Post-election pondering

Ready for a long and rambling blog post on politics? Good good. With the election come and gone there is much that can be learned by looking back over recent events and anticipating some of what is to come. I'm struggling quite a bit with this post. Not because it's too controversial, or too personal or any such thing. It's just that... I've said all this before, so many times.

Let's go back in time a bit. Back to the beginning of the primaries. I (along with a great many others) was quite concerned about the direction our country was heading in. I had high hopes for George W. Bush, and in many respects he has been a great president. Greater than he gets credit for being. However, the issues with which I was greatly disappointed with him were beginning to mount rather high. Government spending, illegal immigration and border enforcement, education policies (this could be a post to itself, I do give him credit for standing on principle and making a good faith effort. No one else has done this in recent memory), etc.

As the Republican candidates began to come forward, I (along with a great many others) continued to wonder, anyone else? anyone? I looked at my party's candidates and couldn't really get excited about any of them. Where were the conservatives? The strong men who believed in a strong America, a country made strong by the limits on its government and the freedom of it's people? I didn't see any that truly mirrored my vision of what an American president ought to be.

As mildly depressing as this was, I only needed to look at the Democrat candidates to be both further depressed and encouraged at the same time. Further depressed because at least one of these nutjobs would have a serious shot at being our president, but encouraged because, surely our worst was better than their best? I remarked on more than one occasion that any one of our candidates would easily beat anyone of the Democrat candidates... with the exception of McCain (and probably Ron Paul, but more about him later). Only John McCain had no serious shot, I said. In an interesting twist of fate (if you believe in that sort thing), the one man I felt least excited about as a Replican candidate became our nominee.

I (and a great many others) said at the time that I would never vote for him. I had been part of the voting public in South Carolina that essentially booted him from the primaries in 2000 and I had never seen him do anything to make me regret that action. He had been a thorn in the side of Bush from the moment he took office, emboldening the opposition at every turn. He had worked against Bush on judge appointments, tax cuts, border enforcement (OK, he didn't really have much work to do against Bush on this one), campaign finance "reform" and on and on. He stood against almost every conservative initiative in the Senate. McCain was anything but conservative, and while I am a registered Republican, I am conservative first.

It only went downhill from there. The Democrats nominated Obama rather than Hillary. McCain, for some reason, refused to campaign against him. Old habits are hard to break, and criticizing Democrats just wasn't something McCain had any practice at. The harshest words from McCain were directed at Republicans who questioned the policies and associations of Obama. He ran a bumbling, rambling, incompetent campaign. Despite that fact, people were getting to know Obama, and didn't like what they saw. McCain hung in the race because he was the default choice if you didn't want Obama.

That is, until Sarah. With the sudden appearance of Sarah Palin his campaign was rejuvinated. Conservatives began to take a second look at the old man. (please note, I do not use the term "old" as a perjorative term, simply descriptive. If you want to hear one of my soapbox speeches sometime, ask me how I feel about the respect shown or not shown to old age in this culture...) McCain had been trying to label himself as a conservative since the primaries and now was suddenly starting to look like one. Of course, this was one of my (and a great many others) problems with him. Senator McCain and Candidate McCain were two very different individuals. But still... it was very enticing, what if he really did have a change of heart? What if he would listen to the conservative base once in office? What if? Then it happened....

The financial markets began to come apart at the seams. Politicians of all stripes raced to "fix" the situation. A few lonely voices called for calm, common sense, and a non-big government solution. Those voices were few and far between in the Senate, and John McCain's was not one of them. His vote went to Paulson, he helped write a check for some 800 + Billion dollars and give it to Sec. Paulson with virtually no strings attached. No strings except, of course, the billions of dollars in superfluous pet projects the Senators paid themselves for their votes. John McCain supposedly hates "pork," would work tirelessly to eliminate it... unless given the chance to do so.

In the end McCain was what he was, a Democrat Senator strong on National defense living in the Republican party. The democrats and liberals who voted for him in the primaries now had a real liberal to vote for, McCain went down to his inevitable defeat.

Permit me a few additional observations (the election and subsequent events):

- Interestingly, both candidates felt they had to get increasingly conservative in their campaigning in order to win. McCain suddenly embraced Bush's tax cuts, conservative judges and the like; Obama ran on tax cuts and invading Pakistan. Despite the so-called conventional wisdom of appealing the "moderates" or middle ground, when push came to shove, both candidates felt the need to be more conservative than their records have shown them to be.

- A Republican running as a Democrat will lose to an actual Democrat every time.

- Historical "first" moments are only for liberals. If you don't meet the litmus test on sacred liberal issues prepare for the attempted destruction of your reputation, family, and career.

- In what I sincerely hope is not a harbinger of things to come, questioning our leaders is only for liberals as well. If you're not one of them, prepare to have no stone of your personal life unturned for your audacity to ask a question of our Heroic Leader.

- In a circular, self fulfulling chain of ideas you're only a "viable" candidate if the press thinks you are a viable candidate. Seriously, what would be so bad about having all the candidates for President at each Presidential debate? Since when does a network executive get to decide presidential elections?

- Regarding Prop. 8 in CA: The will of the people is only valid if a non-elected judge agrees with their position.

I could go on and on. I haven't even started to talk about the consequences of the election or the blatant media campaigning for a political party. I do worry a bit for the future of our country. It is interesting to note that the moment Reagan came to power American hostages were released from prisons overseas. Today, the Russians are moving their missiles towards Europe. Putin is making a bid to return to power. Stocks are falling, wealth is being moved and sheltered. I was a young boy when Reagan left office, but I clearly remember our enemies dancing in the streets at his departure. Today, our enemies congratulate the American people on their wisdom. All this for lack of strong, conservative leadership. I hope the lesson learned will not come at too high a price.

~ Gabriel