Confessions of a former political junkie
Monday, February 4, 2008 at 03:29PM During Bill Clinton's two terms in office, I was a bonified, certifiable political junkie. I had my coffee with Brian Lamb and C-Span's Washington Journal every morning. I watched the House proceedings every chance I could. I read the Washington Times and the Washington Post every morning. I taped the Clinton impeachment trial in the Senate.
I even won a clever, insightful award from Wesley Pruden of the Washington Times. I could tell you every Senator and Representative from every state and most of the time I even knew when they would be up for re-election.
Oh, how the "mighty" have fallen.
Tomorrow is our state's primary election. I have no idea who to vote for in the Presidential race. I've tried; really I have. I've tried to get up to speed but for some reason, I have the attention span of a rabbit during this election cycle.
Help!
Reader Comments (5)
I am assuming you usually vote Republican. Forgive me if I'm wrong.
Here are links to the Republican candidates websites (if you're interested):
Ron Paul (my favorite)
Mitt Romney
John McCain
Mike Huckabee
Other commentary sites that interest me:
National Review Online
Rush Limbaugh
David Limbaugh
TownHall
I hope you're not offended by my affection for the Limbaughs. A lot of people do not like Rush because they think he's arrogant. I like to think he's just really passionate.
If you visit my blog, click on the Culture and Current Events category and you'll find lots of other links. A couple of them are all about why I won't vote for Mike Huckabee. I got off on a tangent about him because several local homeschool moms kept going on and on to me about why I needed to vote for him. So, I thought (right or wrong) it was necessary to list all the reasons NOT to vote for him.
Tomorrow is a big day! I've followed everything a little too closely this cycle and it has gotten me a bit depressed. I've always been a republican and it pains me to see the party so fractured and confused. In my opinion, Ron Paul is the most conservative candidate. That's why I'm voting for him.
Sorry for the length...I should have emailed. :)
IMHO, the pickin's is really slim this time 'round.
I wish I understood the U.S. system better.
I'm thankful that my local MP is on most issues principled, he campaigned against the content of most Teen girl magazines.There's an organisation called the Christian Institute here where you can find out the voting records of M.P's on moral isuues - v. enlightening!
I'm with Jen and Leslie - not much on the choices, but I agree that the country would be better off with a more conservative President. All of the candidates remaining in the race are troubling for a variety of reasons, and I was pulling for Fred Thompson who dropped out after South Carolina, so I'm in somewhat the same boat.
On one hand, of the current pool, I would agree that Ron Paul is probably the most conservative; however, his position on Iraq troubles me. His position on Israel REALLY troubles me. I don't see that he has the deliberateness or sense of responsibility that has to accompany the office of President, since a President has to consider what is best for the country, rather than necessarily pursuing his own agenda.
Mitt Romney seems more capable of handling the executive responsibilities, given his tenure as a governor, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with his record as far as domestic issues like health care and NAFTA. I'd hate to see another President send us further down the road to a north american union. I take him at his word on the abortion issue, and if he is willing to appoint justices to the Supreme Court who are strict constitutionalists, I would be OK with that.
McCain worries me. For one thing, I am concerned about his haphazard way with the truth. He's been caught in too many statements that either are not the whole truth or are not at all true, and I don't like that. He favors amnesty for illegal aliens, and he seems to have more in common with liberals on some important issues than I would like. However, he has some good points - while I would prefer Romney over McCain, if push came to shove and McCain got the nomination, I would vote for him over any of the Democratic candidates.
Mike Huckabee is a populist with more liberal leanings, rather than a conservative. He has the executive experience as a governor, which is good, but he doesn't favor limited government, individual responsibility, or American sovereignty. He promoted an “open borders” policy in Arkansas for illegal aliens. Taxes in Arkansas increased significantly during his tenure as governor, with a 92% increase in Health and Human Services (meaning welfare) spending. He also had more than 1000 pardons and commutations for criminals during his tenure. I just don't consider him to be a conservative candidate on the issues that matter.
I sort of went on and on a bit! :) It's a shame that the field is so limited, without a clear choice for the future. Any of the Democrats scares the pants off me - I can't imagine another 4-8 years of the Clintons - and if she is elected, we get him, too - but at the same time, Obama is singing the same song on the issues as Hillary. At the same time, the remaining Republican candidates are not much better.
In retrospect, I think Duncan Hunter may have been the better of the bunch, but, like Thompson, he's out.
The best we can do is pray and vote according to what we believe will be in the country's best interests and let God do what He needs to do to accomplish His plan. Nobody gets to lead this country without God's allowing it. When I look at the children of Israel and the bad leadership choices they made and God allowed, the overwhelming message was that when the people were obedient, they got good Godly kings. When they weren't, they got bad ones.
Good luck, Kim! :)
This year? I asked my kids. . .
*blush*