Now, let me make this clear - although I have friends who insist that I must have a political philosophy since I'm voting for Barack Obama this year, I don't.
Want proof?
Although I didn't vote for any Republicans over the last three decades, it's true, neither did I vote for any Democrats. That's right - not Mondale, not Dukakis, not Clinton, Gore or Kerry. And it's not because I wasn't paying attention. I was. Closely. And what I saw, on both sides of the political spectrum, right and left, was lies, prevaricating pandering and self-serving manipulation.
Now, it is a fact that the policy positions of the Democrats are generally more intelligent, more forward looking, more holistic, less fear and hate-based, less superstitious, and less primitive than the Republicans, but nonetheless, it is not the policy stances that make for a good leader. It is, after all, character that makes for a good leader, and in that department, while the Republicans have put up men of limited intelligence who ruthlessly seek power for power's sake, the Democrats have put up intellectual, mealy-mouthed men of weak will.
When this election cycle began over a year ago, I did not expect to be inspired to vote. Not at all. I had no favorite candidate. But I listened. As I always do, I paid attention, and not just to the words but to the body language.
John McCain is a frozen, paranoid personality disorder with a hair-trigger temper and a very dull intellect. Sarah Palin has a text-book psychopathic character structure and even less of an intellect.
Barack Obama is what he shows himself to be - an intelligent, eloquent leader who believes in balance and the importance of empowering others by his leadership, and Joe Biden is also what he is in plain view, a humble man of genuine confidence and integrity who's fearless in the deconstruction of his own ego.
This election, for an old soul, is a no-brainer. But we don't live in an old soul country, so... we'll see.
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So does this mean you are voting this year? As imperfect as our political system is, and as wretched as our politicians can be, it and they are the only things we've got.
You can't deny that if Gore won in 2000 we would be in a very different place right now. Not a perfect place by any stretch, but for sure a better place. Elections, (and votes) do matter. Even if votes themselves are bought and sold, and elections stolen and bargained for, if a few thousand apathetic democratic voters came out to vote in Florida instead of lying on the beach, the "re-count" wouldn't have been needed and the Republican leadership of that state never would have had the opportunity to hand the victory over to Bush.
The beauty of our system is that if the masses stand up and speak it will override the bureaucracy no matter how loud it gets. The secret strategy of republicans and democrats alike is keeping at bay the three headed beast that is the will of the American people. Both parties (and the underwriters of those parties) fear this and therefore subscribe to a strategy of voter suppression, not "get-out-the-vote" as they claim. It is a well known fact that this country is at the bottom of the list when it comes to voter turn-out. (We're ranked 139 of 172 voting countries). The organizations at the top are having their way with our will just by scaring us from voting and making our stomachs churn every time we pull a lever for a politician smeared by the opposition. If we want politicians to do what we want them to, we all have to take responsibility for our collective "will" and vote, individually, and collectively we can drown out the BS and become an actual voice in American politics.
So I suggest that you get off your high horse of "Nobody's good enough for me" and vote. Otherwise score another victory for voter suppression and enjoy watching the endless cycle of deception, pandering and mud-slinging politics go on from now until the end of time.
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