncomfortable most of the time, and I don’t think that’s from a distaste for party politics.

Palin… wow. Having grown up in Alaska, I’m pretty familiar with people like Sarah, and I have to hand it to her that she’s been able to splash onto a national scene so quickly in her political career. I’m not so concerned about her lack of experience as I am with her already clearly demonstrated propensity for covering up things that could look bad for her. Her handling of the firing, announcing her daughter’s pregnancy only after rampant speculation that she was in fact the mother of Trig, ugh. Transparency would not be the first word I would associate with her. She also has shown that she’s more interested in cronyism than qualification with her appointments, and I don’t think that’s something that America can take for another 4-8 years. I don’t believe the reformer or maverick rep for a second. Every example they’ve put forth seems like calculated political maneuvering, not principled policy decisions. The choice of her as a running mate is very clearly pandering to both women and the evangelicals, and I think it’s a desperate move. It’s very clear that McCain’s campaign didn’t vet her, and I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if something incriminating enough came out to kill her candidacy. Alaska is the wild west man.

The tone of the republican convention beggars belief. I was actually, physically stunned when they rolled out the “we need change from a democratic Washington” line of shit. That just takes tremendous brass balls to try and pull off. But of course the party shills nod their heads and hope if they repeat it enough, people will eventually buy it.

There is a profound stink of death to the republican ticket, and it says a great deal that the guy they’ve fielded is one that they all hate. I really think they’re phoning it in this time around because they know they need time to strengthen the base again. They know Bush has bankrupted the party of all its credibility and they need time and distance in order to start talking to the american people again with a straight face.

Even in the face of his experience criticism, Obama is an incredibly strong candidate. Far stronger than either Kerry or Gore were. The republican attempts to paint him as an elitist are trying to take the shine off of his likability. If John Kerry was robotic, and Gore was boring, then John McCain is your crotchety second uncle who can’t stop telling you war stories that you’ve heard time and time again in order to feel like he’s still relevant at thanksgiving dinner. Even the republicans want to face his chair into the corner and just get on with things. And leave it to the republicans, who have long been calling Hillary Clinton bitchy, to bring in a woman who’s nickname is barracuda to try and sweep up her disaffected voters. Stay classy repubs.

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