I’m not a Republican. I’m not a Democrat. Although I like to tell people I’m a Libertarian, I’m really not. I’m unaffiliated with any political party. In fact I can’t think of anything good that comes from political parties because they do just one thing, politics.
When I vote in any local or state election, I vote for the candidate who I think will do the least. Not the least of anything specific, just the least amount of everything. The perfect candidate for me would be one that would walk around kissing babies. I think we have enough state and federals. We have 200+ years of making local and state laws. That’s enough.
When I vote in Presidential elections, I tend to vote for 3rd party candidates simply because anything that might prompt strength in a 3rd party could weaken the two main parties. Otherwise, I vote for the candidate that I think will do the least.
Here is why.
Take a look at domestic car manufacturers. How difficult is it going to be for them to regain the lead in their industry ? It won’t be easy. Nor will it be easy to do in a mere 4 years. Now if its very difficult to pick the right person to turn around a major corporation, how difficult is it to pick the right President ? The car companies get to interview anyone they want. Voters typically only have choices presented to us based not on their abilities to lead or improve the country, but on their ability to get elected . And that’s not a very big list.
The 2 major parties seem to put having their party in power over having the best possible person in that position. I haven’t become a big fan of that approach.
Its not that the nominated candidates can’t or won’t be great Presidents, it’s just that we don’t really get our choice of the best candidates. But that’s not the biggest issue. That’s not why I vote for the candidate that does the least.
The reason is that the United States has gotten so big, in terms of population, diverse groups and economy, I just dint think ANYONE can truly set a course of action that is anything more than a guess.
It doesn’t matter if its a Democrat or a Republican. It doesn’t matter if its a social or economic program. Every President has his projects that he promotes and promises to implement. We see and hear all about it as its being discussed and voted on. If it passes, we see and hear about its initial implementation, but then it just becomes one more program in an awful big book of programs. Did you ever wonder how many programs have been implemented every 4 years ?
The same applies to laws. Its part of a platform. It becomes law at some point after election, then put in the legal system as one more law. I personally think we have too many laws.
Too many programs and too many laws. There are so many passed, that when something good happens in the economy, and thanks to good old American innovation something good usually does happen to the economy during every administration, that the administration gives credit to one of their programs for whatever good is occurring at the time
President Clinton took all the credit when the Internet Boom boosted the economy and let all the blame fall on President Bush when it collapsed. President Bush took all the credit as the economy grew and grew as interest rates fell, until sub prime undercut that growth. If the economy doesn’t rebound from this sub prime mess, I’m sure he will pass the blame on to the next President. In reality, neither President really had anything to do with things going right or wrong. Its the American People stupid.
This isn’t a criticism of either President, or any President, it’s a reflection of what I believe, which is that when it comes to economic and social policy the best any candidate or President can do is guess. They turn to the smartest people they trust, ask them for advice on what to do and hope it works. That’s not as big a problem when it comes to turning around or building the results of a corporation, that’s a huge problem to me when it comes to our nation.
Since most policies are just guesses, I would rather they just do nothing. There is no question their hearts are in the right place and they want to do the right thing, but the reality is that every single program that is supposed to have a major impact on our country is nothing more than a guess.
What I would love to see is a candidate who says he/she is going to start removing laws and programs. Give me a candidate who’s primary platform is to spend 4 years removing federal programs and laws. If it was a law or program worth anything the states or local municipalities will find much more creative ways to make them work.
I know its far easier said than done, but could it be any harder to remove an existing law or program than it would be to define, develop and implement another on top of what we already have in place ? Our government is so big, getting it to move in any direction is an incredibly difficult thing to do.
So if you want my vote in 2008, don’t tell me what you are going to add, tell me what you are going to remove. Tell me how you are going to simplify the government. That’s how you get my vote.
And although its not exactly in context, but i didnt know where else i could put it, I decided to post it here. This is one of my favorite all time Presidential quotes, but I’m not going to tell you who said it.
"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with
unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and
competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let
its people judge the truth and falsehood in an openmarket
is a nation that is afraid of its people."
And 1 more thing, because of the inevitable crazy comments that will come from the comment bombers from left and right websites, I reserve the right to turn off comments, quickly