Super Duper Tuesday

So, today being Super Duper Tuesday, I wobbled uphill to the fire station around the corner from my place, and, as a voter not registered to either party, cast a vote in the Democratic primary for Barack Obama. I’ll admit that I’ve spent much of the past year growing more and more disillusioned with the American political process and its attendant dialogue. When a national dialogue on something as vitally important as who will lead us descends to – and remains at – the level of professional wrestling smack talk, something somewhere is broken, and you can’t lay all the blame at the doorstep of something as nebulous as “the electoral college” or “campaign funding”. Something in the very basic fundamental language of how we, as a nation, approach politics, approach the idea of running for and serving in a public office, has gotten very, very broken. Sometimes I think the media plays more of a role in that dumbing-down of the informed electorate than I’m giving it credit for. I’ve been watching the media on a casual level over the past few months, from my relatively new standpoint of an observer rather than a participant, and I’ve noticed a tendency to go more for Jerry Springer-esque “oh no you di’n’t!” feuds – either creating them out of whole cloth or egging them on – than on substantive reporting on the candidates, their platforms, and so on.

With the volley of crap that’s gone on between Clinton and Obama, I will admit to having come within a hair’s breadth of voting in the Republican primary for McCain. But that would’ve been a gut reaction, more of a knee jerk than anything. I’ve been following Obama closely, and yeah, he’s thrown a few head-shakingly, “I wouldn’t have said that” stuff out into the ether here and there (though nothing quite as staggering as Mike “fry all of the state government’s computer systems before handing Arkansas over to a new governor and then deny all knowledge” Huckabee’s assertion that he’s going to, oh, eliminate the only source of income that the federal government has, namely the IRS), but when Obama can get his feet planted on the Earth again, I find that his ideas of where the country should go are more firmly in line with what I think should be done. And in that end, that, more than any label that any given candidate has, should really be the determining factor. However, behavior on the campaign trail can’t be discounted, and shouldn’t be: while a candidate’s platform, and their ability to defend attacks on it, should be the mind’s criteria for picking the right candidate, how they conduct themselves forms the emotional, gut-feeling side of that equation as well. It speaks to their character more than a list of promises of things they’ll try to push through Congress possibly can.

I wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me to, at the primary level or further down the line. She simply doesn’t impress me. Keep in mind that she actually has, in my mind, a very close connection with Huckabee: she used to be in Arkansas. We know Hillary – and Mike – of old. No way. (And before anyone asks “But what if Obama runs as Hillary’s VP?”, I think I have a much better shot of becoming fabulously rich opening a series of franchised ice skating rinks in Hell than of actually seeing that ticket, or vice-versa, on a ballot.) I simply don’t trust her.

I’m sad that Wesley Clark didn’t even pitch his hat into the ring for this one, but I can see where his age might erode any chances of being taken seriously for a Presidency lasting into 2012. As for why McCain has caught my eye: I like McCain’s forthrightness, level-headedness, and ability to answer questions put to him with something bearing a much more close resemblance to straight talk than what anyone normally hears from Washington. I don’t line up with McCain on the issues as much as I do with Obama, but I trust McCain more than I trust Mrs. Clinton.

And if the Huckster actually lands the nomination and wins in November? I’ve always thought living in New Zealand would be lovely.

Anyway, thus ends a rare serious rambling from me. I don’t expect everyone – hell, I don’t expect anyone – to agree with me in an election year. (Remind me to tell you about the time I voted for Hagelin!) But I do hope you at least got out and voted today. I got out and voted today during a tornado watch, with the kiddo. What’s your excuse?