I have been working long hours out of town for the past two weeks and it looks like I’ll be doing the same for the next two weeks. I have managed to watch portions of all the debates and I think Bush did better on his delivery in his second and third debate with Kerry. Nothing new was said about their plans to change my mind on voting for Badnarik but one element did come into play that has changed my mind.
The Kerry campaign bringing up Mary Cheney was a desperate move and one I’m very uncomfortable with. The look VP Cheney gave Sen. Edwards as he was thanking him for “his kind words” told me then that it wasn’t thanks, but a punch in the nose that he wanted to give him. One time like that, though, you let it pass and give the person the benefit of the doubt. The second time, though, when Sen. Kerry brought up the fact that Mary Cheney is gay, that’s a deliberate act.
I think what pushed me over, though, was when Elizabeth Edwards made her remark about the Cheney’s being ashamed of their daughter. That was too much. If Mary Cheney wants to talk about being a Lesbian then that’s her business but we don’t need a man who will bring up other people’s sexual orientation for political gain as President of theis country.
Because of the fact that I believe that President Bush is less than fully competent to be the leader of the free world I wanted to try to give John Kerry every benefit of the doubt but so far everything he has said leads me to believe that he would be even less competent in the Job than George Bush. I have no confidence that he can deliver on any of the promises that he’s made just by the way he has presented them.
My biggest problem with Bush isn’t his taking us to war with Iraq, I think that was needed, nor is it his lack of competence in nation building, I believe that one strategic mistake made after the fall of Baghdad put us where we are there now. My biggest problem was the way many of our civil liberties were trampled on shortly after the terrorist attck on 9-11. The Supreme Court seems to be reeling the administration in on that item so I have to consider what John Kerry would do to my civil liberties. I think, regardless of his rhetoric he wouldn’t change much.
If this was a contest between the lesser or the greater of two evils I would have no problem choosing the lesser of the two evils. Until now I considered them equal evils. Now, Sen. Kerry’s decision to bring Mary Cheney’s sexual orientation into the campaign he has just slid over to the greater of two evils side. Because of that Badnarik no longer has my vote. I like the ideals of the Libertarian Party but it seems like they draw more than their share of crackpots.
I will vote for George W. Bush in November. Kerry, you did this to yourself.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Felix Miller // Oct 16, 2004 at 5:02 pm
The long internal struggle resolves itself, does it, Larry? Considering the choices, even the weight of one hair could decide the issue for many, including you.
Character and a sense of decency are important considerations for president, or for any other office. It is too bad that there are so few occasions to see what our candidates really are, as people, not as artifacts of marketing research.
I don’t see much difference in the two major party candidates as far as their personal standards of decency reflected in this campaign. Unlike you, I make more distinctions regarding Iraq and foreign policy. Not that I do not recoil from the fiscal debauch going on with the deficit.
I do not see the necessity of invasion of Iraq at all, especially when so many of the world’s community of nations were unwilling to support us in this effort. The wish for a democratic bastion in the Middle East is honest, and attracts me. I think, however, the approach of the Bush administration has already sacrificed so much of the capability to accomplish that end.
I am repulsed by Kerry and Edward’s use of both the death of Christopher Reeve and the sexual choice of Cheney’s daughter. Given what has come before in this campaign, I do not find that my particular camel’s back is broken by these straws.
I cannot warm up to the Libertarians. Every good point is cancelled by their inability to suggest in detail how the government could be so drastically changed without irreparable harm to the country.
I am afraid that I am being drawn to vote for Kerry. So we cancel each other’s vote. That is democracy in action.
Selah.
2 Larry // Oct 16, 2004 at 9:24 pm
I don’t see much difference in the two major party candidates as far as their personal standards of decency reflected in this campaign. Unlike you, I make more distinctions regarding Iraq and foreign policy. Not that I do not recoil from the fiscal debauch going on with the deficit.
Felix, it came down to understanding that for the forseeable future our foreign policy and our involvment in Iraq is set in stone. I really question Bush’s competency in this area but I also have to question Kerry’s competence as well. The solutions that Kerry has given us so far is just as broken as Bush’s and I’ve seen no indication of any great leadership skills displayed by him so far in this election campaign. He sure hasn’t shown me he has any ability whatsoever to pull together a coalition that can give our troops some relief.
So I was looking at a wash. The use of Mary Cheney’s sexuality by the Kerry campaign was really much more than just the weight of one hair to me. I understand that the marketing engines have distorted the true character of both Kerry and Edwards but their bringing in Ms. Cheney into the campaign… and then Elizabeth Edwards remark about the Cheneys being ashamed of their daughter was so far over the edge for me that it can’t just be the marketing guys. There are serious character flaws being displayed here.
I tell you, out of the four, Theresa Heinz Kerry is the only one I’d give you two cents for.
I am afraid that I am being drawn to vote for Kerry. So we cancel each other’s vote. That is democracy in action.
Ah, but since we live in different states we don’t really cancel each other out. Georgia will send fifteen electorates to the electoral college who will vote for Bush. Tennessee will send eleven who will vote for Bush. The election is much closer in Tennessee than it is in Georgia but both states will still go with Bush. That’s a republic in action. For us to actually make a difference we need to move to Florida.
3 Felix Miller // Oct 17, 2004 at 7:42 am
For us to actually make a difference we need to move to Florida.
Only if we can do it in between hurricanes. LOL
4 Diane Reese // Oct 21, 2004 at 5:07 pm
… but their bringing in Ms. Cheney into the campaign…
Sorry, Larry, but Kerry/Edwards weren’t the first on this, Dick Cheney himself was. According to Time magazine, Cheney first started using his daughter as an example in August:
Y’know what? Kerry’s tossing Mary Cheney into the debate wasn’t necessary, and made me twinge. I didn’t like it either. But politicians sometimes say absurd things under pressure: Bush gets to claim he never said he was unconcerned with bin Laden, Kerry gets to trot out Mary Cheney, Cheney himself gets to lie about never meeting Edwards in the Senate… sadly this stuff is part of politics in the present era. Simply put, I find too much hatred and stupidity and just plain evil in Bush for me to wish anything other than his immediate, permanent return to Crawford TX. I will never respect Bush or anything about him; I’m willing to give Kerry a chance. (At least he reads. As James Taylor put it, “Vote for the smart one.”)
5 Chris Rainey // Oct 22, 2004 at 4:05 pm
Just in on a referral from: http://flutterby.com/.
Great comments guys.
I have to side with Felix on this ‘Mary Cheney’ issue. My loathing for BUSH & Co. is such that I actually did a little wOOt! when Kerry brought that up —- “Hypocrisy can run, but it can’t hide!” I mean really, …. how better to illustrate the bizarrity of how Bush/Cheney pander to the Religious-Right than that??? In my book, ‘blood is thicker than water’ and you don’t support legislation for political gain that defames the civil-liberties of your blood-bank!
6 Larry // Oct 23, 2004 at 9:03 am
I will never respect Bush or anything about him; I’m willing to give Kerry a chance.
I can understand and respect that, Diane. I’m not happy at all with my choices in this election. I hope I’ve made myself clear on that. It’s just that I respect Kerry even less than I respect Bush and I’m not willing to give him a chance.
Chris, I understand the feeling that Cheney’s support of the religious right’s issues set him up for this type of take down but Mary didn’t deserve being brought into this. Since she is an advisor to her father’s campaign I have to assume that the gay marriage debate isn’t a huge issue for her.
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