Took about an hour, start to finish. I feel good; here's hoping our guys win.
While I don't want to turn this into a poli-blog, (and while I can't wait for the election aftermath to end so all of the blogs I read can stop being temporary poli-blogs), I do want to say this:
Regardless of your political leanings, I very much wish to encourage people to stop voting for people. Or against people. You will always be able to find fault with a person. People are finding fault with Bush now, and found fault with Clinton previously, and so on back through time.
I also wish to encourage people to stop voting for a single issue. Life is complex. Politics are complex. The candidates you vote for will act in a myriad of ways, and do a wide variety of things. My feeling is that we (collectively, as a country) tend to be way too soundbite-able, too easily swayed on whatever is at the top of the current news-cycle.
I vote for my principles. I have considered and do consider the issues, and the world as I think it should be, and am voting for the party that I best feel will get us there. Please go and do likewise.
1 comment:
Hey Dave-
I happened upon your blog by chance. I dig programmers, and only understand enough of coding to appreciate those who make thngs work.
Wanted to respond to an idea in your "election day poli blog" post.
I'd agree that the sainthood requirements placed on public figures do keep us from getting the best folks for the job into the job. And I agree that principles are more important than individual personalities. I think I'd differ on whether I think focusing on principles means you shouldn't focus on the individual, but on the party.
Democrats in TX are often more conservative than Republicans in NY or CA. The spectrum of ideas in both major US parties is so vast that knowing a candidate's party doesn't necessarily tell you what that person will do in office. So while I agree we need to get off the "who did what to whom when with whose money" gossipy sensationalist moralistic crap that drags the political debate from being a discussion of ideas to the level of a high school girls' rumor spreading contest, I still think you have to evaluate the principles of the candidates involved. We have to ask, "How will this person make decisions?" and "Do I agree with that approach?".
So I'm with you on evaluating principles, not personalities, but I think you have to look at the principles of the individual, not the party, since party principles don't necessarily indicate the principles that will govern the decisions that will be made.
I second your single issue point, too. It's part of what fuels my preference for evaluating individual principles: I don't dig any one party's "offical" viewpoint on all issues. So I'm left to make my choices based on how each candidate thinks about the issues.
Anyway, free exchange of ideas. Thanks for floating yours out there. Good luck with the debugging...
K
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