Democrats, Republicans, Greens! Oh My!
The 2008 elections are on my mind. Aren’t they on everyone’s mind? I’ve avoided talking about them because other, more gifted, not to mention more prolific bloggers can do better justice to politics than I can (you’ll find better things on his blog than drivel about the election). Maybe I’ve avoided talking about them because I’m still scarred by the last seven years of the Bush Administration.
Yet greenemother and her recent comment gave me the itch to address this topic. She has me pegged right: I am registered Green. I also agree with her that the Green Party just isn’t offering up any good candidates. Well, let’s be realistic: it never really has offered up any good or realistic candidates for the presidency. And, yes, I’ve voted for Ralph Nader before.
First things first, I think that all the candidates are largely the same and will behave largely the same once they’re in the White House notwithstanding the occasional wackjob. The American Republic will encounter the same kowtowing to corporations and the same lies that we encounter with every single president. It’s just about finding a candidate whose choices will have less catastrophic effects than those we’ve suffered the last seven years.
Secondly, presidential elections are grossly overrated. In our constant coverage of presidential elections, we lose coverage of small elections–elections for town council, or mayor, or county commissioners. Sure, our county commissioners might not have the ability to kill thousands of troops and civilians by sending them to war in the middle east, but they have an effect on how you live your life on a local level. There’s more to politics than the federal level. If you’re going to be politically active and if you’re concerned about the state of our government, you can’t neglect any aspect of the system.
The environment is important to me and protecting it is vital. The wars in the middle east that we’re involved in and gearing up for surmount the environment. Health care is important. Education. Civil Liberties. I could go on and on.
So, who am I voting for? I don’t really know. And I won’t know until I cast my vote. But, I’ll tell you this much: I’m not getting involved in the hype; I’ve got too much to act upon right now.
I do like Mike Gravel, though. What are your thoughts?
January 16th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
The nice thing about presidential elections is that they get people to vote for local elections at the same time. In presidential election years, people turn out and take more of an interest in local politics too because they’re going to vote anyway.
I used to think that it didn’t matter too much who was in the Whitehouse, especially if congress was the opposite party, but the past 7 years have convinced me otherwise.
January 17th, 2008 at 6:49 am
On a goofy online quiz, Mike Gravel came up as being most in line with my important issues, with Dennis Kucinich a close second. To be honest, I hadn’t heard of Mike Gravel, and unfortunately, he’s not going to be on the ballot here.
What do you think about the issue of splitting the vote, which garnered Nader so much ire when he ran?
January 17th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I like Edwards and Kucinich. Edward’s stance against greedy corporations is REALLY needed as they are an enemy of the environment and the people.
NatureMom’s last blog post..There’s No Crying At Chuck E. Cheese!
January 19th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Well, thanks for the mention. I just don’t know what to think or who’s thinking what! My biggest concern is making sure no crazy’s get in and I’ve about had it with the Republicans so, pretty much there are no options. My intuition says get as many people together for one person and make sure by golly, that that person wins, so that this country doesn’t fall on its knees from the mess that this last president has put as in! Problem is, who is the lesser of 2 evils?
By the way Jenny, I found a interesting site on children labor http://www.ourownbackyard.org/introduction.shtml
I thought you might find it interesting.
greenemother’s last blog post..Thoughtful Thursday
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Wow…
What can I say? I’ve been involved with both the 2 major political parties, and I’ve even taken my babies to a State Political Conventions (and breastfed them there!)
I am always the only mother there.
It’s lonely at county party meetings, and caucuses, and conventions, and political clubs, and meet-ups, and political fund raisers.
And everyone wants their picture taken with me and my kids, but no one wants to listen to me.
Because I’m the only mother there.
Politicians don’t see mothers, and so they think we don’t care.
Why don’t any other mothers care enough to tell them different?
I’m sick of being the only mother the politicians see. Please go to a caucus or a state convention this year–and don’t forget to bring your kids.
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Meh … I think you seriously misunderstood that post.
I don’t buy into the hype (the constant election talk, the television campaigns, the nonsensical political mail) and I definitely don’t buy into the hype that comes only around presidential elections times.
Instead, I study my candidates no matter if they’re local or federal and this mama votes in every single election no matter how small. Hell, I even attend every single town council meeting.
There’s more to politics than presidential elections and dragging babies along for photo ops.
Jenny’s last blog post..Democrats, Republicans, Greens! Oh My!
January 26th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Hi Jenny,
I felt compelled to comment, so here goes….
I also used to be registered green and voted for Nader (twice). However, the past 7 years have convinced me that the Democrats and the Republicans are not quite as alike as I had previously been convinced.
Yes, many politicians are corrupt but, for what it’s worth, Republicans take the cake in this area , and all the things that have truly been beneficial to people in this country (in my opinion) have been accomplished by Democrats or others on the left. Think child labor, minimum wage, Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, public education, desegregation, Head Start, War on Poverty, etc., etc.
So, even though I used to feel that they were all the same, and I would vote my conscience by voting Green (Nader), I really feel differently now. Now I really feel that if Nader were sincere in wanting to run for office, he would start at the local level. Some local level. Town/County/State…something. Something he might have a change to actually win. But I really and truly believe he doesn’t actually want to win, doesn’t want to have to be in office.
The Green Party in this country needs to start at the local level, at the grassroots, in order to really get a foothold. These “attempts” to gain office first at the presidential level are not going to work, as much as I might have liked them to, they aren’t, and one thing I do have to give W credit for is that he is certainly a “uniter”–that is, he was excellent at uniting people against him.
OK, so my thoughts: personally, I would love to see a Clinton/Obama ticket. I think they would energize such a huge number to vote, to get involved. I really appreciate what Obama is doing to invigorate young people, get them interested in voting. Young people who vote tend to continue to do so, continue to be interested in and involved in politics. And this is what we need today, get people motivated, interested, active.
No one (candidate) is perfect. BTW, I took one of those online things that match you up with a candidate, and Kucinich was my top match (by 97%, I think). And I admire him, mostly that I truly believe that he says what he believes, without second-guessing whether or not it will gain him votes or money. But, at least for now, he’s not going to win. And I think we need to stand behind someone who can win, because most of the Republicans would continue the track that the Bush Admin has started us on.