One More Political Writing

As I said on Facebook, I think I’ve figured out why I am so disappointed with politics and the elections this year. I’ve always wondered just why it is that I can’t seem to get enthused about a candidate these past several years, and I think I now know. It only took me umpteen years to figure this out, and maybe it doesn’t apply to you, but it sure does to me.
Republican and Democratic candidates both may say lots of words, but when they’re boiled down to the base stock, what they are saying is nothing more or less than the current Republican or Democratic lines, straight from the party. There are no independent thinkers, it seems, and no one who is courageous enough to be his or her own person. The parties both tell us that they welcome divergent views, but heaven help the candidate that treads outside the lines set by the party.
You may think the minor party candidates are better…not so. Libertarian, Reform, Tea Party, you name it, they spout the party line. Their ideas just seem to be a little kookier than the ones of the major parties, although no party has an exclusive hold on stupidity and knot-headedness.
Where is the individual who thinks for himself? Where is the person who has ideas never expressed by anyone else? Where is the woman or man who isn’t afraid to stand up and articulate a core belief rather than the party line?
I watched part of the Wisconsin senatorial debate tonight on C-SPAN between Senator Feingold and his Republican opponent. Although the Senator has a record of reaching across the aisle (McCain-Feingold legislation, for one), and for saying what he thinks, and voting not always in accordance with his party, he really didn’t have any new ideas, nor did he say anything that showed he thought for himself. His Republican opponent didn’t even answer some of the questions posed to him for fear of saying something out of line with Republican principles.
Call me cynical. Call me uninterested. Or call me sarcastic. I don’t care. I’m disappointed, and I’m angry. And I think I’m in the company of lots of others in this nation of ours. Who knows? But one thing I do know. I’ll vote this year even though I don’t want to, and even though I may have to hold my nose a time or two. Otherwise, I’d have no cause to gripe and complain as I do.