Let's just get it out in the open! For the record I was not born and raised in America, however much it pains you to believe it-- I am an American! Now, I'm willing to admit it's possible I just don't
understand all the subtle nuances that makes the American democratic process the greatest in the world--maybe it is, I'm just not convinced. See in my observation there are at least 5 types of voters in America, and yet only 2 parties:
Democrat and
Republican.
Democrats want the government to be an active influence in their daily life. Providing fundamental support to those in need whether in food, finance, or health care. The poor or lower income families are generally Democrats as they are in most need of these reliefs. They are essentially just "
woe is me", bleeding hearts looking for a handout: a free trip in the Land of the Free at the expense of the hardworking middle and upper classes.
Republicans on the other hand feel government should have minimal influence in the lives of Americans. The United States was founded on this American Dream ideology-- be what you want to be without government controls and interference. Now those fortunate enough to be living the American Dream in wealth and income are Republican. Greedy, hoarding, pompous, and selfish capitalists eager to manipulate and hold down the lower and middle class for their personal gain.
So now you start to fragment a little more. You have the
Conservatives-- these people vote
strictly on moral grounds. They believe the world is headed down the sewer and we need to cling to our heritage and belief. "God Bless America", but He'll only do it if our President is Conservative Christian and in tune with God's will. A progressive society is threatening to their moral ground, but rather than be unpopular (like the Amish) they'd rather force you to be like them.
In contrast, you have the
Liberals, they also vote on moral grounds. They believe a number of our American traditions to be unjust, alienating, or even
barbaric. Many Liberals are Liberals simply because they find themselves on the other side of one of these issues. These are the "boat-rockers" or "envelope-pushers" if you will. They no longer want to be ridiculed for their ridiculous un-conforming behaviors; however once their behavior is "accepted" they will feel the need to un-conform once again, thus creating an expanding and growing list of ridiculous behaviors the rest of us will have to endure and explain to our children.
The Democrats embrace the Liberals while the Republicans align themselves with the Conservatives and it seems that regardless of the issues the words Democrat & Liberal and Republican & Conservative are nearly interchangeable now. Which to me is unfortunate, what about the Democratic Conservatives? or the Liberal Republicans? It sounds like an oxymoron, but those people exists and yet they do not have a party to voice they're position. I've found most of these people will vote based on their moral position rather than political position. So a Democratic Conservative is actually a Republican and a Liberal Republican is a Democrat.
Voter movement between these two parties is generally infrequent. Because these ideologies are polar opposites it is unlikely that someone will fully moves from one party to another within a single election term. Hell it took 8 years for everyone to finally start hating the George W. Furthermore the moral politics make it even more difficult. Even if you don't like the current Republican government under Bush you're likely still Conservative and will thus vote Republican hoping that it is just The President himself that is the problem and not the political strategies currently in place.
What is so exciting about this election is there are two brand new voter fragments thrown into the mix. The Racists and the Sexists.
For some, simply the fact that Obama is black will be enough reason for them to vote for or against him regardless of his politics or moral stances. These are the Racists who see nothing but the color of a person's skin. Now to lessen the negativity around being a "black man" he is running with an old white guy, Joe Biden. Speaking of old white guys-- Not be outdone by biological and genetic non-factors in this election, John McCain has asked the female Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate on the Presidential ticket. Her estrogen and second place finish in the Miss Alaska Pageant will be the basis for the Sexists to vote either yah or nay to the Republican nominees on election day.
Sexist
Racist
Now the fifth category of voters; those who don't necessarily vote based on Republican, Democrat, Conservative, or Liberal platforms. They are the famed
Undecided voters and generally the ones who decide the election. How do they decide? Well that's really the million dollar question. Some of them will undoubtly fall into the Racist and Sexist catagories which have already been mentioned, but this is where it comes down to the candidates themselves; thus the need for a Presidential debate which completely ruins your Thursday night of television. For the Undecided voter they ironically put all the politics aside looking to find a connection with one of the candidates, the one candidate that they believe will do the best job as President of these United States-- they don't really care what party they're in.
I've been an undecided the past two elections 2000 and 2004. I have never voted in the Presidential Election. The reason I didn't vote in 2000 is because I was living abroad, didn't have a US address, didn't follow the Presidential campaigns, and simply didn't bother to register. Out of sight, out of mind, right?! In 2004 I've was yet again undecided. I didn't necessarily want 4 more years of Bush, but I absolutely hated everything about John Kerry. It was like trying to choose what foot to have cut off. So I decided neither and didn't vote. Yeah I could have voted for Nader, but why bother? Express my discontent? I'm doing that now in my blog. Why waste my time, energy, gas, and vote on Nader?
That's a bad attitude, I know-- but I think that there are a great many Undecided voters out there that feel the same way. No candidate or party truly reflects the way they wish to cast their votes. I took a Political Alignment quiz online during the Primaries this year-- it's a quiz that asks you a series of questions and then tells you what candidate best fits your politics and moral stances. Once it was all said and done it matched me with my "best candidate" a 22 percent match. That's it-- 22 percent! That means I disagree with more than 3/4 of what they are saying. No wonder I'm undecided-- there
is no candidate for me. Regardless I
will be voting this year. Maybe I'll blog and upload pictures about "My First Presidential Vote".
Now, many of you may be saying "Damn Canadian, if you don't like it go back to where's you came from!" To that I say, Canada's political system is not much better and while they have significantly more parties to choose from in an election (ones I do align with better) once one of these parties is elected only about 20 percentage of the population is happy with that result. At least in the U.S. after the election approximately 50 percent of the population believes they got what they wanted. I don't know what the ideal is, but there are some obvious flaws in this American democratic process. I don't know that they are taking suggestions right now to refined or change the way things are done-- but I'd be at least curious to know if anyone else feels as I do.
P.S-- Happy Thanksgiving to all you Canucks and good luck with your election!
