In-Party Mudslinging Only Hurts The Party

Did you know that CNN rebroadcast the Democrat Debate all night long last night?

I had insomnia last night so I had the privilege of discovering this. Fortunately it was the kind of insomnia that allowed me a few spurts of sleep so I didn’t have to suffer through it all over and over, but the experience reinforced some of my opinions and made me rethink some of the candidates.

Despite being a woman, I am not afraid to admit that I made up my mind way before Hillary Clinton announced her candidacy that I would not be voting for her. While I think her husband was an excellent President, she has proven to be a horrible politician or perhaps she’s proven to be too good at it. She doesn’t take responsibility for how she votes and her voting record is so conservative, it’s almost Republican in nature. I’d love to see a woman as President of the United States, but I want someone I believe will do the job with integrity and will lead this country out of the quagmire it’s in both domestically and in foreign policy. I just don’t think Hillary Clinton is the right woman for the job; I think she’s an elitist and will say anything and promise anything to get elected; I think she cares about power more than she cares about this country and serving the Average Joe.

So, that said, I already have my mind made up about Hillary Clinton and there’s pretty much nothing she can say in these debates that is going to change my mind. I really don’t know what I’ll do if somehow she becomes the DNC nominee.

Anyway, I was very disappointed in Barack Obama and John Edwards, not that I was planning on voting for either of them in the primaries either. (I do want to note that Obama looks like he’s aged 5 years in the last year. This campaign must have been hard on him.) When they announced their campaigns, I thought they were kind of inexperienced but who knows, you know?

However, last night, I was so turned off by their mudslinging. It seemed like most of what came out of their mouths was negative comments about Hillary. I wished someone would tell them to shut up about Hillary and just talk about their ownselves, what they have accomplished and what they would do as President. Hillary doesn’t actually give real answers about solid plans. They don’t need to sling mud to make her look bad and it just makes them look bad.

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Will An Independent Candidate Be The Nov. 2008 Surprise?

Half-watching CNN this morning as I got ready for work, I caught an interview with Lou Dobbs, who host his own nightly CNN show.  What caught my attention was Dobbs’ prediction for the 2008 Presidential election — mostly because it’s something I’ve been saying I’ve been hoping for all year long since the usual suspects started campaigning.

Dobb believes that none of the current candidates, Democrat or Republican, will be elected President; his opinion is that the next President of the United States will be an independent populist, a man or woman ” of great character, vision and accomplishment, a candidate who has not yet entered the race.”  He thinks that the independents and centrists will come together and elect someone who puts the people of this country and their wants first rather than be influenced by the power of a few elites.

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Politics Is The New Racism

racism

a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.

hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

politics

the opinion you hold with respect to political questions

the activities and affairs involved in managing a state or a government

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.

I’ve said for years that politics is the new racism. It just seems that it makes so many people so angry and intolerant. Everyone these days seems to have an opinion and not just any opinion, a strong, passionate opinion and, God forbid, if you don’t have an opinion, if you don’t follow the news and keep up with what’s going on in local, national and world politics! That may just be the worst sin of all.

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What I Want From Congress, The President, & That Other Branch

I know I’m not alone in being disillusioned and frustrated where politics is concerned these days. A year ago I was confronted by a friend who told me I was “too angry” and “too negative” about politics and my country. I think it’s hard not to be when you feel passionate about the direction the country is going whether you are a conservative or a liberal or somewhere in the middle. Personally, I don’t really think anyone is particularly happy at the moment with the State of the Union, despite promises from Bush and Pelosi and other big names on both sides for a kindler, gentler attempt at bipartisanship.

And the truth is that I got burnt out and disillusioned about the same time. It’s hard to keep running in place at full speed even when you’re full of anger and passion, especially when you’re full of anger. You may want to change the world, you may dream of it, you may have high expectations about how you’re going to do it, but there’s only so long that you can run on that passion and hope and not see any progress before you burn out and run out of steam.

The Democrats taking back Congress wasn’t enough for me. I want to see progress.

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