Politics

[plural]

There is a quote I heard once

something along the lines of

"do not vote for the best candidate, but for the one who will do the least harm"

in my ten years of voting
I have never had the privilege of voting for a candidate
in whom I believed

instead, I have always tried to pick the lesser evil

this upcomming election
has been my most difficult choice
and
it weighs heavily on my mind

I look at the past four years
at Bush's presidency
and find many things I disagree with or dislike
but there are also things I support

I support his approach to the Israeli-Palestinian situation
I support the war in Iraq, even if I do not like how it was done
[to me getting rid of a villian like saddam, even sloppily, counts as a good deed]
I like the progress that is happening in the rebuilding of Iraq
again even though it has had blemishes and stumbles
and in my opinion was poorly planned
the fact of the matter is that Iraq is rebuilding and moving forward
and that is an effort worth being proud of

but when I look at the few suggestions
Kerry's camp seems willing to offer
at best I do not see them as much better
and at worst
some I even see as being worse options

for a while it has seemed to me
that Kerry's entire campaign strategy
has been "Anybody but Bush"

or I have been looking but not finding a reason to vote for him

I am not sure how to take
the recent swift boat criticisms
they do stink to a certain degree of politicism
but then again
so does Kerry's exploitation of his war record

it seems like Kerry opened the door for this one

I mean you cant campaign on the fact that you are faithful to your wife
and then claim political bias and manipulation
when someone raises doubt that your record is a pristine as you say

I have a real fear of and a great dislike for Kerry's seeming reliance on the UN
[who I distrust entirely] and the EU

Whatever ones qualms may be with Americas human rights record
and whatever allegations one can make about America acting in her own selfish interest
History shows us time and time again
that the Europeans hands are far bloodier and far more corrupt
which is fine with me in general, I have few illusions about the nature of our world
but when they turn around and act like their shit doesnt stink
it offends my fragile sensabilities

as it stands
I have three months to make up my mind
in what I feel is a pretty important election
and
never before have I found such discomfort in my belly
with the choices before me.

Comments

[moderndayknight.livejournal.com]

I won't vote. But, something else to consider is that there is a decent chance in the next four years of a Supreme Court Justice position opening up. I do not want any Kerry appointees on the court.