Liberals and Democrats surround me. My wife comes from union-land Cleveland, Ohio and chooses her representatives based on which ones she thinks will affect the economy in such a way that we can afford a newer and bigger house. My father claims that the GOP is the party of fear and bases his vote on anyone but Bush (or any other Republican for that matter). Both have been fervently trying to convince me that on Election Day I should vote more toward my issues of interest rather than on my professed party of identification.
I should vote for Nancy Pelosi and friends because a Democrat controlled congress will bring legalized or at least decriminalized illicit drugs; better environmental laws and a rush of alternative fuels; stem cell research-based cures for all known diseases; more and better paying jobs; cheaper land and mortgages; a chicken in every pot; forty acres and mule, and a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow.
I should not vote for Republicans because the Bush administration has screwed up the war in Iraq to a fare thee well and some of the Congressional Republicans have committed heinous to wildly unethical crimes. My loved ones and some friends would have me believe that nothing good has come of the Bush Presidency or the GOP controlled congress and furthermore, I should stop voting based on fear of terrorist and start voting based on what I believe in.
It doesn’t help that the current GOP strategy for hanging on to control of congress is to keep saying that if you vote for a Democrat, any Democrat, this will be your future government:
Representative Charles Rangel, Democrat of New York, the senior Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, a proponent of tax increases {will become chairmen of said committee}.
Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, would be the chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee, {and it has been said} would launch criminal inquiries into the Bush administration.
Representative John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan, would be Judiciary Committee chairman {has threatened to impeach President Bush}.
Henry Waxman, Democrat of California, is in line to take over the Government Reform Committee.
Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, is the senior Democrat on the Financial Services Committee.
Representative John Dingell, Democrat of Michigan, would return to the chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
David Obey, Democrat of Wisconsin, would take back the reins of the Appropriations Committee. (Source)
When campaign strategy essentially is, “Don’t vote for them, scary people will control the government,” and it is repeated by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity on the radio, I find myself cringing the same way I did when in 2004 liberals were running to and fro screaming, “Anyone but Bush!” and managed to nominate the most milquetoast and uninspiring candidate since Walter Mondale.
In both of these cases, the former and the present, party operatives and radio talk show hosts have forgotten the most elementary of impetuses’ in getting out the vote, (no, not VOTE OR DIE!!!!!!) simply having ideas.
Contrary to popular opinion in the elite world, people will vote for good ideas rather than celebrity status or kitsch marketing – if only people would actually run on good ideas instead of celebrity status or kitsch marketing. For better or for worse, Bush won over Kerry because he had an idea to fight worldwide Islamofascist terrorism. The veracity of his idea is debatable but at least he had one and other than gays not being able to marry (again, a firm idea) that one idea won out over his opponent who had no ideas and purely ran on his decades old war record and airy fairy promises that somehow he could reverse globalization and bring jobs back to America.
That is my problem with this election cycle; this time the Democrats still have no ideas and neither do the Republicans. The Democrats seem to still be running on (Anyone but Bush!) and are helped by virtue of the fact that many are not thrilled with some of what is going on in this country. They are also running on the interesting but rather juvenile idea that Republicans (Tom Delay and Mark Foley) are awful and corrupt and the Democrats will bring respectability back to Congress in much the same way Bush promised to restore integrity back to the White House after Bill Clinton left the Oval Office. Both ideas are laughable at best and downright insulting at worst. If you want the laundry list of crimes or unethical behavior Democrats in congress have committed (including Pelosi) I’m sure you can find that in someone else’s column.
My point is not to sling mud but rather to point out that this time around, neither party is promoting any ideas. As I said above, the Democrats have nothing but rhetoric and the dubious luck of running at a time where Iraq isn’t going well while the Republican have decided to fight back with essentially, “Sure we’ve betrayed our base on border security and Iraq looks horrible but…do you really want to deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the near future?”
