Autumn in a Year Divisible By 4, Yep, Must Be a Post about Politics

I work for a State Government Administrative Agency. Some of my thoughts about politics, I come by professionally. I have met, briefed, and testified before elected officials. They are the best of people, they are the worst of people. Smart, competitive, eager, vain, greedy, altruistic, and vicious. I respect them, admire them for their sacrifices, and have no urge whatsoever to join their ranks or get in their way. I think that almost universally, they really are trying to do what they think is best for their electorate. But they are hobbled by the reality; in order to do anything, they have to be in office in the first place. And in order to get into office, they need money. Party support. Exposure. They almost always have to win a contest against someone else, and that contest will almost always be ugly. I have no wisdom, no answer to this. I just try to see beyond the mud, and vote for the person I think will do the most good (or the least harm).

What a Presidential Race this year! The part of me that can step back and be matter-of-fact is delighted with how emotional and intense it has been. I am excited for the number of Americans who really seem interested enough to participate this year. The issues are compelling. There is no incumbent running on either ticket for the first time in 14 elections (almost 60 years! go on, fact-check me, I dare you!)

I am conflicted. What should I base my decision on? I'll tell you something right off; there are a bunch of things I'm not going to base it on.


Polarization
First, go read this. Please, just glance at it. Where do you fall; do the candidates start to look similar in appeal to you, or do you think anyone voting for (the other candidate) is just crazy? I was fascinated by the VP choices this election. Both picks serve to appeal to the "party-base". Obama and McCain both had weakness in their appeal to the core of their parties.

McCain has been repeatedly bloodied in both the 2000 and the current primaries by other Republican candidates for not being conservative enough. The nomination of Palin injected his campaign with someone who is young and overtly religious. For all the criticism laid on Obama for being a celebrity, McCain went out and got his own!

Obama needed the foreign relations cred, needed to demonstrate his commitment to liberal ideals. For all the concern that has been expressed McCain's age, Obama went out and got an old warhorse of his own.

So I don't see the candidates as similar, they are certainly worlds apart on the issues. But I disagree with each candidate on lots of things, agree with each on lots. I see the choice between them as marginal, and will ultimately make my selection on which issue matters the most to me.


Demonizing the Opposition
John McCain is erratic. Barack Obama is inexperienced. His middle name is Hussein! He's the oldest nominee ever! Lions and Tigers and Bears!

Running for President is like parenting after a divorce; yes, everyone knows you think your opponent (your ex-spouse) is terrible. But the voters (your kids) are smart, and need to figure it out themselves. They need your permission to love the other one, or else you look like a paranoid bully (and make your kids feel guilty). There are a million reasons to NOT vote for either candidate, but if I hear even a single one of them uttered by their opponent (or one of the opponent's partisans), I automatically discount its weight. Tell me what your guy will do that's good; trying to scare me into voting by highlighting what's going to be awful about the other guys just makes me mad at you.


Contentless Attacks
Does it matter how many times John McCain referred to the audience as "my friends"? Does it matter how often Barrack Obama interrupts his sentences with the verbal hiccup of a barely pronounced "y'know"?

Yes, past is prologue. But does it really matter now if 20 years ago Obama had some kind of interaction with a then-radical? Does it matter the McCain as a young pilot was a bit of a hot dog? Well, actually, yes, it does. But not as much as what they are doing in the last ten years, what they are promising to do in the next. That old stuff is like the base coat for a mural, it gives an underlying tone, but focusing on the negative old-timey stuff of your opponent? That makes you guilty of both being negative, and being petty.

Yeesh.


Deliberate Obtuseness
Did you watch the debates, any of them? Have you ever seen a politician interviewed on TV? You know how the politician will receive a question, and then say respond with something that is tangential (at best) to the inquiry? That adherence to talking points, that refusal to answer the question, that insistance that, "What I've got to say is more important than what you were trying find out!" drives me BATS! But it works, the shame of if is that it works. Politics is a long game, with a score tallyed only once every two years at the election time. Everything a politician does every single comment, interview, committee hearing, everything, is angled towards that. So when they ask Sarah Palin what's the right place to use nuclear weapons, she's not going to give the answer (either she really is a crazy right-wing zealot who thinks she needs to assist the second coming by starting armageddon, in which case she'll use them the first chance she gets, or she understands the doctrine of deterrence, in which case she would only ever use them in an instance where a weapon of mass destruction was employed against the US or its interests). She'll use the question as a springboard to repeat her support of the troops, McCain's determination to protect the US, their shared conviction that we can and must win against the forces of evil.

Banality doesn't win the election, but the banal repetition of talking points doesn't lose the election. That's why you get so much contentless response. Up until the last few months, I was pretty happy with both McCain and Obama, felt that they generally did a good job really answering questions asked of them. But now it's close, no one wants to say the thing, use the phrase that turns into the gaffe that sinks the ship.


So, when I consider what I've heard, read, and seen these last few months, I think the McCain campaign is probably the worse in offending me. But he's behind in the polls, and conventioinal wisdom has always been to fight ugly when you are behind. Because, sad but true, fighting ugly narrows the cap. No matter how offended I get by it, there are people in American that respond. *sigh*


The "issues" for me this time;

Military in the Middle East
I think there were a hundred sound policy and strategic reasons to invade Iraq. None of them involved Al-Qaeda. Weapons of Mass Destruction was a part of it (I think the whole world bought Saddam's bluff; he didn't have them, but he sure wanted everyone to think he did), but certainly not the whole reason. It saddens, infuriates me to think of the collective good will that the Bush Administration frittered in their single-minded and poorly planned war in Iraq. But we are there now. We need a President that will do the right thing. Not withdraw willy nilly (which is not what Obama has promised). Not stay there forver (which is not what McCain has promised). Of the two, I think McCain has a better idea of what "success" means.

Definition of Family
I really believe that marriage is the union of man and woman, and it is through marriage that families are created. I feel I operate under a specific direction to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society. My certainty of these things puts me at odds with the powerful feelings of others, and my desire that all people should benefit from the freedom to self-direct their lives has created a great deal of angst in me as a result. But while I wish all people happiness, and the joy of self-fulfillment, I feel I must act on my personal belief and direction. The change/erosion of what constitutes marriage, of what makes a family has become a political plank. The Republicans are on the side I believe is correct.

Diplomacy
I think John McCain 8 years ago was an outstanding example of someone who could find common ground, could inspire unity. I think he was gone to great lengths to either change or hide that capacity in the last 8 months. I worry about the increasing isolation caused by America's unilateral behavior, and think the next President needs to mend our relationship with the World. No question, right now, Obama looks like a better fit.

Personal Liberty
No question, "we" have less now than we did before 9/11. In that regard, McCain represents the status quo, heightened scrutiny, and a lowered bar for that scrutiny. I think we are more secure (if more scrutinized) as a result. It is tempting for me to *shrug* and say so what, it's not like I'm going to do anything worth scrutinizing. But I am student of the Constitution, and benefit from its robust effect on society. I worship how I may, politic what I may. Those things matter. So I worry about the erosion of freedom. While I am not wholly sure which is the more moral direction to go, I think people shouldn't be so afraid of the government. Obama by a slim margin.

The Economy
*shrug* I'm not shrugging because I don't care. I'm just baffled. I liked McCain's idea to have the government re-broker loans facing foreclosure. But I thought the Hope Now Program
http://www.hopenow.com/
already did something similar. I am trying to educate myself, trying to understand what is wrong, and what would make the world a stabler, better place. Null.

The Environment
I believe the world has changed in the last 200 years. While I acknowledge those strident conservative voices who insist the change is due to normal cyclic variations, and is not the result of mankind, I think they are wrong (or at least, are not entirely correct). I think we have had a negative effect on the planet. Drilling on the continental shelf isn't the answer, and I wish McCain would spend more time talking about Nuclear Power and less time on domestic oil. I think the candidates themselves are a tie on the issue, but believe that McCain would be hobbled by the Party, and the Republican Party definitely loses in my opinion. Obama in a walk.


I think voting for the ticket you like better, even if that emotion is based purely on an instinctive resonance, is perfectly legitimate.

Voting for the candidate that will provide greater comedy for the next 4 years, while irresponsible, is also perfectly legitimate. Who does Jon Stewart mock with greater comedic effect?

I hope the Bradley Effect is gone forever, never to again make a return appearance.

But I remain conflicted, even after writing it all down. Part of me wishes we did things the way they did in the old days and, that candidates ran without VP choices, with the second place winner assuming the role of Vice President. It seems to me that Obama and McCain would make a pretty effective team. But that's just silly. So, reality check; if our military efforts overseas and the definition of the family are most important to me, then I'm voting for McCain. If they aren't, then I'm voting for Obama.

I contemplate my trip to the elementary school in 24 days, and have a feeling I will be praying for direction on the way there. Right up until the time I cast my vote.