Let me start this by saying, I like our political process.. that started back when I watched the Watergate proceedings on tv (yeah, I actually did that). I have no illusions of what politics in this country is/isnt. It is a dirty business, it was kind of designed to be that way (which was also part of the reason the founding fathers held such contempt for the idea of lifelong politicians, or career politicians as we call them).. the main difference is that we, as a people, keep finding ways to make it even dirtier... Also, I am a registered Independent. I have never voted straight party lines, since as of yet, there hasnt been a single party slate that provided who I thought would be the best person for every office.. My take on the mid-terms? First, I am proud. there was a larger than expected turnout. Regardless of the results, involvement in the process, to me, honours what our country is supposed to be. Second, in terms of the results, I am sad and appalled...but I am also curious... I think this group of politicians is stepping into the biggest put up or shut up political situation in my lifetime.. They will have to Lead... it will be interesting to see if they will and how they will... Finally, the results showed that: One party who played timidly and uncertainly.. going into the midterms holding pretty much all the good cards and then snatching defeat from the jaws of victory... for the most part, they played not to lose instead of playing to win... that almost NEVER works in anything..... the second party, played dirty and did it well (and showed that, even though they pay lip service to their reverence for him, this is no longer the party of Ronald Reagan..he was an expert at playing politician and being able to come out looking clean; whereas way too many here now no longer worry about coming out dirty). They took the political game to another level, taking political speech into new realms/levels of hate, ignorance and dishonesty. And when they got called on it, they doubled down on it all and dared their competition to blink (and they did). This is the legacy of Hunt/Helms (though in that case, both were equally willing to get dirty and neither thought of blinking). I dont admire them, but from a strategy standpoint, it worked. and sadly, you can say they played within the boundaries of what has become acceptable (the lines are still there but they are far removed from where the founding fathers set them up to start with) The third party -- another example of why it is so hard for them to be taken seriously, which is a shame because there have been viable candidates that ended up getting caught in the backwash of the system. In this, I am not just talking about Libertarians, though they are the easiest target. Without a national system/process in place, it will be hard for 3rd party candidates to be politically relevant. The Big 2 Parties have a process set up, and America loves processes they can see and follow. If there is no process, then it is hard to believe in and/or support them. The biggest problem is that there is an aversion to getting hands dirty. They want to get results without doing the work to gum up the system to their benefit (and I mean that in a positive way actually..of you dont get it, ask). Trying to stay on the high road doesnt work long term in politics. Use the templates of the big 2 and then twist them to fit the needs and strengths of your party. Of course, and in this I look mainly at the libertarians, there is a large portion of the I got mine. so f#ck yall attitude that gets in the way of coming together. There is the fear that it makes them look too much like what they abhor. Of course, once in a while someone like the Pauls pop up and people flock to them, thinking it gives them legitimacy, which of course is wrong. When you build from the top down, there is no solid foundation and no soul and it collapses (which is what happened with Rons last foray into jumping off the repub bandwagon). There is also the fact that there is a timetable in politicking, and straying from it too far is deadly. The Big 2 run a full court press, so to speak. there is an implied start time/starting line. With most 3rd party candidates, and this also goes back to no consistent backing system I remarked upon earlier, either they cant or wont buy into this system. They come in halfway through the cycle with expectations of being on equal footing.. It doesnt work that way. This is like having a couple of players take the field for most of a game against a full team, then having the rest come in at the 2 minute warning to try to come back from a 100 pt deficit. This isnt Space Jam, where your superior talent will suddenly come back and let you overcome the odds. Almost always the candidates end up more equivalent to Bill Murray than MJ in that scenario (though, some do buck the system and the odds to be like Mike..and that is damned impressive) I like the idea of a multiple party system.. and there has not been as big a cry for the involvement of 3rd(+) Party involvement in my lifetime as there has been the last few years. If it was set up right, I think they could have a real impact on politics long term. I think, in term of participation, the fact that there were quite a lot of non-Big 2 candidates is potentially a good sign. But they need to be able to move beyond being used as basically cannon fodder for either of the Big 2. Finally-- the non-voters. Other than straight party voting, this is one of the most unpatriotic things a person can do.. it is sad... and the number of white flags flying this year is incredibly disheartening, especially when so many people are at risk of not being able to vote and when you think of all that was sacrificed in so many ways to allow the right to vote. so when in one breath you show your pride in not voting (and that is what it is, no matter the stated reason) and in the next, you complain about the system, or the results, or what is/isnt being done, you earn the same level of respect you have shown. As has been the case for the last 238 years, we will get past this... and we shall see what the future holds...
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 15:16:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015