Monday, Nov. 01, 2004
Obligatory Politics Piece, posted at 10:44 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com First off, I don't like the current rhetoric that "This is the most important election of my lifetime" stuff. I think that's BS. If Gore would have won the 2000 election, I would wager that we wouldn't be fighting an unwinnable war in Iraq right now, and that we'd have Osama Bin Laden in capture. That might be a high wager, but I do believe that Bush made a major tactical error in going after Iraq and letting up on Afganistan, and think that we could have had bin laden in custody by now if that had not been the case. So, for me, the election of 2000 was much more important than this one. I'm also supposing that Gore would not have granted the tax cut right before military action, putting us in a debt that I'm worried my grandkids will have to pay down.As of now, we're involved in a quagmire in Iraq. I do trust Kerry more than Bush to finish us off there, as Bush has the a much higher than average desire to prove himself right (and never wrong), but I doubt the candidates will do much differently over there. Both are good men who care about our country, and I do think that both will try to get us out of the Iraq situation with as few casualties and years as possible.
But, we're already there. I don't think either man will do much different to get us out, so I think the 2000 election was more important than this one.
I can see how some could say the Supreme Court issue makes this election crucial. Renquist just had cancer surgery and there may be as many as three new judges chosen by this President. But I also thought that this past election, and nothing has happened in that area. Plus, I just think our country is too partisan right now anyway, and only middle-of-the-road judges are going to be approved by all sides. Even if Bush tried to get a pro-life judge in there, I think he'd have a hard time getting him approved. So even that doesn't sink in quite that far.
Education obviously rears its head as well. Bush has made my job harder, with additional tests the kids we have to take. It's annoying, because our school has to pay for them and we often don't have enough money for paper. And, I have to give up two days of instructional time to give to the tests. It doesn't work, but it could be worse. Until the Constitution gets their Equal Education Amendment (something I'd support, I think, unless it meant tons more testing, which it probably would, but I like it in concept), I don't know how much the federal government should be invested in public education, anyway. I think our federal government should guarantee an equal education for all, but, absent of that guarantee, it's up to the states. Of course, I'd like more allocation, and a reinstatement of that federal teacher's tax credit of $250 that expired would be nice. I think Kerry will be a better proponent of education, but recognize that it's not that much of an issue on the federal level.
So, therefore, this isn't the most important election of my lifetime. I certainly will vote for Kerry over Bush, but I had an epiphany in the last week that the thought of another four years of Bush is a lot easier to stomach than four years of Bush seemed four years ago. I'm used to him now, I guess. I think John Kerry is a good man, an intelligent man, a man of with some sound ideas, but he's got some deep flaws as well. Bush's flaws are much deeper, because they speak to his inability to change his mind or listen to dissenting voices - two things that I think are crucial for a good leader. He's been an incredibly divisive President, transparently throwing issues like gay marriage to the forefront to simply create wedge issues, but I can't see Kerry's presidency being one of bipartisanship, either. Either winner will face gridlock and disharmony. Bush has already proven that he makes those things worse (his ability to completely vanquish the comraderie we felt as a nation after 9/11 was astounding), but Kerry might only be slightly better.
So, most important election of my lifetime? Not really. Is voting for John Kerry the most important thing I'll do this week? Yes.
I'm cautiously optimistic about tomorrow, and actually am predicting Kerry will pull it off handily. I just don't trust polls, having never been polled myself, and think most of the millions who have been unpolled will go to Kerry. That being said, George W. Bush is not a bad man. He's not stupid, and he cares about the country. He is not a great leader, unfortunately, and has not earned another four years. Kerry is a better candidate. He's a type of guy who checks the temperature of a room before he enters, so he's not a great leader, either, but that's better than a guy who puts the thermostat at 65 and then swears over and over again that 65 is exactly the right temperature and it wasn't a mistake and he won't do anything to change it, no matter what.
So, yeah, I'm voting Kerry. But, either way, I hope this is the election that we look back on as the one to start Barack Obama's national career. He's going to win hands down, but I hope this is on to bigger and better things.