chaim
Member
Riley, I tend to stay out of non-gun related political discussions here so suffice it to say that with your lists of Bush's "positives", some I agree with you that they are positives, others are your pro-Bush spin and it isn't as good as you say, and others are negatives.
In the balance of it all I think Bush has been a bad president. He has mismanaged the war in Iraq and Afganastan, he has given us a record deficit (and as a member of the Concord Coalition since its inception, that is one of my cardinal issues), and he has been atrocious when it comes to civil liberties (the misnamed Patriot Act).
I don't support Kerry because he will be as bad or worse. On some issues he may be better, on some the same (as far as bad or good anyway, though the details may differ), and on many worse.
I refuse to be a party to helping either get into office.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not some die hard third party supporter who dislikes both parties reflexively. I remained a Democrat long after I ceased to support the Democratic Party because I didn't want to become an Independent and lose my voice in the primaries. When I finally changed parties it was because I moved far enough to the right that I could register as a Republican (and thus keep my voice in the primaries).
I have always been pretty politically sophisticated. I have been involved in politics in some fashion or another since I was 14 years old, thats 20 years (I was exposed earlier, but I only count the years that I have personally done volunteer work in political groups or for candidates). I have worked on campaigns for candidates at as low a level as county council and school board on up to presidential campaigns. I've worked on campaigns during and before the primaries (not only a few days during the general election).
Most recently, I helped at a low level get Gov Ehrlich elected last year here in MD, the first time a Republican won the Gov office here since Spiro Agnew. The one I liked best for president was in 1992, when I was a still Democrat (but finally a conservative Democrat), I worked on Paul Tsongas' campaign (anyone remember him). My first was in 1984 for Mondale (yeah, I have an excuse for liking him- I was only 14 and under the influence of super liberal parents and other quite liberal adult role models). I've worked on numerous other campaigns in between.
I am politically involved enough that I hope to be only 2-4 years away from my first run for office. It will probably be county council or school board to start with, then a few years later state level office (in MD you can go as high as the state level and maintain another profession as up to the state level is officially part-time in the legislative branch). I doubt I'll go to the federal level where you must be a professional politician, I don't want all that comes with being a "professional politician".
It pains me that I can't see fit to support either major candidate, but after much soul searching there is no way I can help either get into office. I'm not a "chicken little" who thinks the sky will fall if either is elected. I know neither will cause the world to cave in, neither will end all our rights with the stroke of a pen, what rights either one will trample will be limited. However, I think either one will be the worst president in my lifetime (and since that includes both Nixon and Carter that's pretty bad by itself), and I think either has the potential to be the worst ever. Sorry, but given neither is the end of the world (thus not justifying supporting one because he "is not x") and both are terrible, I won't support either.
In the balance of it all I think Bush has been a bad president. He has mismanaged the war in Iraq and Afganastan, he has given us a record deficit (and as a member of the Concord Coalition since its inception, that is one of my cardinal issues), and he has been atrocious when it comes to civil liberties (the misnamed Patriot Act).
I don't support Kerry because he will be as bad or worse. On some issues he may be better, on some the same (as far as bad or good anyway, though the details may differ), and on many worse.
I refuse to be a party to helping either get into office.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not some die hard third party supporter who dislikes both parties reflexively. I remained a Democrat long after I ceased to support the Democratic Party because I didn't want to become an Independent and lose my voice in the primaries. When I finally changed parties it was because I moved far enough to the right that I could register as a Republican (and thus keep my voice in the primaries).
I have always been pretty politically sophisticated. I have been involved in politics in some fashion or another since I was 14 years old, thats 20 years (I was exposed earlier, but I only count the years that I have personally done volunteer work in political groups or for candidates). I have worked on campaigns for candidates at as low a level as county council and school board on up to presidential campaigns. I've worked on campaigns during and before the primaries (not only a few days during the general election).
Most recently, I helped at a low level get Gov Ehrlich elected last year here in MD, the first time a Republican won the Gov office here since Spiro Agnew. The one I liked best for president was in 1992, when I was a still Democrat (but finally a conservative Democrat), I worked on Paul Tsongas' campaign (anyone remember him). My first was in 1984 for Mondale (yeah, I have an excuse for liking him- I was only 14 and under the influence of super liberal parents and other quite liberal adult role models). I've worked on numerous other campaigns in between.
I am politically involved enough that I hope to be only 2-4 years away from my first run for office. It will probably be county council or school board to start with, then a few years later state level office (in MD you can go as high as the state level and maintain another profession as up to the state level is officially part-time in the legislative branch). I doubt I'll go to the federal level where you must be a professional politician, I don't want all that comes with being a "professional politician".
It pains me that I can't see fit to support either major candidate, but after much soul searching there is no way I can help either get into office. I'm not a "chicken little" who thinks the sky will fall if either is elected. I know neither will cause the world to cave in, neither will end all our rights with the stroke of a pen, what rights either one will trample will be limited. However, I think either one will be the worst president in my lifetime (and since that includes both Nixon and Carter that's pretty bad by itself), and I think either has the potential to be the worst ever. Sorry, but given neither is the end of the world (thus not justifying supporting one because he "is not x") and both are terrible, I won't support either.
