Okay folks. It's time to talk politics.Now, I'm not going to tell you all about the issues or for whom I plan to vote. I'm not going to tell you who you should love or hate. These things are not my job - they are yours. This post may still be a little slanted, but hey - so is CNN. It's life.
But I have to say, I've been feeling a little frustrated lately.
Every day I go to a junior high school and listen to kids talk about political candidates without any kind of information behind what they say. They might know who their parents are supporting, but I guarantee that is all for most of them, and I'm not sure that most of their parents have backing for their positions either. If I had a nickel for every time I heard the words, "If Hilary/Obama/McCain wins, I'm moving to Canada," I would be a very rich woman. But if I had a dollar for every time someone followed that statement with a list of reasons for objecting to said candidate, my pockets would be empty.
Here's the thing - I'm not entirely sure how I feel about every candidate, but I do know that my position is considerably different than it was a year ago, or even a month ago. The biggest factor? Research. And not a lot - I did some reading of platforms on the internet and watched a little CNN, read a few articles in the New York Times and chatted with a few politically informed people. And you know what I found out? I don't hate Hilary Clinton. I always thought I did, but like my 7th and 8th graders, my only reason for this was that I disliked Bill Clinton. And my only reason for disliking Bill had nothing to do with his politics, because I didn't know anything about them; it had everything to do with his personal life. I'm not saying that should have no bearing on my opinion of him, but Bill's personal life has little or nothing to do with his wife's ability to lead a country.
Now, I'm not saying I'm throwing all of my support behind Mrs. Clinton. But I am saying that as I read her platforms, there were some that I really loved, including her education platform. I could definitely live with her in the White House, and I wouldn't even think about moving to Canada. And I really like Obama - he's positive and hopeful and even pledges allegiance (in case you didn't know) and I wouldn't feel despair if he was giving the next State of the Union.
My point is not to say that you should vote Democrat or that you should love any particular candidate. My point is simply that you should do your own research and decide for yourself what you feel about each candidate. Your opinion may stay the same, but at least you'll know more than you would if you let your entire opinion be defined by an e-mail chain letter and some bumper stickers, and I'll feel better about the voting public of America.
5 comments:
Dude, don't you know that Obama wouldn't swear on the Bible and that also he's a radical Muslim :) I love those chain emails - I think "really? really, you sent this on? Without taking half a second to research this?"
And when someone sends it on and then later forwards saying "oh, so and so told me this wasn't true. I was just too busy to look it up myself and sent it on without checking" I read that as "I wanted this to be true like crazy. So I sent it on without checking because then I wouldn't know I was sending on false info."
YES! Yes yes yes. (I do that a lot on your posts, don't I? lol) It was such an epiphany to realize, "Wow, my politics can be different from mom and dad's and I'm still okay - and I can still be Mormon and vote for a democrat." To be honest, I LIKE George Bush - I voted for him. I hate that we're in Iraq, but there is something very likeable (for me) about Bush. However, I just don't get McCain - I don't think we ought to be bombing Iraq anymore. I have also realized something - conservative politics, while very good on the family and religion front, are not so great on the social and educational front. Hillary is VERY appealing in her education platforms. And Obama? Can I just say, "Be still, my beating heart." He is so upbeat and forward thinking and he's a family man and he's personable, and I really like him. And my dad is wanting to kill me, but you know what? It's okay. And in 7th grade it's probably okay to go along with mom and dad. At least they're trying - and not talking simply about TV and video games. :)
Warning: Foundation-less Personal Opinion follows.
I still don't know who I'm going to vote for. I will have to do a little research before I can say... but if the gut counts for anything, here's what mine's been thinking:
I watched a snippet of the debate last night between Hillary and Barack; I caught the part where the interviewer (was that Dobbs?) asked Barack if he rejected the support of one Mr. Farrakhan, who is leader of the anti-semitic Nation of Islam. Barack fumbled around trying to make a politically correct statement and ended up with, in my estimation, a "he can do what he likes, I'm not affiliated with him nor have I ever solicited his support."
After a drink, I came back to hear Hillary saying that she would have rejected the support of an anti-semite (hehe...I wonder what the real word is). She seemed so hard to be trying to put Barack down and make him look bad for his comment.
And then I thought, "Wait! What does that mean, 'reject support?' This is a ridiculous question and the bickering is even more ridiculous."
Should Barack instead say to Mr. Farrakhan, "No! You can't support me! I reject your support. You should instead be fighting against me, because I don't agree with you; what do you think you're doing lending me your support?"
And yet, Mrs. Clinton put it so eloquently and with such assurance, that it really did feel like Barack was an idiot -- WHEN HE WASN'T!
My gut doesn't like Hillary... I know nothing of her platform, or Obama's platform for that matter... but my gut just doesn't like that sly woman.
Judge me.
(Sorry, Megan. I should have just written my own post :)
Well, policies are nice, but I think most politicians try to shmooze over the whole country by creating them. The true test is their character, which will show how one will actually act in the white house. I don't trust Hilary. I don't really trust any of the candidates.
I don't particularly like Hillary because of her habit of mudslinging and twisting people's words and previous actions more than any of the other candidates. She has constantly barraged Obama with things he has done in the past that all make him sound awful, when after some clarification from him, offer insights into his motives and shows why he did what he did. He often comes out on top in these situations. I think if there is something bad we must know about another candidate, inform the public, but get on with your policies and campaigns and stop tearing people down with misinformation.
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