Passing thoughts on the political scene...
As the November elections approach, perhaps my first thought is simply that I cannot wait until these elections are over. Each election season seems to grow more and more bitter, more and more cynical, more and more tedious...I know I'm getting burnt out on it (more on burn out below.)
First, locally...as I shared with a few folks earlier this year (and without giving away too many secrets!) in the race for Massachusetts Governor Kerry Healey is toast. Seldom has a sitting official (she is the current Lt. Governor) had such negative ratings, both her current favorable/unfavorable numbers, and earlier simply her recognition numbers. She and her people have run a terrible campaign (one not helped by Governor-in-absentia Mitt Romney- this guy has done little-to-nothing to boost his Number Two's chances...and re. Romney? I do not understand how, or why, he is getting such great pub in so many national conservative media and punditry circles as Presidential material in '08. He talks a good game, and he looks the part, but his actual record of accomplishment is truly underwhelming, and he's changed positions and flip-flopped so often he could be confused with John Kerry.) With Healey, the problem truly is the messenger, not the message. On issue after issue, she is clearly on the Right, if not right, side, and in line with the views of a majority of Mass. voters, at least as polled. Her stated views are in line with the Republicanism of previously popular and successful MA Governors Bill Weld and Paul Cellucci. One hates to say she is an empty suit, but... Her Democratic opponent Deval Patrick has run a pretty flawless campaign, managing to sidestep the many- some quite legitimate- issues surrounding him. His numbers are good, his support seems solid. Sadly, he is a doctrinaire liberal (eg, no to the- voter mandated- reduction of the state income tax back to 5%, supporting in-state public college tuition for illegal immigrants, driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, expanding many/creating new social programs with only the vaguest platitudes of how to pay for them, etc...), one whom under his leadership I fear Massachusetts will quickly revert to the excesses of the late 80's, when the Democratic establishment mortgaged this state's future on the Presidential aspirations of former Governor Michael Dukakis. Patrick's two opponents in the Dem primary were more moderate, and would have served the taxpayers of the state better had either of them been nominated. But he does have a likeable, winning way about him, he seems to be almost Teflon in his ability to avoid criticisms sticking to him, to his credit he hasn't attempted to play the race card/induce white liberal guilt (he's black.) Unless he is caught in bed between now and the election with the proverbial live boy or dead girl, he is going to win, relatively easily. But it has been a slimy Gubernatorial campaign, on all sides, one that I'll be glad to see ended. (Senator-for-Life Ted Kennedy is also up for re-election, with a weak Republican challenger, and should win all but the 30% or so of the vote that is reflexively anti-Kennedy...Admission- I'm pretty reflexive! ;)
Nationally...again, just as slimy, just as seamy, just as sleazy as locally. Anyone who has read this blog or perused my site should know where my usual affinities lie, and I'll stack my Right-leaning bona fides against anyone's. But...I suppose the short answer is that the current incarnation of the Republican Party is not my brand of Republicanism, conservatism, what have you. I came of age politically in the 80's, when a great leader and principled, committed adherent to the ideas of limited government, individual rights, and personal responsibilities named Ronald Reagan became President. This was a man whose economic, political, diplomatic, and military policies engaged and defeated the Soviet Union without firing a shot while laying the groundwork for economic growth that, with a few minor bumps, has continued unabated, under Admins and Congresses of both parties, since his tenure (read Our Philosophy of Government .) The 80's were a time when "the Right" was the venue of bold and new and exciting ideas and proposals, contrasted against the sclerotic old-style statism of much of the Democratic Party. It is a conservatism with it's roots in the ideas and ideals of Barry Goldwater (read his 1964 Acceptance Speech.) And it is a conservatism that saw rise to the reforms of the Contract With America and the early years of the Gingrich speakership. But today...with the election in 2000 of a conservative, business-backgrounded Republican President and with Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, there were real hopes that the aspirations of previous conservatives, never fully realized, would at least come to fruition- smaller, more limited government, fiscal restraint, a strong, capable, but sheathed military, expansion of individual rights and responsibilities while limiting the "interest group" politics practiced by the Left, less entanglement in non-vital foreign affairs, and more. But with the exception of the economy (and on this score, this President and these Congresses do not receive the credit they deserve) this President, and these Republican Congresses, have, in large part, not delivered. (One area where I'm apt to give them more of a pass than many is on the initial decision to remove Saddam. Given the intel available, and given the timing- 9/11 still fresh, remember- and the known intercommingling of various and sundry terrorist orgs and state supporters of same, as well as Saddam's decade+ of violations of UN sanctions and mandates, these taken together did present a compelling case for our actions. And our President and those who supported this need not apologize for that decision. And the initial phase was successful- Saddam was removed with relative ease. Where the Admin and supporters failed was in anticipating and preparing for the aftermath of Saddam's ouster. On this score, they are deserving of considerable approbation.) This has been an Admin and a Congress that has spent on levels approaching LBJ's Great Society. This Congress has virtually ignored any and all restraints, on spending, on earmarks, on reforms, on ethics. Too often they've sought to pervert our concepts of federalism, nationalizing local issues (be it Terri Schiavo, same-sex marriage, and more,) they've Nanny Stated (the inclusion of the insipid anti-Internet gaming legislation slipped into the Port Security bill as but one recent example;) in short, they've acted just like the Democrats did when they had power, as a party of Big Government, only the particulars of the issues having changed. Much like the Democrats of the mid/late 70's, who as a party were driven further and further from the mainstream, further and further from their traditional base by pandering to their extreme elements and taking extreme stands (be it on abortion, busing, affirmative action, tax policy, business regulation, an activist judiciary, entitlements, and more), alienating much of that broad base in the process, so now the GOP is perilously close to doing the same, Bill Frist or Sam Brownback (or Mitt Romney) attempting to micromanage the lives of Americans no more palatable than Ted Kennedy or Nancy Pelosi (or Deval Patrick) doing the same.
None of the above should be construed as reasons to support the Democrats as a party. As a party they have put forth no reasonable, realistic, rational, positive reason to support them. They have no coherent vision or plan equivalent to the '94 GOP Contract. Their activists and extremists are no palatable than those associated with the fringes of the GOP. My only suggestion, my only endorsement: in this election, moreso than in recent years, look most carefully at each individual candidate, not the R or the D after their name. See where they stand, what they support, what they propose, on issues across the board. If you find a Dem who supports, say, increased gun rights, sensible taxation policies, and other issues you care about, vote for him. If you find a Republican who supports increased lgbt rights, sensible health care reform, and other issues you care about, vote for her. Or if you find a Libertarian, or a Green, or whomever, who best espouses your POV, vote for them. This time out in particular, look far less at the party, because as parties, as institutions, none is deserving of support.
I'm not sure if I'll blog on any of this again before the elections. On a more personal note, I am truly getting drained. I feel as if I haven't been up for air in a l-o-n-g time. I've been in this grind for so long of late, with seemingly no let-up. I've disappointed countless folks, as well as myself, by not being there. I'm pretty burnt out right now. I've said it before, but as soon as I am able to catch my breath, create a little space, I need to better address just what I'm doing and where I'm going in my life, find/make/create more time for those things that I value, those things that are important to me, those things I need to be a more fulfilled person, instead of just being on autopilot as I often seem to feel of late.
"She leads a lonely life..."
