In my younger days, I fought tooth and nail against the Republican party and the politically conservative, but today I do not consider myself a very political person. I am still a left-learning moderate, but gone are the days of heated discussions and table-pounding pontificating.
I am registered to vote and like to do my research. I hate watching any kind of TV coverage because I inevitably end up getting annoyed. I find there is often too much opinion (MSNBC? Fox?) mixed in with coverage and if that's what I wanted to know, I would read it in a newspaper or magazine without annoying broadcaster's insinuations and accusations. Nor do I care much about speeches at conventions, personalities, or families for that matter.
What strikes me about this election is that both parties are trying to embrace the message of "change". And Democrats and Republicans alike are excited! Obama (despite his inexperience) strikes a chord with me, I dislike Palin (read this article from the Wall Street Journal that pretty much makes up my mind about Palin and says a lot about the Republican party), and actually did like pre-election, pre-Rovian McCain. He was a speaker at my youngest sister's graduation and read up on him (back in 2001) afterwards. I was impressed and said to myself, "If I had to vote for a Republican, I would vote for McCain." In fact, at the early onset of the election, I continued to like McCain even more because most dyed-in-the-wool conservatives hated - no, despised - him.
In the spirit of that statement, I am trying to keep an open mind about this election, not an easy thing to do with the usual mud-slinging and hate-mongering. Lately I've been reading both the Times (liberal) and Journal (conservative) for campaign news to get a balanced account of the day's events.
Unfortunately, I am leery of McCain not because of him, but because of his party. There are many things he says that make sense. I am impressed that he promises to work across party lines and appoint Democrats into his cabinet. But as of late, many of his messages seem barbed with nasty attacks on Democrats and the so-called Washington elite (which I don't understand). Ugly stuff.
It's politics as usual. Never pretty and always disappointing.
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4 comments:
I'm in agreement with you on one point: that politics is ugly. I can't stand it. Both sides sling as much mud as the other. What I absolutely abhor, however, are people that can't make room for the other side- people who have been brainwashed by rhetoric, talk to only people that agree with their point of view, and who read/watch only one-sided news outlets.
What I need is a spreadsheet (or just a nice big posterboard) with an unbiased listing of what each candidate promises to do, and what he has done in the past (b/c, let's be honest, it matters.)
You forgot to say, "I'm JWK and I support this message."
:P
you have said everything i'd been thinking so well. pre-election, pre-rovian mccain would have had a seat at our table for sure. i hate the whole divide and conquer strategy of karl. he must be tickled to death right now. this newbie in politics has learned her lesson to never follow these conventions so closely. ok, typing with one hand with a toddler in front of me is quite challenging
yep. what i've learned is that no one can really change anyone's mind unless they are truly open minded. one thing that is annoying however is when people talk to me with such fervor it becomes a.)slightly frightening b.) a turn off. but nevertheless the open-minded are pretty hard to come by.. everyone has become so skeptical! so i've been trying to stay out of it.. developing my own thoughts/ideas and listening into what others have to say.. including media opinions. (mostly b/c they are pretty freaking darned entertaining!!)
but i must admit, this election has turned into a bit of a circus. i am extremely embarrassed and slightly worried about the seriousness of the things that are happening in our country and also in the future. it's easy to get caught up in it all.. i'm starting to think politics likes to create diversions to make simple things look big and complicated so that the political world can feel important and oh so crucial.
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