When I was a child I remember Mad Dog and Mommy Dearest taking me with them to vote. They always knew the registrars and made it seem like such a wonderful privilege that we were Allowed to have input into this decision. Golf pencils, striped curtains in little metal booths- It was almost mystical.
Then I registered to vote. Sigh. Promptly at 18. Seriously- my mother would pick up absentee ballots and mail them to me at school. I have rarely, if ever, missed a chance to vote. I voted! stickers line the visor of my car.
Mad Dog and I have had some very nice conversations about "The Devil you know is safer than the Devil you don't know." Check. and "A divided congress produces less legislation which is a good thing." Check.
Now, you know I don't much like to talk about my actual political leanings....I would truly call myself an independent. In local elections, where I can usually meet people or at least meet people who work for the people for whom I'm voting, there appears to be no rime or reason to my voting. I try to vote for the best person for the office. I personally don't think local elections should be based on Party affiliation- because who cares if your local Revenue Commissioner is pro choice or pro gun rights? I want to know- Is s/he honest? Can s/he do the job and inspire others to do their job for her/him? But then again, When I'm Philosopher King....
In fact, I'm pretty happy with my local choices. (Heh. If I told you those stories you might be able to figure out who I am!) What I want to talk about is the fact that I'm tired of voting for the third party candidate in Presidential elections, which I only do because I hate both choices and I know if the major third party candidate gets votes its easier for his party to get on the ballot next time so its my little way of contributing to the system.
But I'm tired of it. I want to WANT to vote for someone. I want to read a candidate's stats and go, Ohhhh I want this person to lead my country.
I listened to (twenty minutes of) the Republican Debates last night (before I felt really, really stabby and took a mental health break to watch... well, honestly, I flipped through the channels until it was over). I've listened to some of the Democrat's debates, too. And I'm... Just.... Ehhh. First, if you have not, read MSNBC's commentary by Economists on yesterday's debates- it was absolutely superb. I would vote for any one of those guys purely on their economic knowledge and I have no idea what their stance is on anything else- but if the economy is running well, I can pretty much live with anything.... I spent 10 minutes looking for the comments, but I can't find them today. MSNBC had three economists commenting on the candidate's answers. It was soooo insightful.
First of all, Economists are like Philosophers in that they just know the world would be a better place if people actually were educated to a basic level in their field. I gotta say, after reading their commentary, I have to agree with them. We need to have a better understanding of basic economic principles so that we can understand these numbers candidates are pulling out of their behinds and throwing around for all to use- Like ___ percent of the nation's spending is spent on ___. I'm already generally suspicious of Percentages.... knowing as I do that while statistics seldom lie, statisticians often do- and politicians using statisticians for their own purpose.... that's downright scary. Or understanding Huckaby's "Fair Tax" plan (Which I generally favor in theory- think about how much revenue it would generate from non-legal residents alone....)
Anywho, I thought Romney's Law and Order joke was awesome. I liked Huckaby. I enjoy people who think outside the box on taxes. I thought Fred needed to get a little more... animated. I have enormous respect for McCain because- frankly, P.O.W.- so if I were trapped on a desert island with a candidate- I'm picking McCain, but "I wish interest rates were zero?" Are you really that ignorant? (That plus the whole he's no longer Episcopalian but is now an evangelical ? = totally disgusted.) I guess I should include some Democrats in this tirade: Barac... like you. LOVEEE your wife. You should have served another term. I just don't think you have enough wisdom under your belt. Hillary... you know, I never liked you much until I read the Atlantic Monthly article- which was outstanding. I'm afraid you and Guillani have the same problem- some people like you, but a fair number of people absolutely HATE you.
Here's what I want: I want the candidates (all of them- Democrats, Independents and Republicans alike) to take the Advanced Placement High School Economics exam and provide their scores. I would also like the results to the AP Government exam. Oh, and the citizenship test. Yep, I could feel really good about a candidate if s/he could do well on those three tests.
Because Social Security would have been a great program if you stupid politicians kept your fingers out of the pie and left our money there earning interest like it was supposed to. Because understanding the State's domain and Federal Gov't domain is a big one for me. Because I know that due to the enormous complexity of our Fed gov't bad people hide waste and corruption. Because a 1,000 page law IS a bad law no matter what it says- with that length comes Pork, corruption, loopholes and graft.
I want an honorable person to be elected...I WANT to Want YOU to be my President.
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