I know that most people think of elections in terms of Democrat Vs Republican. They are either registered DorR, or lean so heavily toward one party that it doesn't matter that they aren't registered. I'd love to wax poetically how I'm different. How I am purely independent and value all candidates on their merits. There was a time where I could defend such statements... the elections in 1992, 1994, and 1996. But around that time I think that the parties really started to polarize. There were less and less conservative democrats and less and less moderate republicans. I can't really think of any liberal republicans in my voting life. At least not any in elections that involved my personal vote.
Anywho... around that time I started to see a trend. The dull candidate. The candidate that had no personal message. The candidate who simply touted their party and demonized the party of their opponent. It's these candidates that I just lump into their party.
So where do I lean? Democrat. Before I go into why I'm lean toward the donkey, let's explore why I want to lean toward the elephant.
Small Government:
I believe that the government should be as small as possible. We don't need to regulate something simply to regulate it. If the free market system self regulates, then we should damned well leave it alone.
Less Taxes:
This goes hand in hand with small government. I shouldn't be paying for things that the government shouldn't be doing.
Personal Freedom:
If I want to jump out of a plane without a parachute while smoking crack, self mutilating myself, and carrying a .357 magnum, then I should damned well be allowed to do so.
Gun Owners Rights:
If I want to own a small arsenal of weapons, then I should be able to do so.
Pro Business:
Businesses hire people. Businesses are the driving force of our economy. When businesses fail, so does a community/city/state/nation.
Pro Military:
Our military should be able to defend us in multiple wars. The should be funded well enough that it is NEVER in doubt that it can go anywhere and do anything.
Now lets look at those same facets, and see why I don't go republican.
Small Government:
They tout their desire to see a small government. Except in the bedroom. Or the church. Or the field of War. When republicans in general tout small government, what they actually mean is THEIR small government. They want the government to ignore many things that I think it should be involved with, while focusing entirely to much on many MANY things I think the government has no business even looking at.
Less Taxes:
When the economy is going good, they want to cut taxes. When the economy is stagnant, they want to cut taxes. When the economy is slumping, they want to cut taxes. When the economy is the worst in a century, they want to cut taxes. This also slides in with the 'pro business' side as they almost always want to cut taxes on corporations, businesses, and the wealthy. They'll brag about cutting taxes on the middle class, but the middle class gets a bit of crust in terms of tax cuts while the businesses and wealthy get a whole lot more of their taxes cut.
Personal Freedom:
They want their freedoms protected, not the freedoms of people that disagree. They tout personal religious freedom for Christians, while enacting laws trampling on other peoples personal freedoms.
Gun Owners Rights:
The republican's LOVE their second amendment. While they shout "the right of the people to keep and bear arms" as loudly as they can, they seem to forget that "well regulated" is also part of the second amendment. And every time they shout something like "They're coming for your guns!" when the government has NEVER come after guns currently in circulation (in my lifetime at least), I feel like I want to die just a little. Should we have guns? Sure... why not. Should anybody be allowed to have any gun, any time? Fuck no.
Pro Business:
A business is an entity that wants to make profit. A business has no need to be 'good' unless it gives them a competitive advantage. Yes, it hires people and pays them, but it hires as few people as it can and pays them as little as it can. We do need to encourage businesses and business owners, but we also need to regulate the 'good' into them.
Pro Military:
Yes, we need to support our military. But when the military doesn't want something it shouldn't be forced upon them. Congress (and presidents) often look at military spending as jobs programs and anybody who votes against anything military is demonized as being "against the troops". And while the military is important, it's not important above any and every other thing the government should do.
So, in my opinion, the republicans are great marketers. They use phrases that sound good on the surface, but rarely follow through and make them meaningful, helpful, or 'good'. You'll notice that I don't demonstrate how the republicans appeal to me on social issues. I really don't like the idea of being 'anti' anything and the republicans seem to be 'anti' everything. Anti-homosexual, anti-immigrant, anti-africanamerican, anti-poor, anti-education, anti-women, anti-environment, anti-science.
There is room, in my opinion, for thoughtful, well intentioned republicans. A good example is my current governor Rick Snyder. He ran on being a 'nerd'. On being a technicrat. On looking at the numbers and making the best decision possible. He didn't run on any social issues. He didn't run 'against' anything except running against the bad state of our fine state. For a couple years I was gaining more and more respect for him. But then two things happened. He made Michigan a "right to work" state (another fine marketing term that sounds better than it is), and he consistently overruled "the people".
Snyder never really said anything against the unions. He certainly wasn't for them, but he wasn't necessarily against them either. They were simply something to factor into his equations. The passage of the right to work law lays at the feet of the state legislature, but it does bear Snyder's signature. He could have controlled his party and not let them run rampant against the unions... or at the least he could have shown some backbone and vetoed their legislation. But no... he touted it as being good for businesses and therefore good for Michigan.
While I firmly disagree with this, I could overlook it if it wasn't for him overturning the rule of the people. There have been several referendums against laws he's enacted. A primary example is the emergency manager law. In short, if a community, city, or school district is in financial ruin he can appoint an emergency financial manager to go in and fix it. The emergency financial manager doesn't have to listen to the governing body (the city council, the mayor, the school board...) and he doesn't even have to abide by any agreements they've made in the past. Well, the people of the state of Michigan disagreed, and put it up for a public referendum. They voted it down.
Snyder overturned it. He set the law back up, but put in in a spending bill. Spending bills aren't able to be put up for public referendum. He's done this several times. This election there were two referendums up to ban wolf hunting. Neither were of any use (they both passed), because Snyder already signed another spending bill that also included allowing wolves to be hunted. The people didn't want what out governor wanted, so he just shoved it down our throats.
On the whole, I like Governor Snyder... but when push comes to shove he moves to his republican bases way of doing things.
And that's why, more and more, I'm simply voting against a republican candidate. He may seem inoffensive enough, but if he doesn't give me ample reason to vote FOR him, I'll just vote against him. I don't want another cog in the republican machine.
This year Mark Shauer got my vote for Governor. He was the democrat on the ticket. He has given me NO reason to vote for him. His political ads were almost all attacks on Governor Snyder without touting anything he would do. But between a democrat that gives me no reason to vote for him, and a republican that has given me reasons to NOT vote for him, ti was an easy decision. This philosophy even went to candidates that I didn't know.
For state attorney general I voted for the democrat. He gave me no reason to vote for him. Neither did the republican. Given the choice between a democrat that I don't care for or a republican that I don't care for, I had to vote for the democrat. The same is true for almost every race I voted on.
I did vote for several republicans. The local representative for state government, and the regent/trustee/governor of several university boards. They all gave me a narraitve that I could follow and believe in, while the democrat opposing them gave me no reason to vote for them. Yes, I'm fearful that any of these republicans will just be another cog in the machine, but I can hope that they stand by their beliefs... and that they actually ran on their beliefs.
Nation wide the elections seemed to go in a bad direction. The republicans now control both houses of congress, and I can't see much good coming from it. I would love to say that I have some hope that they'll push forward legislation that has a possibility of being signed into law by a democrat president... but I imagine President Obama will be vetoing bills left and right for the next two years. The senate, for the past four years, has served as a buffer. It kept the crazy house of representative bills form even reaching his desk.
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