The Frinklin and Fred Show

A vote I never thought I'd make

Well, it has finally come and gone. As I post this, the polls close in California in about 2 hours. At that point, the shouting starts anew, and we try to figure out who just won this thing.
It has been a contentious election season, easily the most bitter of my brief voting past. I am a political junkie, but this year has not been much fun. The American electoral process never a beacon of enlightened debate, but this year it seems worse. The loudest of the loud are on both sides, from the Michael Moore conspiracy freaks to the Swift Vets; they have managed to drown everything else out. This campaign has been malignant from the start, two sides filled with vitriol they spewed at every chance.

Other than that, it has been fun.

I came full circle this election. My first time voting was 1992, and I proudly voted in the Democratic primary for a charisma-challenged Massachusetts liberal. Then it was Paul Tsongas. I was still in high school and ready to love participatory democracy. A lot has changed since then. I am not a Democrat anymore. I believe, rather strongly now, that the best government is the one that gets the hell out of the way. I still revere the late Senator Tsongas though. Not for his legendary lack of charisma, but for his willingness to say difficult things, to tell constituents that in order to fix things, we have to sacrifice and work hard.
Now, twelve years later, I find myself voting for another Massachusetts liberal. That is right; I am of that mighty 3% of Republicans who will not vote for George W. Bush this year. I voted for him in 2000. At first, I was far more interested and excited by John McCain than the then-governor of Texas. Still, after he won the nomination I saw a strong, principled man, needlessly mocked and easily underestimated. I voted for Bush against Al Gore win no qualms whatsoever. In the last four years, I have been disappointed.

I became a Republican for three reasons: limited government, personal freedom, and a strong national defense. This administration has failed at the first two, and show signs of failing the third. This President, while so fierce in defending and expanding freedom abroad, has given this country an Attorney General who seems obsessed with curtailing freedom at home. John Ashcroft is nearly as much of theocrat as the Islamofascists that we are a war against. It is frightening that this man has used the powers of the Patriot Act in his fight against porn, against environmentalists, against anyone who does not fit with his rather limited view of America.
I became a Republican because I believe everyone has the right to life their life as they see fit, with minimal government interference. This administration does not agree with me. They have turned over domestic matters to the evangelical movement, a movement that I despise. They believe in freedom to think and act as they do, ostracizing any others. I cannot abide by that. The crowning act of this is the so-called Freedom of Marriage Act, an amendment to the Constitution, the most sacred secular document in the world, which would curtail the personal lives of those they disagree with. I find it stunning that a man who values freedom would even consider adding the prejudice of the time to a timeless document.

I became a Republican because I believe in sound fiscal policy. That means limited taxation and limited spending. It means moderating entitlement programs. The President meets me here halfway. The tax cuts were a good idea in 2000. The budget was a surplus, and I sure as hell know how to spend my money better than you do. Spending however, has gone up. The deficit has exploded. Some of this is due to 9/11 and the need to strengthen our defenses and pay for the War on Terror. The President often speaks of himself as a War President, and I believe him. But does he? A War President would stress the need for the nation to sacrifice, not just lives, but personal treasure. Extending tax cuts during wartime is reckless and foolish. Entitlements have not been slowed during this administration, they’ve expanded with the feckless boondoggle Medicare prescription program. The baby boomers begin retiring in 3 years. We currently have 45 trillion dollars promised in Social Security payments. Now is the time to slow entitlements, not to vastly expand them.

I became a Republican because I believe in a strong national defense. This is George W. Bush's strongest point. It has been argued, forcefully and believably, that only he understands the depth of the war we face. After 9/11, I treasured the President. He was a strong and decisive leader when we needed that most. His actions in Afghanistan were the right ones. Smashing the Taliban and scattering Osama bin Laden’s terrorists was the best option, one that I question whether a President Gore would have made. I support the war in Iraq as well. Saddam was a bad, bad man, a mass-murderer, and anyone who doesn’t recognize that is foolish. Every intelligence agency in the world believed he had weapons of mass destruction. The conduct of the war and aftermath is what bothers me. The foolish ideas of Paul Wolfowitz and Dick Cheney, that we would be welcomed as liberators after bombing their country. Not sealing the borders against outside agitators, not locking down the Al Qa Qaa munitions dump, not doing everything imaginable to keep services like power and water running to Iraqi cities, my mind boggles at the missteps taken.

I became a Republican because Republicans are grown-ups. They refuse to believe the Democratic litany of victimization, and the foolish idea that government can solve everyone’s problems. Part of being a grown-up is owning up to mistakes. This administration seems so drunk on their own power, that taking responsibility is utterly lacking. No one has lost their jobs over the problems in Iraq. The President couldn’t answer a simple question about what mistakes he’s made. This shows an appalling lack of self-reflection, a self-righteous belief in his own infallibility. His cause is right, it is just, and spreading democracy in the Arab world is the best, perhaps only prescription that can stop terrorism. But the mere belief is not enough.

I don’t vote for John Kerry because I think he’ll be great President. I think he may be adequate, perhaps even mediocre. I sincerely hope the Republicans keep control of the House and Senate, perhaps this will force them to work together. The idea that the war will be over upon his election, that he will lead our capitulation is foolish and simply not true. The war will be here regardless, and George Bush, in liberating Iraq and Afghanistan has ensured that we will have to fight it.

A Kerry victory will also bring responsibility to the Democrats. For much of the last two years they have reveled in pointless MoveOn and Michael Moore fantasies. Victory tonight will make them take their part in the war on terror. It could also help my party. For the last four years this administration has catered to the evangelical right. If Kerry wins tonight, and I think he will, this means the evangelicals couldn’t deliver. It will force the party back to the center, just in time for a John McCain or Rudy Guiliani in 2008.

I will be waiting.

Regardless of what happens tonight, I will take Jeff Jarvis' pledge.

After the election results are in, I promise to:
: Support the President, even if I didn't vote for him.
: Criticize the President, even if I did vote for him.
: Uphold standards of civilized discourse in blogs and in media while pushing both to be better.
: Unite as a nation, putting country over party, even as we work together to make America better.

Posted by Frinklin at November 2, 2004 06:02 PM