After nearly a full year of following the campaigns of both the Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls, I think I'm finally exhausted by its seeming endlessness. This
political burnout, as I might term it, is a major contributor to my next statement:
I don't like any of the choices for president. Many may be surprised that anyone could feel this way when so many, especially on the Democratic side, are exclaiming,
I like ALL my choices! So in order to explain my current predicament, I've decided to publish these complaints in three parts. In each part I will address one complaint per party. Enjoy part I.
The Democrats1.
Trying to be everything to everyone. It seems to me that this has become the overarching theme of the Democratic party. Throughout the past 50 years, the Democrats seem to have taken under wing every minority group and every minority interest, as well as most majority interests. Now, I'm not saying that this is a bad thing. I'm glad that the Democrats have seemingly been more supportive of blacks, hispanics, poor people, women, and other groups. The problem I have is that they try to simultaneously appease the whole constituency. A good example of this was the debate over the recent
stimulus package approved by congress. President Bush, Speakerwoman Pelosi, and a handful of other politicians proposed a stimulus package that would send rebate checks to all those who paid income tax--a simple, straightforward plan to inject more expendible income into the economy ASAP. The House approved the package. However, the Senate Democrats made a big stink in trying to add benefits to the plan for the unemployed, the elderly, an increase in food stamps and other social programs. Thankfully they gave up on these goals and signed the package as it was sent from the House. But still, this was a huge cause of concern for me. I can only think of two scenarios as to why they were pushing for these unnecessary additions.
A) They think that the point of a stimulus package is to encourage equality and equinimity in the economy. (This is NOT the point of a stimulus package.)
or B) They KNOW that a stimulus package isn't the forum for a socialist platform, but they slow down the legislative process just to show their poor and elderly constituencies that they're thinking of them.
Whichever of these situations is true, or even if neither is true, I will still hate the Democratic party for slowing and bloating the central government with their attempts to simultaneously appease everyone. Parts II and III will speak more to the bloating effect.
The Republicans
1. GOP Party-Egoism. In following the campaigns, debates, speeches, and rallies of the candidates, one theme that has ticked me off more than most is the way that they often speak about their party over the needs of the American people. "Our party will gain/keep control of the White House!" The Republicans are especially guilty of this party-egoism, as I term it. It seems that many of them have forgotten that most of us, even if we are registered in the Republican party, do not have a die-hard attitude about the party itself. I guess maybe I should just speak for myself. I'm a registered Republican in the state of Pennsylvania, but I honestly don't care one iota for the party itself. I like the Republican ideals of social conservatism (though I do not always agree with their proposed legislation), and I love the ideal of small government. But the more I hear this rhetoric of "Party this, party that. All for the party." It makes me want to do something drastic: register Independent, or Green, or Libertarian, or even Democratic. (jjk--just jk)
