November 2008 – Page 2

By rights I should be torn about who to support in today’s election. I’m a Jesse Ventura politically; socially liberal, fiscally conservative, uncomfortable-looking in a suit. I should want the Democrats to win to help people who need it and to stop laws trying to govern my morality. I should want the Republicans to win to keep budgets in check and, ironically, to stop laws trying to govern my morality. And yet I can’t conceive of supporting the Republicans, because they’ve demonstrated over many years far more interest in managing my bedroom than managing the government checkbook. I now know that both parties would take my money, but at least the Democrats will claim to try to help people with it; the Republicans will just give it to their friends.

So to win people like me over the Republicans needed to do two things. First, they had to show that they are what they’ve traditionally claimed to be. Second, they had to show that Democrats are what they’ve traditionally been stereotyped to be. I’m not sure how they could achieve the former – fool me once shame on you, fool me a couple of trillion times and I won’t be fooled again – but it’s what I want to see. I want to know what YOU are going to do, how YOU will fix problems (even if that’s by getting out of the way), how YOU will make me safer/richer/happier (again, even if that’s just the two words ‘limited government’). And then you can spend a little time attacking Obama as a Democrat, without being particularly negative, on issues like balanced budgets, abortion (yes, even for a liberal like me), experience (overrated, but still an issue), and standing up to the power structures in the country (what used to be a strength for McCain, and seems a weakness for Obama).

Instead what I’ve seen from the Republican side is:

And the list goes on. I understand the desire to belittle your opponent – the left certainly likes to make cheap and sometimes cruel jokes about Republicans – but I want more. If the media doesn’t want to play (I think most of the apparent bias of US media is because they’re useless, not because they’re partisan, but there’s certainly something there) then go to the people direct, or repeat yourself until they have to report on it, or shout louder, or tweak your message. Don’t lower yourself or demean yourself or stand around whining. Do better, because democracy deserves better.

A theme that’s come up several times during Obama’s candidacy has been his appeal to young voters, and the numbers he is likely to draw in to the political process. Short-term the talk is about how this will affect the election, but the longer term implications are interesting too.

Anything that gets people involved in politics is a good thing, I think, even those things that might appear prejudiced or otherwise undesirable; challenging people’s ideas isn’t a guaranteed way of showing them that other valid ideas exist, but it’s one of the best ways. And if that involvement has been based on an inspirational figure like Obama (and whether he’s right or wrong, he’s certainly inspirational) then there’s the chance for the sort of life-long commitment that JFK inspired, and which to a lesser extent Reagan did too.

The problem I see is that Obama is a politician, and the single thing politicians do more than anything else is disappoint*. They make promises to get elected that they can’t keep. They might make these promises with the best of intentions (or not), but they’re offering things that even complete control of government won’t let them guarantee. Obama might very well have great and heartfelt intentions, but such is the adoration surrounding him that he’s likely to fail more roundly than average. Failing more because you aspire higher is nothing to be ashamed of, but when it provides the first experience many people will have of politics it has the potential to disappoint in a way that could take a generation to heal.

*This isn’t just a wild generalization – almost all politicians get voted out eventually, it’s the nature of their job

Monthly Archives: November 2008

Do better

New Voters