political catching-up
Oct. 6th, 2004 11:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anotheranonI know I haven't posted anything overtly politically contemplative lately, but this is because I've not been paying as close attention. I've not been watching the debates, mostly because with all the rules involved, I question just how spontaneous the "debating" really is. Also, I think it's highly unlikely at this point that I'm going to change my mind about who to vote for :P (Don't worry - I still plan to watch the Jon Stewart reviews of the debates!)
I talked to my Mom last night, and that the discussion moved to politics is almost a given. Both she and my grandmother are on fire against Bush & Co., and my grandmother even fumed about moving to Canada (she won't, of course, but the fact that an 80+ year old woman who has happily lived in the same ~10 square miles for the past 30 years says something!). Both agree that the upcoming election is the most crucial of their lives, and as both of them have seen far, far more presidential elections than I have, I'm inclined to take them seriously.
They aren't the only ones, I suspect - the sheer number of books out about Bush and his administration are more than I've ever seen about a sitting president, or even a former/historical one. People are interested, people are concerned.
So what I wonder from my isolated liberal vantage point is - who the blazes is going to vote for this yo-yo in November's election? I see the polls, I hear all the stories about people who want to vote for a president they can "have a beer with" (WTF? I want a president who is terrifyingly brilliant and soul-burningly boring, so s/he has nothing better to do than run the country obnoxiously well), but I don't actually know these people.
I do know a couple of very mercenary types who will vote for Dubya under some percieved notion that they'll benefit from his tax cuts, but that's about it. Still, the overwhelming impression I get is that the Kerry election is not a slam dunk. Can someone offer me some insight here?
I talked to my Mom last night, and that the discussion moved to politics is almost a given. Both she and my grandmother are on fire against Bush & Co., and my grandmother even fumed about moving to Canada (she won't, of course, but the fact that an 80+ year old woman who has happily lived in the same ~10 square miles for the past 30 years says something!). Both agree that the upcoming election is the most crucial of their lives, and as both of them have seen far, far more presidential elections than I have, I'm inclined to take them seriously.
They aren't the only ones, I suspect - the sheer number of books out about Bush and his administration are more than I've ever seen about a sitting president, or even a former/historical one. People are interested, people are concerned.
So what I wonder from my isolated liberal vantage point is - who the blazes is going to vote for this yo-yo in November's election? I see the polls, I hear all the stories about people who want to vote for a president they can "have a beer with" (WTF? I want a president who is terrifyingly brilliant and soul-burningly boring, so s/he has nothing better to do than run the country obnoxiously well), but I don't actually know these people.
I do know a couple of very mercenary types who will vote for Dubya under some percieved notion that they'll benefit from his tax cuts, but that's about it. Still, the overwhelming impression I get is that the Kerry election is not a slam dunk. Can someone offer me some insight here?
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no subject
Date: 2004-10-06 05:33 pm (UTC)Just so - there IS a class strata in this country, whether we'd like to admit it or not, and frankly the son of an ex-Pres, ex-senator oil baron is NOT going to get off his pedestal and shake hands with the guy who runs the gas station :/
As for voting with one's wallet - in this case, it won't even work, as most of Bush & Co.'s tax cuts only benefit the very rich. The great majority of Americans might see a little bit of cash back after filing their yearly income tax, but nothing that's going to make a huge improvement in their standard of living or anything.