I'm Ready to Lose
It's election time again, and I don't buy the numbers. Remember how, in the early hours of the last presidential election, all those polls showed Kerry trouncing Job? Yeah, and look how that turned out. I'm starting to agree with my sister more and more, that the anti-intellectual, conservative trends in American culture have taken over, and the wheels of progress are turning back. Americans are lazy and stupid, and proudly so, so they stick with the easiest choice in any election and that's the party/candidate that promises to "stay the course." Sigh.*
I do differ from my sister in one sense, however, in that I believe this trend is reversible. How, you ask? There needs to be a great leveling of the powers, with Republicans and Democrats alike acting as nasty and dishonest as everyone in American believes them to be already. Only then will we, the people, step in and break up the fight, assuming neither party has destroyed the world by then. And as usual the onus lies on the Dems to get dirty and start winning some matches rather than whining about losing them. As I posted on my cousin-in-law Mike's blog:
"If the Republicans are corrupt lying losers, and they win bigger than some are predicting, then what does that say about what the American people want from their politicians? For that matter, what does it say that so many of these races are still close, despite the state of the nation and all the Republican scandals? Mike is right. If Americans don't like or trust politicians as a whole - that is, all/any of them, Dems and Republicans alike - then it doesn't matter how a party takes power. The high road has gotten the Dems nearly nowhere in the post-Clinton era, and that assumes the Dems have been taking the high road. In truth, they've been taking the low road, too, just not quite as low as the Republicans. So as Mike suggested: Dems, grow pair and get down in the mud. Winning means more to your fellow Americans then how you got there."
I mean, really. By any standard tomorrow's election should be no contest, but no - we're talking tiddlywinks in the grand scheme of things, a few seats pikced up here and there. Baby steps. I expect the next presidential race and its outcome to be a lot more dramatic. Until then, there's always the pleasant thought that Job can't run again. Unless he does, of course. Wartime powers and all that.
I do differ from my sister in one sense, however, in that I believe this trend is reversible. How, you ask? There needs to be a great leveling of the powers, with Republicans and Democrats alike acting as nasty and dishonest as everyone in American believes them to be already. Only then will we, the people, step in and break up the fight, assuming neither party has destroyed the world by then. And as usual the onus lies on the Dems to get dirty and start winning some matches rather than whining about losing them. As I posted on my cousin-in-law Mike's blog:
"If the Republicans are corrupt lying losers, and they win bigger than some are predicting, then what does that say about what the American people want from their politicians? For that matter, what does it say that so many of these races are still close, despite the state of the nation and all the Republican scandals? Mike is right. If Americans don't like or trust politicians as a whole - that is, all/any of them, Dems and Republicans alike - then it doesn't matter how a party takes power. The high road has gotten the Dems nearly nowhere in the post-Clinton era, and that assumes the Dems have been taking the high road. In truth, they've been taking the low road, too, just not quite as low as the Republicans. So as Mike suggested: Dems, grow pair and get down in the mud. Winning means more to your fellow Americans then how you got there."
I mean, really. By any standard tomorrow's election should be no contest, but no - we're talking tiddlywinks in the grand scheme of things, a few seats pikced up here and there. Baby steps. I expect the next presidential race and its outcome to be a lot more dramatic. Until then, there's always the pleasant thought that Job can't run again. Unless he does, of course. Wartime powers and all that.
posted by Josh at 2:06 PM
2 Comments:
My thoughts exactly. Nicely said.
--Franny
If the voting districts weren't jerrimandered to eliminate competition this election would be A LOT more exciting. The way things are right now it's amazing that any House seat is up for grabs. The true litmus tests will be the Senate and the Governors races. They should signal whether or not there's been a sea change.
Court
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