All Presidential politics is sometimes local
Submitted by Doug Thompson on September 7, 2008 - 6:52am.
Republican John McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, along with the election is general, is lighting up the local blogosphere with three Floyd County writers weighing in on the process.
Blogging dean and self-professed tree hugger Fred First weighed in first, questioning Palin's positions on environmental issues. David St. Lawrence -- whose political philosophy is at the opposite end of the extreme scale from Fred -- chimed in next, saying she would make the Presidential race interesting. Then Colleen Redman, another local liberal, joined the fray, commenting on the "failing of Sarah Palin." David has fired back with more pro-Palin posts and Fred has noted that Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama doesn't fare well with Wal-Mart shoppers. This election has certainly stirred emotions. I hear heated debates over breakfast at Blue Ridge Restaurant and over coffee at Cafe del Sol. A debate over the Presidential election erupted into a shouting match Sunday night at Oddfellas Cantina.
Expect the rhetoric to heat up even more between now and the Nov. 4 elections along with political activity in our little corner of the world. Obama organizers came to town last week to organize local Democrats. Rumor has it that Mark Warner will be back sometime soon to campaign for Obama as well as for his run for Senator.
It will be fun watching this local drama play out over the next seven weeks. Stay tuned.
I’m actually a registered
I’m actually a registered Independent, fiscally conservative, who votes Democrat because they represent my interests in Labor Rights, Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, and Environmental Protections better than their counterparts. (They also have been better at balancing the budget and controlling the deficit as of late).
The post I wrote on Palin is set to break comment records. I'm about saturated on her at this point.
Colleen, you live in Virginia...
..where you can't register by party so, in the eyes of the Electoral Board, everyone is an independent. You may be fiscally conservative but I've talked to you about politics more than once and it doesn't take a degree in political science to recognize that your politics are left of center. A review of the Op Eds you've written for The Roanoke Times also reveals a liberal bias.
True Centering
Could you please make a diagram of [left of, right of and center with just single words] I need clarification, I feel like a wad of clay that has been distorted for many political years. I've been told I'm this and that and then twisted left and right for this and that.
What is center in this day and age?
Try this...
The world's smallest political quiz
I signed up as an
I signed up as an Independent when I first started voting in Massachusetts, where I'm originally from. I chose to label myself as Independent because I didn't like labels, party affiliation, and wanted to think for myself. I was not raised one way or the other. My mother and father would never tell who they voted for. My father would only say "I voted for the best man" (no women in politics back then). After about half dozen presidential election it dawned on me that I only ever voted Democratic, so you could say I'm on the liberal side of the spectrum. But I think the political labels blur quite a bit and many people are a combination.
P.S. I prefer the term
P.S. I prefer the term "progressive."
I disagree
I find the term "progressive" self-serving and presumptious. The problem with political philosophies and that both sides believe their points of view make them superior to the other when, in reality, we are simply talking about different opinions -- nothing more, nothing less.
The map is not the territory
"The map is not the territory, the word is not the thing described"
This applies to language, and it seem to fit politics; since politics is the application of words to persuade.
Self serving maybe, but not dishonest, forgive the use of loaded words for the lexicon will have to shift while we find new meaning in old words.
Dishonest would be saying "I am a conservative,"
when their working definition of conservative includes: bankrupt the treasury, employ my friends, slander my critics, support dictators when practical for our ends.
The election will be more than "hurray for our team"
While it may be difficult to disconnect the opinion from the person, we should be able to look at a platform from different vantage points and decide if it is built from good materials.
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