OK, so last week I spouted opinions on Iraq. It's a big subject, and those 3 posts certainly can't convey all of my thoughts on the subject, but this is "Swing-vote", not "What's the deal in Iraq"...
I thought I'd write a little today about my predictions for the political future of America. Does anyone remember that Bush ran as a "uniter" in 2000 against Al Gore? I do. I remember hearing great stories of how he was able to get Texas Democrats and Republicans to work together to accomplish some pretty great things. He wasn't a "beltway insider", he was from the real US. A candidate for the masses, right? I think it was a combination of that willingness to work with both parties and the fact that the average American was ready for a tax break that won him the election. People like me who were undecided could have easily swayed his way, and most likely did since he won the election. (I didn't, I voted Libertarian that year, but that's another post). Let's not forget, however, that he barely won.
In 2004, I would have voted for Bush just because, as I stated before, I still support the Iraq war. I wasn't sure about Kerry's ability to handle it correctly and that was probably the biggest issue of the election. (Again, I didn't vote for Bush in '04, but this time some confusion involving my absentee ballot caused caused me to miss the vote altogether, I'm very ashamed of it). By this time, I had already given up on Bush's ability to unite Congress. The country seemed more divided than even the post election battle in 2000, but we were in the middle of a war.
Well, in 2008, Bush can't run again. With some of the things he and other Republicans have done recently, I really don't see any way that they can stay in power. Several of us swing voters are out there who are not comfortable with the conservative right calling all the shots. We like a healthy balance.
My view of the current state of national government is that the moderate swing voters gave Republicans power in a time of war to prevent changing hands in the middle of a delicate time. The Republicans read that as a mandate from the masses to strengthen their conservative agenda, and now we find ourselves having the debate about Creationism in schools again. That is certainly not why I (planned to) vote for Bush or any Republican. I could care less about the religious rigth conservative agenda. I don't agree with it in the slightest.
So, what's a swing-voter to do? Eight years of either party is too much for me. If I learned anything in the 2000 election, it's that every vote counts. Even though I'd rather vote for someone than against someone else, when presidential margins come down to a few hundred votes, I may have to relax that stance a bit. I'll likely vote Democratic in 2008.
...That is, unless Hillary runs. I don't have a problem with a female president, I just don't like her. Ah, I'll vote for whoever sounds the most moderate at the time.
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